Alongside quarantines, social distancing, and the never-ending torture of working from home, loneliness has been exacerbated by the shutdown of public institutions, the rising death toll of people’s loved ones, and mass redundancies. This is all against the age old backdrop of insecure housing, a broken mental health system, a corrupt Tory government, and rising xenophobic, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic hate crimes – the list goes on. In an attempt to tackle the increasing crisis of loneliness, in 2018, the government appointed the world’s first ever Minister for Loneliness, following the findings of Jo Cox’s Loneliness Commission Report. Since its establishment, the role has been held by Conservatives Tracey Crouch, Mims Davies, and now House of Lords member Diana Barran.