Magnanimity

Given the choice between slogging away on the opposition backbenches for the next few years as an object of condescension and contempt, or between making millions as a figurehead executive in the family business with the prospect of making millions more as a figurehead auto maker CEO, which would you choose?

For Belinda, parliamentary politics was just another bauble to amuse herself with, only to be thrown away once she had had her fun with it, like her husbands and lovers.

Faced for the first time with challenges that required her merits, and not her father's money, to conquer, she withered.

Her contributions to the body politic remain as insubstantial as she; a few photo-ops, a few headlines, and a few bits of gossip.

Conservatives may rest assured, however, that her failure was their success.