Faced with the awkward arithmetic of the last general election result, he has ensured that Britain could navigate the world's financial storm with a stable government. Despite his MPs being outnumbered by Tory MPs by more than five-to-one, he has secured some important policy victories, such as raising millions of low-paid people out of tax.

Were we starting from scratch – in the wake, say, of civil war or revolution – the issue would barely qualify for the label ‘controversy’. Of course every legislator would be elected. Anybody who proposed an upper house containing appointees and a smattering of men whose great, great, great grandfathers had been royal courtiers would be dismissed out of hand.

There is one figure in a poll conducted this week by YouGov-Germany that could turn David Cameron green with envy.