Halfon first became politically active while a student at Exeter University in the late 1980s and early '90s. The defeat of Communism and the toppling of his heroine Mrs Thatcher were crucial in the forming of his political outlook, as for many — but there were also more local issues. Until then, the university's Conservative Association main activity was running an annual ball. Its political outlook, as much as it had one, was social snobbery; its main concern was that too many ghastly plebs had been allowed onto campus. This changed when Halfon — along with David Burrowes, Sajid Javid and Tim Montgomerie, the former two now also Tory MPs and the latter the founder of the ConservativeHome website and columnist for The Times — took over the association and politicised it. Halfon also challenged the automatic enrollment of students in the National Union of Students,  unsuccessfully taking the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.

 

Halfon's constituency is naturally receptive to blue-collar Conservatism. Harlow is an Essex new town built after the war to ease overcrowding in East London — and to those who have not come to love it has all the charm and appeal one would expect of a 1950s' government housing project. Halfon has, however, embraced the place and speaks its language. He was the Conservative candidate in 2001 and 2005 — when he lost by 97 votes — before winning with a majority of just under 5,000 in 2010.

 

He has made more of a mark on the Commons than almost any MP from the 2010 intake. Some of this may be rather comical. Halfon's bright orange suit — he has had a predilection for appalling outfits since university days — caused Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to remark in answering a parliamentary question, "One knows when one's been tangoed." But he is mostly known for his contributions on issues that matter.

 

In some ways Halfon is an odd champion of white-van-man Toryism — he was educated at the independent Highgate School, grew up in Hampstead just off Bishop's Avenue, and has never had a job in the "real world". But few of today's Tories resonate with working-class voters — Halfon is an exception. A future Tory leader could do much worse than appoint him party chairman.