Chelsea Clinton: Are we about to see the first female political dynasty? Amanda Thatcher's poised prose at her grandmother's funeral sent the media into paroxysms . The Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland even mused that a "Republican operative" in the 19-year-old's native America might be watching thinking "wonder if she has political ambitions..." Amanda Thatcher Of course, the US is no stranger to political dynasties. We've had the Roosevelts - ex-presidents Theodore and Franklin - and the most iconic dynasty of all, the Kennedys - Jack, Bobby and Ted to name but a few. Indeed, for 64 years, there was at least one Kennedy in elective office in Washington. Rather less glamorous were the two George Bushes, though Barbara recently scotched the idea of her son Jeb running for president in 2016, saying "we've had enough Bushes." But with the tantalising prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidential tilt, and the even more tantalising - and rather more remote - possibility of Chelsea standing for election, the first female political dynasty would be far more exciting. However, in UK politics, we've generally regarded keeping it in the family with some suspicion. When Ed and David Miliband became the first siblings to sit in the cabinet together since Edward and Oliver Stanley in the 1930s, it was seen as a bit weird, with some commentators suggesting it was redolent of North Korean politics. The idea of one Miliband keeping the seat warm for the other, Kennedy-style, was out of the question. So the older Miliband not only left the Commons but the country too. The Milibands So far, the Johnsons - Boris and Jo - are managing to co-exist, but in rather different political spheres. Boris left parliament to become mayor before Jo arrived. But would the public stomach the older Johnson in Number 10, with his younger sibling next door as chancellor? I somewhat doubt it. Jo, Rachel and Boris Johnson It might have been OK for the Salisbury family back in the day. The third marquess was prime minister, and the fourth, fifth and seventh were all in the cabinet. But should today's dynasties be relegated to centuries past? This kind of thing may be fine in the land of the American dream. Where the hereditary principle is a rare aberration, perhaps it's more publicly acceptable. But in the still class-obsessed UK, it's seen as an uncomfortable relic of a bygone, less meritocratic age - another reminder of the challenge of getting to the top in politics if you don't have the right parents and the right contacts.