To the victor, the spoils. Today should be all about Boris Johnson and the Conservatives’ triumph at the polls but in fact it is also as much about Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party’s devastating defeat.

As the Tories smashed through Labour’s “red wall” in the north and Midlands, it was clear that the electorate had categorically rejected Mr Corbyn and his hard-left agenda. Both the man and his message were seen by voters — particularly in Labour’s heartlands — as equal parts unpatriotic and profligate.

Labour must now decide whether to continue down the left-wing path to annihilation or move back to towards the centre and have a chance of achieving power again. “This should be the electric shock,” one former cabinet minister says.