One day a newspaper won't run profiles of the most glamorous Tory candidates but will try and give their readers a real picture of the next Tory intake.
Today's weekend Guardian magazine photo profiles the usual suspects including Louise Bagshawe, Nick Boles, Shaun Bailey (who is the handsome cover boy), Chartlotte Leslie and Priti Patel. I don't blame the candidates themselves - they're all good candidates. Very good candidates. But a lot of other very good candidates - candidates who happen to be slightly older women or white, straight men hardly ever feature in these profiles.
The Guardian's accompanying essay makes passing reference to the political views of the next intake but it continues the formulaic obsession with the colour, gender and sexuality of PPCs. Call us old-fashioned but in ConHome's surveys of candidates in the top seats we've tried to focus on what the next generation of ministers actually believe (eg here and here).
Tim Montgomerie
