Episode 1

Synopsis

Political columnist Anne McElvoy meets leading figures from the new generation at the top of British politics, including Ed Miliband, George Osborne and Nick Clegg, who grew up in the 1980s listening to bands like The Jam.

In the first programme, she traces how the Thatcher years affected them as teenagers - and whether that time is in their minds once more, now that we have Conservatives in power again and acrimonious argument about spending and cuts.

In the second programme, she explores how the Blair years saw them begin their careers in politics and what lessons they now draw from that very different political period, in terms of both spin and substance.

In the final programme, Anne asks how this generation's distinctive life experiences - too young to remember the 1960s and much of the 1970s, but too old to grow up with the internet - will shape our lives over the years to come.

And across the series, she talks to those who have helped to shape the culture these young men and women grew up with - and finds out what they make of the political generation they have helped to mould.

Producer: Phil Tinline.