Ben Wallace: Captain Fantastic heads south of the border
It had something to do with his rather secretive military background - earning a mention in dispatches after a brush with a terrorist unit in Northern Ireland and leaving the Scots Guards after being wounded during a gun battle.
It also had something to do with his energy and drive - but was probably more to do with his ability to attract the topless model, Jo Guest, to open a Tory fte in rural Aberdeenshire.
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Hide AdMr Wallace, 31, will not be standing for the Scottish parliament in 2003, preferring to track down a safe seat for Westminster south of the Border.
He has not always been on-message, a habit which has often exasperated his party leaders, but he has always been a colourful, quotable, young Tory - and there are not very many of those around.
For a man who likes gangster films, action thriller novels and My Fair Lady, yet whose dress sense is reminiscent of the 1920s, he is not a typical MSP.
The Scottish parliament will certainly be a quieter and more restrained place without him.