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By Duncan Gardham12:02AM GMT 14 Feb 2007
It was the 1980s and in some strange, New Romantic way the waistcoats and tails may have seemed fashionable.
As members of the Bullingdon dining club, which dates back more than 150 years, David Cameron and his friends were obliged to wear the outfits for their annual photograph.
But within hours of the photo being taken, the 10 young men were wreaking havoc on Oxford, where they were all at university.
One of them, said to be Ewen Fergusson, threw a plant pot through a restaurant window and the police were called.
Some tried to make a getaway but were arrested and thrown in police cells overnight.
"The party ended up with a number of us crawling on all fours through the hedges of the botanical gardens, and trying to escape police dogs," said Boris Johnson, who was among those arrested. "And once we were in the cells we became pathetic namby-pambies."
Twenty years later most of the young men in this photograph are facing their 40s.
Ewen Fergusson is a successful corporate lawyer and Boris Johnson is the shadow spokesman for higher education.
Cameron is the leader of the Conservative Party, who said recently: "Like many young people, I did things when I was young that I should not have done and that I regret."
He was probably referring to his youthful involvement with cannabis rather than the Bullingdon Club, but the destructive activities of the club mean that many of the members have developed an appropriate amnesia. "The blissful sponge of amnesia has wiped clean the slate of memory," said Mr Johnson.
"Until I saw that photograph I had really forgotten all about it," said another former member.
The Bullingdon modus operandi is to book a restaurant under a false name, smash it up, and throw large amounts of money at the upset owners — a form of behaviour which dates back to Victorian times.
Evelyn Waugh parodied the Bullingdon in Decline and Fall as the Bollinger Club and they were no more respected in 2004 when 17 members were arrested accused of destroying one of the rooms at a pub in Fyfield, Oxon.
It was a narrow social background which qualified members to join the club, on the recommendation of others, but if the club does represent anything good it is a sense of friendship and camaraderie.
"They were actually quite discreet. They would take a room and then do whatever they wanted – drinking, vomiting and trashing it," said James Delingpole, who was on the outside looking in at Oxford.
"But they were very smart, rich and clubbable, they really cut a dash. You couldn't not like Dave Cameron – he was very nice, not at all the king of excess."
Bullingdon Club bad boys
1. Sebastian Grigg, 41
• Son of Anthony Ulrick David Dundas Grigg, 3rd Baron Altrincham, and Eliane de Cassagne de Beaufort.
• Educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford, where he studied modern history. Studied for an MBA at the Insead business school in France and joined Lazards investment bank before joining Goldman Sachs.
• Married Rachel Kelly, a journalist, in 1993 and they have five children.
2. David Cameron, 40
• Educated at Eton and Brasenose College Oxford, where he gained a first in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
• Worked at the Conservative Research Department and at the Treasury and Home Office before spending seven years as Head of Corporate Communications at Carlton Television.
• He was elected as Conservative MP for Witney in Oxfordshire in 2001 and became party leader in 2005.
• Married Samantha in 1996 and they live in Notting Hill, West London with their three children.
3. Ralph Perry-Robinson, 40
• Educated at Bryanston in Dorset and Oriel College, Oxford.
• He had a role as a teenager in the film Another Country.
• At Oxford he was renowned, not just for the strange sunglasses, but also for slashing the cork from a champagne bottle with a sword and running around a quad dressed as a monk.
• He is an architect and furniture designer and lives in Wiltshire.
• Married Amanda in 1999 and they have two daughters.
4. Ewen Fergusson, 41
• Son of Scottish rugby player and diplomat Sir Ewen Fergusson.
• Educated at Rugby and Oriel College, Oxford, where he studied modern history.
• Is said to have been responsible for throwing a plant pot through a restaurant window the night after this photograph was taken.
• He is a partner in the banking and finance division of the City law firm Herbert Smith.
• Lives in Kensington, west London.
5. Matthew Benson, 40
• Grandson of the Earl of Wemyss and March.
• Educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford, where he studied modern history.
• Spent three years in international finance with Morgan Stanley and later established a consultancy business. Now works for Scottish property agents Rettie & Co.
• He lives in central Edinburgh with his wife Lulu, and they have three children aged six, eight and 15.
6. Sebastian James, 40
• Son of Lord Northbourne, a Kentish landowner.
• Educated at Eton School and Magdalen College, Oxford
• He is described by friends as an "entrepreneur" who was involved in running a chain of DVD shops called Silverscreen.
• Lives with his wife, Anna in Notting Hill, west London, and Deal, Kent, and they have two daughters.
7. Jonathan Ford, 41
• Bullingdon club president.
• Educated at Westminster and Magdalen College, Oxford where he studied modern history.
• Worked for investment bank Morgan Grenfell before joining the Evening Standard as a financial reporter and then moving to the Financial Times.
• He is a co-founder and deputy editor of the financial website breakingviews.com.
• Married journalist Susannah Herbert in 1999 and they live in Holland Park, west London.
8. Boris Johnson, 42
• Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford where he studied classics and became President of the Union.
• Went on to become a journalist and editor of the Spectator.
• Was elected Conservative MP for Henley in 2001 and is shadow minister for higher education.
• Marriage to Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987 lasted less than a year. He later married Marina Wheeler, a barrister, in 1993, and they have four children.
9. Harry Eastwood, 39
• Educated at Eton and Oxford.
• Worked for Storehouse before setting up Filmbox which aimed to rent videos through vending machines. In 2001 he joined Will Macdonald, an old Oxford friend, to set up TV production company Monkey Kingdom. He is also director of a film production company with Lord Wahid Alli and Rupert Murdoch's daughter, Elisabeth.
• Married Gillian in 1998 and they live in Holland Park, west London.
10. Marc Rowlands, 39
• Educated at Marlborough and Magdalen College Oxford.
• Works as a barrister in London specialising in construction and engineering.
• Married Amanda, a former solicitor, in 1995 and they have four children aged between nine and five.
• Lives in Bath, Somerset and West London.
• Was spotted lunching with golfer Colin Montgomerie's wife before her divorce, although the two denied having an affair.
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