The ex PM’s wife reckons her new fashion label, Cefinn, is being held back by our feelings towards that bloke in her shed

Name: Reverse nepotism.

Age: Very recent.

Any chance you could define it for me? Well, if nepotism is winning power or influence because of proximity to someone who is powerful or influential, the reverse must be being damaged by such an association.

Are you thinking of anyone in particular? Samantha Cameron, the unfortunate wife of that chap who was prime minister several aeons ago and let loose the chaos now consuming the UK.

What is her problem? I thought they were now living happily in a shed in the Cotswolds. He rarely ventures out of his designer shed, but she is a successful entrepreneur with her own fashion business.

That is news to me. You need to start reading the fashion pages. In 2017, SamCam launched Cefinn, “a London-based label creating chic, grownup fashion for the multitasking urban woman”.

Sounds lovely. Indeed it is. “Easy to wear and elegantly understated, it’s fashion you don’t have to overthink.”

Describes me to a T. So what is her problem? The bloke in the shed.

Dave? Yes. “There are some people who don’t shop with us because of who my husband is,” she told the Women Mean Business Live conference this week, admitting that Cameron’s rock-bottom political reputation was affecting sales.

Oh, what a shame. I sense you don’t really mean that.

You sense right. Odd name, Cefinn. It’s pronounced “Sefin” to rhyme with “Elfin”, and is an acronym derived from the first and last letters of her surname, plus her children’s initials: Elwen, Florence, Ivan and Nancy.

Seems rather solipsistic. I think it is sweet.

Is reverse nepotism a problem generally? It seems to be in the fashion industry. No one took Victoria Beckham seriously when she started out as a designer because she was a Spice Girl who had married a famous footballer.

How about Stella McCartney? Never had a problem with reverse nepotism – ex-Beatles are sacrosanct – although her success has occasionally (and very unfairly) been attributed to her dad Paul.

Do say: “Isn’t SamCam best known for luxury accessories?”

Don’t say: “That’s no way to refer to our former prime minister.”