I was right about David Davis and Kieron Dyer Syndrome

I have never seen a politician so diminished by office as David Davis.

— Nick Cohen (@NickCohen4) June 1, 2018

I explained Kieron Dyer Syndrome when discussing the appeal of Dan Jarvis:

In the day when we all believed that England's 'golden generation' (Ferdinand, Campbell, Beckham, Owen, Scholes Butt) was going to win us the 2002 World Cup, there was just one problem. We  had no one to play in an attacking role on the left. 

But there was an answer. Kieron Dyer had broken into the Ipswich side as a teenager and then signed for Newcastle. He looked a great prospect. 

He was injured in the run up to the tournament and could not play in any of the warm up games. But the odd thing was that the less he played, the more certain the pundits became that he was the answer to England's problems. His stock could hardly have stood higher. 

At last Dyer was fit to play for England. And everyone saw that he wasn't very good. 

So maybe Dan Jarvis's growing reputation is a an example of Kieron Dyer Syndrome. Labour must hope this is not the case.

As it turned out Jarvis never did stand as Labour leader and, while still an MP, he is now the elected mayor of the Sheffield City Region.

But this was not the first time I had introduced the concept.

In a Liberal Democrat News column from September 2004 I wrote:

While he was on the back benches, David Davis was the Conservatives' great hope. As shadow home secretary, he is less impressive. 

It reminds you of the way Kieron Dyer became an indispensable part of England's last World Cup team by not being fit for any of the warm up games. 

So when I saw Nick Cohen's tweet above I felt vindicated.