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The resignation of Premier Brad Wall came as a surprise as word spread from smartphones to news feeds, coffee rows to workplaces around Saskatchewan. The man who has consistently been Canada’s most popular premier announced that he is stepping down. But it wasn’t unexpected.

With a lifetime passion for politics, nurtured in campaigns as a kid and jobs as a staffer in provincial and federal governments, Wall became an MLA in 1999, leader of the Saskatchewan Party in 2004 and was elected premier in 2007 with subsequent wins in 2011 and 2016.

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While he often signalled that he would serve for 10 years and was insistent that he would not contest a fourth election, many of his supporters were hopeful, if not wilfully blind to Wall’s self-imposed limitation.

Modern history dictates that the shelf life of most political leaders is about a decade, particularly for the good ones who still retain a measure of public popularity, goodwill and affection. The rigours of life in contemporary politics, from social media to the demands of the 24-hour fishbowl, have pretty well limited the endurance of leaders, unlike those of earlier generations when the CCF/NDP’s Tommy Douglas served for 17 years.