You don’t have to have gone to Eton to support Boris Johnson, but it certainly helps.

So far Boris Johnson has attracted the support of 30 MPs. At the last count 6* of them were Old Etonians, including Boris himself. That’s 20%. Astonishingly, it’s also more than the number of female MPs (5) who Boris has attracted – a fact that his rivals will take some glee in pointing out. Not a single Old Etonian has declared for a rival candidate yet.

Back in 2014 Michael Gove said it was “ridiculous” that so many people in Cameron’s circle hailed from Eton. He added: “I don’t know where you can find some such similar situation in a developed economy.” I wonder what he will say about the revelation that nearly a quarter of Boris’s support hails from the same school.

There are 19 Old Etonians in the Parliamentary Conservative Party. One wonders if the Omerta will stick together and all of them will row in behind Boris.

  • Jesse Norman, Sir Nicholas Soames, Boris Johnson, Zac Goldsmith, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Jo Johnson