Imagine the scene. You are huddled together with fellow members of the so-called metropolitan liberal elite. Perhaps you are an opinion-former wondering how to make some sense of the past 12 months. Things started to go a little askew in May 2015 when, despite austerity, Labour under Ed Miliband had its worst general election performance since Michael Foot in 1983 and the Tories under David Cameron won an outright majority.

Things really went wrong, however, this year. Until 2016 populists were the heroes of the liberal intelligentsia, left-wing champions of the poor and dispossessed against the cruelty inflicted upon them by the Gradgrind politicians and the bankers.

There was, for these people, much to admire in the tilting against windmills of populists such as Alexis