Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

The election of Lord Pearson of Rannoch as the new leader of UKIP may radically change public perceptions of the party.

Lord Pearson's predecessor Nigel Farage has the appearance of the salesman ready to offer you a couple of cut-price bargains from inside his cashmere overcoat, the cheeky chappie who relished getting up the noses of the political establishment.

Lord Pearson, in contrast, must be the most upper crust figure elected to the leadership of a political party since Lord Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ in 1963, much more upper class in appearance and style than David Cameron.

Lord Pearson, like Mr Cameron, went to Eton. And just like Mr Cameron at the time of his election to his party's leadership, Lord Pearson is a member of the White's, the old-fashioned gentlemen's club which still excludes women from its premises (Mr Cameron has since resigned from White's, no doubt because its stuffy image badly conflicted with his efforts to modernise the Conservative Party).

In voice and appearance Lord Pearson takes us back to a Britain of the mid-20th Century when politicians were expected to be articulate performers on TV.

And remarkably Lord Pearson is 22 years older than Mr Farage. When was the last time a party elected a leader who was that much older than his predecessor?

It will be interesting to see how Lord Pearson goes down with existing UKIP voters, and whether he encourages more defections from more traditional Conservatives of the older generation.