It was in 2010 that then-London mayor Boris Johnson used his Telegraph column to lambast Labour PM Gordon Brown for "holing himself" inside Downing Street following his election defeat, comparing him to an “illegal settler in the Sinai desert” that had “lashed himself to a radiator”.
The journalist-turned-politician would doubtless enjoy the irony of finding himself in a very similar position 12 years on, defying calls to immediately stand down as Prime Minister - including those in his own party - and instead vowing to hang on until a successor is chosen in October.
The talk in Westminster in recent days has been devoted to the runners and riders trying to succeed him in what is sure to be a crowded field. But could the next PM be a Northern MP, the first since Tony Blair held the office while representing Sedgefield in County Durham?
An early frontrunner is former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, representing Richmond in North Yorkshire. Two other MPs with north-west constituencies have ruled themselves out- Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who represents Wyre and Preston North in Lancashire, and Rossendale and Darwen MP Jake Berry, a former Northern Powerhouse minister, both announced they wouldn't be entering the contest on Saturday.
Other hopefuls with Northern links remain in the race, and are hoping to impress their fellow MPs enough to be put before Tory members later this summer.
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But how likely are they to continue the focus on regional inequalities and bridging the North-South divide as part of the 'levelling up' agenda promoted by Boris Johnson?
Rishi Sunak:
One of the main front-runners, attracting odds of 4/1 with several bookmakers, the North Yorkshire MP and former chancellor’s rise from relative obscurity to household name came as he turned on the spending taps to protect jobs through the furlough scheme when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
His calm and measured delivery during televised Covid briefings, and his viral declaration of love for a popular soft drink, will have endeared him to those perhaps not always plugged in to the political goings-on, as well as his resignation on matters of principle on Tuesday.
But his stock took a tumble more recently following disclosures that his wife had non-dom status for tax purposes, and criticism that he was too slow to respond to the cost-of-living crisis.
Amongst Northern leaders he is also perceived to have been one of the brakes on the levelling up agenda, depriving vital Northern schemes like Northern Powerhouse Rail of funds while in control of the Treasury purse-strings.
Born in Southampton to Indian parents who had emigrated from East Africa, Sunak was selected as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks) in October 2014. The constituency, where locals seemingly back him to be the next leader, had previously been held by former Tory leader William Hague and is is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country.
He and his wife own a £2m Grade-II listed Georgian manor house in the picturesque North Yorkshire village of Kirby Sigston.
Northern rating: 5/10
Chances of winning 8/10
Sajid Javid:
Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid has thrown his hat in the ring to stand for Conservative leader. The 52-year-old MP, who was first elected in 2010, rose through the ranks after being close to ex-Chancellor George Osborne.
Javid was born in Rochdale as one of five sons to Pakistani immigrant parents. His father, Abdul, was a bus driver who arrived in the country in 1961 with £1 in his pocket. The family then moved to Bristol as his parents took over a shop, living in a two-bedroom flat above.
He is perhaps buoyed by the response to his clinical farewell speech in the Commons on Wednesday, after his and Mr Sunak’s double-resignation effectively kickstarted the slew of departures from government, thus hastening Mr Johnson’s demise.
He held ministerial roles in housing, business and culture before becoming chancellor, and then health secretary in the middle of the pandemic. And as Health Secretary he spoke about his desire to link the focus on healthcare inequality to the Government's wider levelling up agenda as he visited places like Blackpool in Lancashire.
Northern rating: 6/10
Chances of winning: 7/10
Liz Truss:
And Leeds-educated Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has made little secret of her leadership ambitions, with a series of high-profile interventions and photo opportunities in which she appeared to be channelling late PM Margaret Thatcher.
On the BBC's Question Time last night in Barnsley, Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison backed Ms Truss, saying she had "a proper vision" and would "carry this country forward".
The Foreign Secretary kept her powder dry as the Tory top brass turned on the mortally wounded Prime Minister, despite being a Johnson loyalist, though she did cut short a foreign trip to Indonesia to head back to Westminster as he announced his resignation.
She has the experience of working across many Whitehall departments, while her hard line on Ukraine, insisting Russian forces must be driven from the country, and threats to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU play well with sections of the party.
Her father was a professor of pure mathematics at the University of Leeds, while her mother was a nurse, teacher, and member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She was educated at Roundhay School, a comprehensive school in Leeds, but lived in Canada for a year, and contrasts the competitive attitude in schooling there with the "trendy" education she received in West Yorkshire.
Northern rating: 4/10
Chances of winning: 8/10
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