If reports were to be believed, a whole plethora of celebrities were due to attend Number 10 in a rehash of Tony Blair's 1997 Cool Britannia party. In homage to the original line-up featuring Noel Gallagher, Kevin Spacey and Vivienne Westwood, attendees were meant to include Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Emma Watson. A sort of modern version of the cool lot from 15 years ago.
Except, well, all the biggest names due for David Cameron's reception seemed to be a no-show last night. And instead the celebrities who did turn up to Downing Street weren't quite the glitzy lot the Conservatives might have been hoping for.
Natalie Dormer, who plays Majorie Tyrell in* Game of Thrones*, was there (props) alongside Helena Bonham Carter but the others on the list were Michael McIntyre, Cilla Black, Katherine Jenkins, Kirstie Allsopp, Danielle Linker and Oritsé Williams from JLS.
Perhaps the coolest person in attendance was Eliza Doolittle, whose very name throws back to the Tory-friendly rags-to-riches self-improvement tale of My Fair Lady. But while her Vivienne Westwood suit provided an apt nod to the designer's attendance at the first incarnation of Cool Britannia, her reply when asked by The Guardian if she would vote Conservative at the next election wasn't so thrilling: 'I don't think so.'
Even Kirstie Allsopp, who's previously worked as the Government's housing tsar, declined to say where her political allegiances lie. When asked what she thought of Cameron, she said: 'I think a lot of politicians have got to go a long way to prove themselves.'
On the plus side, the party coincided with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport pledging to make it easier for filmmakers to shoot in Britain, and Warner Bros announced three new stages in its Hertfordshire studios. Maybe that'll encourage some glitzier celebrities to get on board with the Government? Or maybe, just maybe, it doesn't matter who celebrities vote for, and their loyalties have no effect on the public? That said, if we didn't care who they voted for, wouldn't they just come out and say it?
** Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson**
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.