The most promising of those matriculating this year

New kids on the block, clockwise from top left: Hames, Umunna, Boles, Zahawi, Skidmore, Lucas, Kendall and Woodcock

SOME will become fiery backbenchers; others are doomed to obscurity or scandal. But a few of the 227 new MPs must be destined for greatness: the cabinet of 2015, perhaps. Mavericks and semi-celebrities catch the eye, but are not always the surest bets.

Nick Boles may be in line for the most vertiginous rise. An ardent Conservative moderniser, he founded and ran a think-tank before helping to oversee the party's preparations for office. Gay and unstuffy—he pioneered the tieless look among Tories—he nevertheless represents Thatcher country: his seat is Grantham, Lincolnshire, where she was born.

Some of the Tories' younger back room boys are worth watching too. Chris Skidmore won his Kingswood seat against the odds and seems older than his years, as twenty-somethings with a sideline as medieval historians tend to do. Canny and not just cerebral, his prospects are limited only by the vulnerability of his south-western seat.

Some businessmen-turned-politicians are too stiff to connect with voters. Nadhim Zahawi, the Tory MP for the plum seat of Stratford-upon-Avon, is of the blokeishly affable sort. He learned the political ropes in local government and, as a co-founder of YouGov, a polling firm, he has actually run something.

Labour's consolation for its loss of power was an influx of new talent. Former aides abound, including John Woodcock, who represents the Barrow and Furness seat once held by his old boss and former defence secretary, John Hutton. He is of good northern stock, which should knock the edge off any resentment his more grizzled colleagues feel at his inevitably speedy promotion.

Liz Kendall was told off for taking a photograph during the state opening of Parliament, but the former health-policy wonk and special adviser should recover. The MP for Leicester West, she is among the cleverest of the Labour intake.

Some reckon the most glittering prize—Number 10—awaits Chuka Umunna, from south London. That, like the inevitable Obama comparison, is excitable talk. Still, he has the gifts to go far. He is on Labour's left and, unlike Mr Woodcock and Ms Kendall, he wants the younger Miliband to lead the party.

Duncan Hames, Liberal Democrat MP for the new Wiltshire constituency of Chippenham, saw off fierce competition there in the form of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, a much-touted Tory candidate. He is quietly spoken but a seasoned campaigner (and an accountant). In a party of only 57 MPs, Mr Hames is a reasonable bet for an early ascent into government.

Among the most gripping micro-dramas of election night was the victory of the Green Party's first MP. Caroline Lucas, a bright former MEP and Oxfam official, represents Brighton Pavilion, home to media types and other London exiles. And, for her and the Greens, the breakthrough comes at the right time: with the Lib Dems in coalition with the Tories, someone else may be able to lure voters disenchanted with the big parties. Might that be the Greens?