The Politician: Netflix release date, trailer, cast and more

If anyone knows how to make the high school hallways into a battlefield of corruption – and possibly murder – it’s Ryan Murphy. The creator of Glee, American Horror Story and Scream Queens has infantalised, dramatised and depicted the problems of today’s youth to the most far-reaching extremes. Archetypes are weapons in the war for popularity, and with The Politician, Murphy takes on the volatile world of school elections in his skewering of American politics.

Tony-winner Ben Platt stars as overachieving student Payton. One day he's going to be President, he believes, but first he needs to conquer the classroom in the election at his prestigious high school.

Petty drama and juvenile tactics characteristic of the 1% abound in the show's trailer, which depicts Payton's attempts to win the sympathy vote by enlisting a terminally ill running mate (Zoey Deutch) and conquering a face-off with his presidential rival (Bohemian Rhapsody’s Lucy Boynton).

Affluent mischief runs in the family too, as Ryan Murphy favourites Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Lange round out the cast playing the parents who are as ruthless as their children.

The Politician has a deft strategy in mind, as ambitious as Payton’s aspirations. Every season will reportedly focus on a political race that Payton undergoes on his way to the White House. With Harvard caught in Payton’s crosshairs, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to predict next season will follow a university election.

With a release date lined up for 27 September on Netflix, the polls are opening imminently for Murphy's razor-sharp satire.