The most significant political event in Britain this weekend was David Beckham’s pre-World Cup party. And no, Beckham and his wife, "Posh Spice," aren’t planning on running for office. The party’s significance stems from the fact that the editor of Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper—Britain’s biggest selling paper—invited David Cameron and his wife to accompany her.

The Sun holds an almost mystical place in the British political imagination. The paper was a cheerleader for Margaret Thatcher’s government and the political class believes that it was crucial to the Tories surprise election victory in 1992 under her successor John Major. Throughout the campaign the Sun mercilessly bashed the Labour leader Neil Kinnock, culminating in an election-day front page that declared: “If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.” The next day, with the Tories triumphant, the Sun rushed to claim credit with a front page that trumpeted “It’s the Sun Wot Won it.”

Scarred by this experience, Tony Blair made courting Murdoch and the Sun a top priority when he became Labour leader. He even flew half way round the world to address a News Corp conference. His reward: The Sun’s backing, which undoubtedly accentuated the Labour landslide in 1997. While in government, Blair has worked hard to keep the Sun on his side. If the paper was to defect to Cameron’s Conservatives once Blair is replaced by Gordon Brown, it would be seen as a major blow to Labour’s chances for a fourth term.

So why would the Sun change horses? Part of Murdoch’s genius is that he always jumps at the moment when people can’t tell if his newspapers are following or leading public opinion. There is no doubt that Cameron is now the flavor of the month and that he’s a far better celebrity cum politician than his main rival Gordon Brown, who wouldn’t be seen dead at a bash like Beckham’s.  Cameron’s Conservatives also share Murdoch’s Euro-skeptical and pro-American world view. As Matthew Parris pointed out in The Times, also a Murdoch paper, this weekend, “we could be just a few years from a Cabinet in which the Prime Minister, the Foreign and Defence Secretaries, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are to the right of Margaret Thatcher in their view of Britain’s place in the world.”