Leading article: Topless and toned

Had you spent the past 18 months trend-spotting, you might have noted the fashion for national leaders – the male of the species, that is – to bare their chests for the benefit of the cameras. The latest to display his muscles for our benefit is the next President of the United States, who was snapped bestriding a Hawaiian beach in his swimming trunks. Time was when such exhibitionism was restricted, in this country at least, to young ladies seeking to distinguish themselves on the third page of certain publications.

Since last summer, though, we have been treated to a topless President of France paddling a canoe in New Hampshire, the then President of Russia riding bare-back bare-fronted, and our very own David Cameron body-boarding in South Africa. Time was when an election victory was ample proof of political virility. Now, it seems, they want to be primitive alpha-male warriors, too. Or are they just trying to tell us they can afford the gym membership?