“My initial instinct was always that this was not the moment. I barely see my kids as it is. My son’s just off to secondary school, and my oldest two have had a really tough time with the loss of their mum. We’ve just now found our rhythm as a family, but my younger daughter’s first formed sentence was: ‘Why is daddy always at work?’ It was a pretty reasonable question.” Two days after the election, he gave his decision. “I made it clear that I would want to do my bit in terms of supporting the party, whatever that might be, but that it wouldn’t be as leader.”