Happy Days
Four years ago we were the happiest we've been. Why was that?
Source: Annual Population Survey, Office for National Statistics
What reasons were there to be cheerful back then?
Well, inflation was only 2.3% during this period and unleaded petrol was around 126p a litre.
This was the time of Prime Minister Theresa May and the never-ending saga of a Brexit deal. David Davies was Brexit Secretary with Boris Johnson Foreign Secretary. Both would resign a few weeks later. Jeremy Corbyn was between his 'oh, Jeremy Corbyn!' phase and his 'oh, Jeremy Corbyn' phase as Labour Party leader. He led them to substantial gains in the May 2018 council elections but would lead them to a shattering defeat in the general election 18 months later.
The 2018 World Cup began in June with England eventually reaching the semi-final and Harry Kane winning the golden boot for scoring most goals. The June high spot was a Kane hat trick in the 6-1 defeat of Panama.
Cambridge Analytica filed for bankruptcy having been found to have illegally misused millions of Facebook users' personal data for political purposes.
Gender pay gap reporting was introduced during this quarter in 2018. Research last year suggests that gender pay gap reporting is making a difference with a 19% decline in the difference in pay between men and women.
The weather was hot, hot, hot with it being the warmest May and June since records began. This warm weather made a welcome change following the Beast from the East cold snap earlier in the year.
And of course where would we be without a Royal wedding to bring a collective warm glow to the nation? May 2018 saw the marriage of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle. The story of Harry and Meghan has kept the likes of Piers Morgan and the red tops occupied virtually every day ever since.
So there it is, Brexit wrangling, political upheaval, footballing hopes ultimately dashed, hot weather, dodgy data and Harry and Meghan. Will we ever see those days again?
