I FEAR I may have been too nasty to the next crop of Conservative MPs heading to Westminster and would like to set the record straight.

A few weeks ago, I expressed horror at a survey that found a puny 9% believed MPs had an obligation to send their children to a state school – with 91% happy to go private.

How could MPs too high- and-mighty to use their local school have any commitment to funding them properly for the rest of us, I asked?

Well, that criticism still holds, but a further survey has thrown up more attractive characteristics among David Cameron’s wannabes – trends for which the Tory leader deserves credit.

According to a Times poll of 100 candidates in the most winnable seats, 65% believe gay couples have “exactly the same rights as heterosexuals”, while 52% view multiculturalism as a “good thing”.

These are remarkable turnarounds from the current crop, changes that were unthinkable before the easy-going Mr Cameron pushed so hard to find a different type of Tory.

But that is where the good news ends. Because the rest of the survey confirms that the next generation truly are Thatcher’s Children – no matter that she is 20 years gone.

No fewer than 32 nominated the Iron Lady as their political hero – making her the comfortable winner, ahead of Winston Churchill (26) and the likes of William Wilberforce (8) and Nelson Mandela (6).