Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. That’s how David Cameron’s election is likely to feel to a lot of people in local government.

For all the seismic political shifts of the past few days, the fundamentals remain. The chancellor has to find huge cuts in welfare and day-to-day spending as well as £8bn more for the NHS. It’s not hard to guess who will bear the brunt of fiscal consolidation mark II.

But in truth something very important has changed. There is something temporary about first term governments. There is always a chance they might be defeated and their agendas overturned. The same is not true of second terms. David Cameron now has a decade in which to transform Britain. His ideas are going to stick, and they will change what it means to be a council.