After days of pressure on the government, Morgan McSweeney’s exit as Number 10’s chief of staff felt inevitable.
As resignation statements go, it made a fair attempt to own his part in a scandal that could still engulf his boss.
It admits his role in advising the Prime Minister to appoint Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador, acknowledges the damage caused, and owns the failure.
It stands up well against a political culture that too often denies responsibility at all costs, even when the evidence screams otherwise.
Other parts of the statement – included here and in full below – landed less well though.
