If this was a Prime Minister dangling by a thread, then his former ally Sajid Javid may have just been the one to cut it.
The beleaguered, scandal-hit Boris Johnson had dragged himself through a most brutal session of Prime Minister's Questions, the toughest he has ever faced. As well as a pitch perfect, devastating attack from Labour leader Keir Starmer, there were multiple resignation calls from his own back benches.
Battered and bloody, Mr Johnson will have winced as he remembered that the question time he had barely survived would be followed by the official resignation letter of one of his former allies, the outgoing health secretary Sajid Javid.
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It was Mr Javid who began the onslaught last night by confirming his second resignation from a Johnson government. He was swiftly followed out of the door by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
While both men's letters delivered personal and weighty blows to Mr Johnson's character and status, it was today when Mr Javid calmly and carefully delivered the hammer blow.
Rising from his new place on the backbenches - and flanked by supportive colleagues - many will have seen this as a leadership bid. While that may be true or not, what can't be doubted is the power of hearing such powerful criticism of the Prime Minister from a friend and long-time colleague.
Speaking about the behaviour of Mr Johnson and the scandals that have constantly surrounded him, the outgoing cabinet member said: "The reset button can only be switched so many times before you realise something is fundamentally wrong." He added the problem "starts at the top" and "that's not going to change".
Mr Javid said it was "not fair" for ministerial colleagues to "go out every morning to deliver lines that don’t stand up and don’t hold up" and said it had become "increasingly difficult to tread the tightrope between loyalty and integrity" for many of them in recent months. He added: "I will never risk losing my integrity."
Some will point out that Mr Javid has already put that integrity at risk by continuing to support this Prime Minister for so long - and they would have a point. He didn't quit over the Owen Paterson scandal, over the constant party-gate revelations or the myriad of other sordid issues. But he has gone now and as he left, he delivered what could be the final, killer blow.
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