In the end, history did not repeat itself. Labour was unable to close the double figure Conservative lead at the start of the campaign – as it did in 2017 – and the Government was returned with a large majority, more than enough to see it through the next five years.

Although some sterling work was undoubtedly done behind the scenes, local government in general and local government leaders in particular did not feature strongly for any political party during the election campaign. A real pity, because local government, across the parties, has some of the finest political leaders in the country and their voice would have added greatly to the quality of the election debate.