Some supporters of Ed Miliband likened him to Clement Attlee, and this theme emerged again in the run-up to the 2015 election. ‘Ignore Ed at your peril’ was the usual message. ‘Look what happened in 1945 when they ridiculed Attlee.’

It wasn’t to be, but it’s instructive to think about it the other way round. It’s inconceivable that a Clement Attlee transposed to 2015 would win a general election. In fact, it’s inconceivable that he’d ever get to be a party leader in these casually character-assassinating, hyper-marketised times. Think of the gleeful vitriol in the Tory press. Imagine what the army of gobshites below the line and on social media would make of him.