In about 10 years’ time David Cameron will be an ex-prime minister, touring the US lecture circuit. Boris Johnson may have succeeded him as the occupant of 10 Downing Street. Copies of the 2010 Tory manifesto will be gathering dust on university bookshelves. One legacy of an expected Cameron victory at the next general election will still be very potent, however, and that will be the “class of 2010” – the largest increase in the number of Conservative MPs in modern times. These MPs will set the direction of Conservative politics for the next generation. They will be the ministers of the future.

The sheer number of prospective Conservative MPs is not the only factor that makes them such an interesting phenomenon. Also noteworthy are their political views and their likely independence of mind.