For what it’s worth, the thing I admired most was the way that it invoked such deep and powerful British ideals, images and icons.

This ability to strike so deep in people’s hearts with empathy is the essence of Obama’s magic: the extraordinary thing is he pulls it off wherever he goes - from the Deep South of America to the North of Europe.

In terms of his performance though, although no doubt everyone who was there in the flesh will be raving about it for years to come – and so they should, his presence alone is enough to trade on – watching on the telly I thought he looked tired – not his best – a little on autopilot, re-running an argument he’d played before.

Simon Lancaster is the managing director of Bespoke Speeches. He hosts regular ‘Speechwriter Anonymous’ networking evenings in Westminster’s watering holes

Tags: Barack Obama, Westminster