With his level of preternatural confidence – not to mention thick skin – Menon ought to get on fine in politics. It is one reason why young people make such effective campaigners – they are able to employ much of the passion, energy and belief that their world-weary elders have lost – and the parties know it too. Far from a sideshow, youth wings have been an integral part of politics for decades, producing a roster of future leaders in the process. Few can have forgotten the impact of a 16-year-old William Hague at the Conservative Party conference in 1977, for instance, whose speech to delegates has followed him ever since. Nicola Sturgeon once led Young Scots for Independence. Even Nick Robinson, the BBC’s much-lauded political editor, is an erstwhile chairman of Young Conservatives.