Prime Minister Boris Johnson 's official resignation marks the end of a three-year term marred by scandal and sleaze.
Despite desperately trying to cling on, Boris' hand was finally forced after MPs walked out in their droves following a shock exit by his right-hand men, Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid.
And throughout what has been one of the most dramatic terms in history, a little rescue dog called Dilyn has been quietly living his life.
Jack Russell cross Dilyn was adopted as a puppy by Boris and his wife Carrie, and became a frequent presence around Number 10.
But all hell broke loose in May 2021 when Boris' former advisor Dominic Cummings sensationally claimed the PM was slow in his Covid response because of a row about the dog.
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According to Cummings - who is famed for taking a banned 500-mile round trip to Banard Castle in lockdown - on the morning that the government was trying to decide its Covid strategy, two dramas hit.
The first was Donald Trump threatening to bomb the Middle East, the second was an article in the Times which claimed Dilyn was going to be 'rehomed' because of problems with his training.
Dog lover Carrie was furious and penned a rare twitter response, branding the report: "A load of total crap!"
"There has never been a happier, healthier and more loved dog than our Dilyn," she fumed. "100% bs. The people behind this story should be ashamed of themselves."
Cummings claimed that behind the scenes, Carrie went 'crackers', and accused her of distracting Boris at a crucial time with 'trivial' matters.
Giving evidence at Parliament, he said: "It sounds so surreal it couldn’t possibly be true – that day the Times had run a huge story about the Prime Minister and his girlfriend and their dog. And the Prime Minister’s girlfriend was going completely crackers about this story and demanding that the press office deal with that.
"So we had this completely insane situation in which part of the building was saying, 'are we going to bomb Iraq?', part of the building was arguing about whether or not we were going to do quarantine or not do quarantine, [and] the Prime Minister has his girlfriend going crackers about something completely trivial."
It wasn't the first time Dilyn would be used as a weapon in the war between Carrie and Cummings, which ended with his sacking in November 2020.
According to the Daily Mail, Cummings didn't just dislike Carrie - he also bore a grudge against the dog after he apparently 'humped his leg' at Chequers and humiliated him.
A source claimed: "Cummings was chatting away to his friends when Dilyn ran up to him and mounted him, leaving him absolutely furious. He was raging as he tried to get the dog off of him.
"Everyone was laughing – and Dom doesn't like being laughed at. After that he would b*tch about poor Dilyn to anyone who'd listen."
Furthermore, the article claimed the mischievous mutt had run amok at the Prime Minister's country pile, causing damage that ran into four figures.
A second insider said: "I was at a meeting where Dilyn darted under the PM's feet with an old book in its mouth. The PM shouted, 'For God's sake, I'm going to get another £1,000 repair bill! Someone please shoot that f****** dog!' Luckily, Carrie wasn't around to hear him.
They added: "I don't think he meant it literally."
The pup is also said to have cocked a leg over the handbag of aide Katy Lam, who left No 10 soon after.
A Downing Street spokesman insisted the two incidents were not linked.
And that doggy drama was just the beginning of a long chain of events that would eventually lead to Boris resigning against his will.
As Cummings tried to settle scores, he claimed Boris had attempted to get Tory donors to pay for the £112,000 renovations of his Downing Street flat.
A subsequent inquiry cleared Boris of any wrongdoing after accepting he didn't know what was happening, and that he coughed up the cash himself once he did.
But by then, the leaks had become uncontrollable. Tales of illegal lockdown parties sparked a vote of no-confidence - which Boris survived despite 41 per cent turning against him.
Next came the Chris Pincher scandal, which saw the MP resign as deputy chief whip amid allegations he assaulted two guests at the Tory private members' club, the Carlton Club, the night before.
Boris stood by him, insisting he hadn't been aware of any 'specific allegations' when he hired him. But it later emerged Boris had been aware of concerns about his conduct dating back to 2019 and he was forced to make a humiliating apology.
What followed was a mutiny, with chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid handing in shock resignations on Tuesday night. Cabinet ministers Brandon Lewis and Simon Hart followed, along with education secretary Michele Donelan.
Boris then sensationally fired housing minister Michael Gove after he apparently suggested it might be time for the PM to step down.
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