The right family name, network of friends or marriage partner can still smooth your passage through life. Richard Reeves asks if it could ever be otherwise

The small world of insect behaviour experts was shaken earlier this year with the discovery by Finnish scientists that ants, long imagined to be the socialists of sociobiology, practise nepotism - favouring blood relatives with food and killing strangers. A similar spasm is currently gripping the intellectuals of the US east coast. A new book by Adam Bellow argues not only that nepotism is on the rise (a view shared by many) but that this is a cause for celebration rather than liberal hand-wringing. And Mr Bellow knows of what he speaks. His dad is Saul Bellow.

Far from being a scourge of modern democracies, the practice of helping offspring is an honourable parental instinct, he believes, while nepotism "links the generations in a chain of generosity and gratitude".

It is tempting to dismiss Bellow Jr's arguments (In Praise of Nepotism, Doubleday) as a load of self-serving tosh. And given that he writes in a nation where the late, uber-racist senator Strom Thurmond prevailed upon George W Bush to appoint his 28-year-old son as US attorney for South Carolina, this is a temptation to which we should succumb. But nepotism is far from an American monopoly. It is an accusation flung around in British circles, too, not least in political ones. Among the various sub-species of Homo politicus gathering at the Labour conference, some names carry a certain cachet - Miliband, Wintour, Toynbee, Alexander - and perhaps double rooms are being booked for the power couplings: Balls/Cooper, Marr/Ashley, Symons/Bassett.

Politics being what it is, any hint of favours for friends and family is an open invitation for a salvo. The fact that Tony rhymes with crony is one of those unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your point of view) linguistic coincidences of political life. Those looking for evidence that being old friends with the PM is helpful need look no further than the Woolsack, upon which Charlie Falconer sits in place of Derry Irvine - Blair mates both.

Yet it is in the land of opportunity, the US, that nepotism seems most entrenched. "Bochco," says Steven Bochco, who regularly casts his own children in his detective series NYPD Blue, "is Polish for nepotism." Meanwhile the second Bush administration has thrown ambassadorships at wealthy donors like confetti, giving little consideration to whether, for example, the ambassador to France could speak any French.

Historically, however, nepotism has been restricted to the favouring of blood relations. The term itself stems, according to Bellow, from the Italian nipote for "relative", with nepotismo flourishing in the 15th and 16th centuries when illegitimate papal sons, or "nephews", were placed in ecclesiastical jobs. Nepotism in this narrow sense, of placing ill-suited relatives into plum positions, is not much in evidence, at least in the United Kingdom.

In modern parlance, nepotism covers the spectrum from blatant favouritism towards an idiot relative to appointing someone you already know to a job. Using the terminology in this loose way, nepotism covers three ways in which advancement is influenced: the name, the network and the nuptial.

First comes the subtle power of the surname. This is felt most keenly in the softer worlds of the arts, public relations and the media - areas of activity in which a large part of being successful is being seen by others to be successful; areas, therefore, where reputation is most likely to rub off. To take just a sprinkling, think Amis, Redgrave, Lawson, Hobsbawm, Freud, Wintour, Toynbee, Coren, Presley, McCartney and Dimbleby . . . In these cases of familial flourishing, we are not seeing power handed down like a family heirloom; but rather that, in worlds where name recognition is important, having a recognisable name is an asset - a kind of genetic kitemark, albeit of the most arbitrary kind. It is difficult to gauge whether being the daughter of a Beatle makes Stella McCartney's perfume smell any sweeter.

But there is another factor here. Someone brought up in a particular milieu - artistic, intellectual, political - is bound to have more desire to enter that world. The surprise is not that David and Edward Miliband, sons of the Marxist intellectual Ralph, are into politics - the surprise would have been if they were not. Likewise, small wonder that Sam West, son of the actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales, is also treading the boards. And given that West is a hell of a Hamlet and Miliband a progressive politician, there seems little to grumble about. Famous parents influence career choices as much as career chances.

This kind of socialisation remains invisible when the surname offers no clue (a trend likely to increase as more women become public figures). Bertrand Russell, for instance, had a certain John Stuart Mill as a godfather. Larry Summers, the high-impact American economist, former Treasury secretary and now president of Harvard, has two uncles with Nobel prizes for economics - Kenneth Arrow and Paul Samuelson. They didn't get him the job; but they may have made him want it.

Academia is in any case less promising ground for "name nepotism". Success relies upon doing research good enough to be published in peer-reviewed journals (where typically, the authors' names are removed). Being Darwin's granddaughter cuts no ice with the editor of Nature. This may explain why a search for famous families in science and academia is largely fruitless. Reputations are built on the base of your own research work, rather than that of your forebears. Sport is still less forgiving. Being Paula Radcliffe's brother would not help much if your idea of a fast half-marathon was measured in hours rather than minutes. Stopwatches don't know your name. As a general principle, the more objective the measures of success in use, the less important your name, DNA or networks.

Elsewhere, networks count for a great deal. In these spheres, "network nepotism" may represent nothing other than smart recruitment. Using networks to hire journalists makes eminent sense, given that one of the key attributes of a successful journalist is the cultivation of good networks. And in areas where trust and loyalty are critical, sticking to the "friends and family" approach has clear benefits. Organised criminals don't rely on equal opportunities recruitment policies.

What's true for the Mafia is true for Millbank. Senior politicians want to surround themselves with people whose loyalty and trustworthiness are beyond question. This may be even truer in the world of politics today, where a well-timed press betrayal can kill a career. That Carole Caplin had to sign a gagging contract is a sign that she was not viewed as "one of us" by the Downing Street power-brokers; we can be fairly confident that Alastair Campbell has not signed one.

Hiring friends or friends of friends gives some guarantee that the person is onside. And the skill-set is hard to define in political jobs: WANTED - puppy-loyal, ingenious, ruthless political operative. Personal recommendation carries weight.

The fuzziness of job roles increasingly extends also to the private sector. So informal hiring practices work for business - many firms offer recruitment bonuses to staff who bring on board a relative or mate. And at the tough end of the labour market, studies show that unemployed people are most likely to get a job via a referral from an employed person whom they know - the grapevine beats the New Deal every time. Few would call this nepotism.

Finally, there is the favouring of spouses, or spouses of family members, or spouses of friends. This "nuptial nepotism" is cited almost as often as the "Tony's cronies" network kind. It is clear that marriage combined with a "good" name or strong networks makes a powerful cocktail - the annual trip of the Garnett/Jay/Bottomley tribe to the Isle of Wight being an extreme manifestation. It is equally true that where there is power, there are power couples, from Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper to Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Kennedy clan's Maria Shriver.

But with such couples it is difficult to know in whose direction the benefits flow. It is easy to say that Hillary Clinton is a senator and presidential hopeful for 2008 only because her husband was president. But an apocryphal story may be closer to the truth. When a petrol station attendant told Hillary that if she had married him she would have been the wife of a petrol station attendant rather than first lady, she is said to have replied: "Sweetheart, if I'd married you , you'd be president."

In most cases, power couples are two powerful people who happen to be married because they move in the same circles. It happens to doctors, accountants and supermarket workers, too. Andrew Marr and Jackie Ashley do not do the jobs they do because they are married; they are married to each other because of the jobs they do.

None of which is to say that nepotism of one form or another is not an issue. It is clear that, especially in some circles, a noticeable name, a well-cultivated network or a beneficial marriage match can give you an advantage - the key is to ensure that it is not the endgame. It is a fact of life that certain people enter certain races with a head start, but so long as those who are quicker and better can catch up, the costs to egalitarianism are containable. A head start, after all, does not count for much if you can't cut it. Look around the cabinet table and you see men and women with mostly comfortable backgrounds, but none hanging on parental or other coat-tails. The DNA of the Pitts, Churchills or Chamberlains no longer dominates British politics. Even in the US, where political names still carry weight - Adams, Russell, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Gore, Bush - the magic has limits. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's name did not stop her being trounced in last year's race for the governorship of Maryland, the Kennedy heartland.

Somebody once complained that there had been "a blockage in the circulation of our elites" - as good a definition of nepotism as any. Right now, in the UK at least, the elites do seem to be circulating, although from within a narrower layer of the class system than most social democrats would wish.

In political terms, the bigger issue is the way power is wielded rather than the mechanism by which it is acquired. Tony Benn had a head start and has been a consistently progressive force. Margaret Thatcher came from nowhere.

There will be those who argue for a "year zero" world, in which each generation is not influenced by the achievements and attentions of its elders. Such people instinctively attack the success of anyone related to or friends with another successful person. Sometimes this occurs even when the critic is flourishing; the artist Tracey Emin says the chip on her shoulder hasn't noticed she is successful now. But so long as the grip of the name, network or nuptial on the centres of power stays fairly loose, there are plenty of bigger fish than nepotism - such as inequality, erosion of the public service ethos, poverty, the environment and worker well-being - to be frying in Bournemouth.

How they are related

Freuds Sigmund (1856-1939): father of psychoanalysis. Grandsons Lucian, famous artist, and Clement, distinguished food writer, Liberal MP and radio panellist (Just a Minute). Their famous children include (Lucian's) Esther, novelist, partner of the actor David Morrissey; Bella, fashion designer; (Clement's) Matthew, head of top PR company, married to Elisabeth Murdoch, managing director of BSkyB (1996-2001), daughter of Rupert (qv). Matthew's previous wife, Caroline Hutton, is now married to Earl Spencer.

Lawsons Nigel, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Margaret Thatcher, now life peer, MP for Blaby (1974-92), journalist and former editor of the Spectator; son Dominic, editor of the Sunday Telegraph since 1995 and former editor of the Spectator; daughter Nigella, television presenter and food writer (married to Charles Saatchi, patron of the arts).

Dimblebys Richard (1913-65), BBC stalwart (host of early Panorama), live presenter of state occasions (Neville Chamberlain's return from meeting Hitler, Queen's coronation); son David, BBC stalwart (Question Time, election coverage and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales), also hosted Panorama; son Jonathan, broadcaster, author, journalist, documentary-maker (election coverage, interview with Prince Charles).

Milibands Ralph (1924-94), Marxist intellectual, co-founder of New Reasoner, New Left Review and Socialist Register; son David, elected MP for South Shields 2001, now schools minister, former head of Downing Street Policy Unit; son Edward, Treasury adviser to Gordon Brown.

Murdochs Rupert, chief executive of News Corporation, owner of vast array of media outlets, including BSkyB, 20th Century Fox, Times Newspapers, HarperCollins; father Keith owned newspapers in Melbourne; son James is expected to be chief executive of BSkyB after career in music media business; eldest son, Lachlan, deputy chief operating officer of News Corporation; daughter Elisabeth, former MD of BSkyB, now runs own TV company.

Jays Baroness Jay (Margaret; daughter of former PM James Callaghan) was minister in Tony Blair's government; married 1961-86 to writer, broadcaster and former ambassador to the US Peter; his father, Douglas (1907-96), Labour MP for Battersea North/Wandsworth (1946-83) and president of the Board of Trade; Peter's mother, Margaret (Peggy), ex-member of Greater London Council, sister of the late W John Garnett, ex-director of Industrial Society, father of Tory MP Virginia Bottomley, married to Tory MP Peter.

Amises Kingsley (1922-95), novelist, poet, critic, knighted 1981, married inter alia Elizabeth Jane Howard, novelist; Kingsley's son Martin, novelist and journalist, former literary editor of NS, Booker-longlisted for latest book, Yellow Dog; married to Isabel Fonseca, also novelist.

Additional research by Gavin Sheridan

Post your comment

Please note: you will need to login or register before you can comment on the website