This year saw the prime minister sharpening his argument against Nigel Farage and - by extension - against those within his own party, from the cabinet down, who fret he's not the best frontman for the fight that beckons with Reform UK. There is a defiance and steeliness to the prime minister; with this performance, he reminded his internal critics just who it was who won that whopping majority in the election 15 months ago.
The victory was achieved through hard graft and sending teams of MPs and other activists for weeks to campaign hard in a seat which had become an almost existential question for the Labour Party.
