Going To The Balls

Ms. Helen Flanagan, see Wikipedia, writer of the “tweet” is a celebrity actress in the major “soap”, “Coronation Street” and Nadine Dorries, the receiver, is a back bench Conservative M.P. who attained quasi celebrity status recently in a TV “reality” show. 

Nadine has been criticised for taking time off her Parliamentary duties without leave and is not currently one of the more favoured MP’s by the Prime Minister.

The picture comes from the web site Conservative Home and the Leftwatch section which has a vested interest.  The lady in the picture is Helen Flanagan the man is Ed Miliband, the Leader of the Opposition and Labour Party, although perhaps only temporarily.

It tells us how politics and celebrity are intermingled today, as for Ed’s reaction the picture rather says it all about who is really important and his immediate feelings.

On the other hand it could be argued that little has changed.  At The Queen’s Concert in 1868 a study of the Guest List reveals a similar pattern although the celebrities then were largely of the aristocracy. 

In fact at the Countess of Caledon’s ball in the same year it is almost the same people but minus the politicians, so they all had much more fun.