How different will 2020 be? Historians often talk about ‘long decades’, the idea that the defining trends of a given decade (unsurprisingly) escape the neat confines of the dates. So the ‘end of history’ 1990s finished on 11 Sept 2001, the ‘industrial unrest’ 1970s with the miners’ strike in 1984, or the Edwardian era of the 1910s with the cataclysm of the First World War in 1914.

As we enter a new decade with a new Government, it’s worth asking whether we are really seeing a radical break from what went before or whether we’re still stuck in the tail end of the 2010s. Certainly, the Government is keen to signal new intent. With a large majority to work with, Brexit to deliver and a new northern voter base to respond to, they are positioning themselves rhetorically as a radical new Government that will move fast and drive significant reform.