The Democratic party took full control of America’s legislative branch on Thursday for the first time since 1994, promising to clean up US politics by introducing the “toughest ethics reform in [America’s] history”.

Nancy Pelosi, the incoming speaker of the House of Representatives and the first woman to hold that job, and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, both said that tackling the congressional “culture of corruption” would be their chief priority during the next few days.