Jude Law steps into Debrett's while Edwina Currie makes a discreet

HE HAS charmed Hollywood and is one half of this year's most famous celebrity couple - now Jude Law has won a place alongside politicians, peers of the realm and others of the great and good in the ultimate list of who is in and out at the top of British society.

Law is one of 700 new entries in the 2005 edition of Debrett's People of Today alongside the England rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson and Jacqueline Gold, the founder of the sexy underwear chain Ann Summers.

Recognition by the arbiter of the British establishment is not guaranteed to last a lifetime. The former Tory MP Edwina Currie, the television presenter Jamie Theakston and the footballer Paul Gascoigne have been dropped from the 18th annual list of Britons who matter.

Music, business and fashion are well represented. The Mercury prize-winning singer, Ms Dynamite, is included under her real name, Niomi McLean-Daley, in recognition of her musical achievements as well as the role she has played in the battle against gun crime.

Fran Healey, lead singer of Travis and The Prodigy's Liam Howlett also merit inclusion.

The success of Cobra beer, which rose to popularity on the back of an advertising campaign that promised it was "less gassy" has earned the company's chief executive, Karan Bilimoria, a place in the book.

Despite his product being adopted as the favoured brand of "chavs", Christopher Bailey, the creative director of the once- exclusive Burberry label is another new entrant.

"At least they have drawn the line at contestants in reality television shows. It's interesting, not from a snob value, but to see what are their achievements," said Mary Killen, The Spectator columnist.

Although Wilkinson, the England rugby fly-half, has suffered almost constant injury since returning from a triumphant World Cup victory in Sydney in November 2003, he and the rest of the winning squad are included, as well as their former coach, Sir Clive Woodward.

And while their personal lives have led to demotion from the front benches for the former Home Secretary, David Blunkett, and the Conservative MP, Boris Johnson, they are still recognised by Debrett's. But the author and politician Ms Currie has not been so fortunate. Her writing earned her a place in People of Today for many years after her political career ended, but she has now been excluded because "lit-wise she doesn't cut the mustard".

She is joined by faded stars of sport and screen including Sir Jimmy Savile, Bob Holness, host of the cult quiz show, Blockbusters and Natalie Appleton, the former girl band singer who recently whinged for England on the ITV reality show I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here. The footballers Dwight Yorke and David Seaman and the sprinter Dwayne Chambers, who was banned from athletics for two years for using the steroid THG, have also failed to make the grade this year.

People of Today, which was founded in 1988, lists between 25,000 and 32,000 of the highest achievers in the country - 0.05 per cent of the population.

Published annually, it aspires to list the people who "are playing the most influential part in shaping Britain's intellectual, social and cultural life".

The social diarist Adam Helliker said: "Debrett's People of Today is much more real and worthwhile than Who's Who. It is a good reference guide, for example people writing about Jude Law often get his birthday wrong."

"The obvious criticism is that it could become a barometer of what our celebrity- hungry media is concerned about, but it will be interesting to find out what Jude Law considers to be his interests."

WHO'S IN: THE NEW ARISTOCRACY

JUDE LAW

Actor

Hollywood cannot get enough of Law, who has starred in a seemingly non-stop chain of films this year, including Alfie, The Aviator, Sky Captain and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Together with his girlfriend Sienna Miller, he is a regular feature of the celebrity pages. Law, who turns 32 tomorrow, also starred opposite Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain.

Ms DYNAMITE

Singer

Niomi McLean-Daley, aka Ms Dynamite, won the pounds 20,000 Mercury prize in 2002 at the age of 21, with her debut album A Little Deeper, the first solo black female artist to receive the award. She has since picked up a string of awards, including Mobos and Brits. The singer, who started out as a member of the controversial So Solid Crew, is an outspoken advocate of stamping out gun culture.

JONNY WILKINSON

England fly-half

The England and Newcastle fly-half has been plagued with injury since his last-minute drop goal clinched victory at the Rugby World Cup in Sydney in November 2003. The triumph guaranteed the 25-year- old from Surrey hero status. But for the next eight months he was on the sidelines, having neck and shoulder surgery. His England teammates are also included in the list, as well as former coach Sir Clive Woodward.

JACQUELINE GOLD

Businesswoman

As chairman of the lingerie chain Ann Summers, Jacqueline Gold has helped bring "adult" goods into the mainstream, selling sex toys such as the Rampant Rabbit vibrator, as seen in the television series Sex And The City. An advert for the high street store captioned "Ride a cock hoarse" was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, which found it an unsuitable pun on a nursery rhyme.

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