Nicola Sturgeon, the second biggest loser

Comeuppance is a dish best served scalding hot. That’s the first thing to be said about this glorious election result. Like Ted Heath, Theresa May asked ‘Who governs Britain?’ and received the answer ‘Preferably not you’. Her election campaign — a word that grants it greater dignity than it merits — will be remembered for decades to come as a classic example of what not to do.

Until yesterday we had thought her victory would be tainted by the fact she had only beaten Jeremy Corbyn; now we might reappraise our view to note that poor Jeremy Corbyn has been such a hapless leader of the Labour party he couldn’t even beat Theresa May.

One lesson is clear: never, ever, take the voters for granted. Never, ever, presume only one result is possible. The British people have a thick contrary streak and they demonstrated as much yesterday. Mrs May seems intent on trying to form a government of some sort but her authority lies in tatters. She is not so much damaged goods as ruined goods.

Other ancient wisdoms must also be discarded. Sometimes campaigns really do matter. Whatever else may be said about him, Corbyn ran a creditable campaign. He offered an alternative, even if it was one that was largely uncosted. The contrast between his gentle demeanour on television and the Jeremy Corbyn portrayed in the popular press was so extreme that many voters, I suspect, couldn’t believe he could be the kind of extremist, in terms of his past associations, the newspapers claimed. He is, of course, but that mattered little in an election that was forced upon a reluctant public by an overbearing, overweening, over-arrogant Conservative party.