The busy cabinet minister Caroline Spelman probably paused to nod in sympathy at the TV last week if she caught a hang-dog Gordon Brown explaining to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry how he and his wife, Sarah, wanted to raise their kids as normal people, with no sense of being special, let alone mini-celebs.
The environment secretary had spent time and money this year struggling to stop intrusive tabloids writing up her own family drama (not much public interest there, M'Lud?) about her teenage son Jonathan's obsession with body-building. She finally failed, and the story has surfaced in this week's newspapers.
In many forms of public life, it is a familiar challenge: the pressure of trying to maintain a "normal" family life while juggling a gruelling work schedule and pressure, not to mention ambition and ego. As in most families, but much more so when Mum or Dad is in the public eye, the kids – or one of them, at least – feel let down or, worse, that they have failed.
Tony Blair's son Euan suffered nothing worse than a drunken outing at 16. Jack Straw's son Will was caught selling drugs in a tabloid sting (Dad marched him straight to the police). John Major's son James entered a short-lived marriage with glamorous actor Emma Noble. Ken Clarke's kids went defiantly leftwing for a time. Silly or sad, these things could happen to any family – but not all over the front page.
Some powerful partnerships seem to avoid this, not least by always keeping their kids away from the cameras, as the Blairs failed to do on election day – or their earlier Christmas cards. Harold Wilson's children slipped into quiet anonymity; so did Jim Callaghan's (except Margaret, the cabinet minister). But Mark and Carol Thatcher, the spoiled brat and his nice- but-attention-seeking twin, still manage to make headlines.
Winston Churchill's parents famously neglected him, so he indulged his children, with several disastrous results, including drink and depression.
As western leaders are getting younger, so are their kids. Too young for trouble? You can never be sure. Just look at Nancy Cameron (eight) doing a runner in that pub. Over in the White House, the Obama girls have been fine so far. But four more years? It's a big ask at their age. I must check out those crazy Romneys.
