Aren’t counterfactuals great? For somebody who has explored the countless different paths that British politics could have taken, The Prime Ministers Who Never Were is a dream.

Despite its brevity and simplicity, Francis Beckett edits an imaginative book penned by creative authors who delve into the fantasy premierships of Austen Chamberlain, Oswald Mosley, Neil Kinnock, John Smith (the most legendary of ‘what if’ PMs) and many more.

Writers offer condensed stories rather than dense texts that are surprisingly varied in style, with some adopting a more historical tone instead of a preferred casual one.

To top off this compact tome, a short foreword supplied by the late Denis Healey (himself included as a chapter) is joyfully apt.