Eagle was due to take to the stage at midday and explain why she wanted to challenge Jeremy Corbyn to be Labour leader. There were special banners and it was set to be the main politics story of Monday, dominating the news.

Unfortunately, just 20 minutes before her speech was due to begin, word reached the journalists in the room that Andrea Leadsom was about to make a statement and drop out of the Tory leadership race – leaving Theresa May as the only remaining contender to be the new prime minister.