As wind and rain battered Greater Manchester on Thursday afternoon, the weather seemed to match the mood of the nation. Following a combative Prime Minister's Questions and a chaotic evening in the House of Commons, a day earlier, Liz Truss announced her resignation at 1.30pm - all but officially bringing her tumultuous reign as Prime Minister to an end after just 44 days.
Of course, for real people living in each of the city-regions 10 boroughs, the parliamentary pantomime that has unfolded in the past few days and weeks have diverted the news agenda away from the real issue of the rocketing cost of living and how people are going to afford to feed themselves and heat their homes, with winter approaching. With the country's leadership now very much back in the air, those struggling will have to wait even longer to hear whether a new Prime Minister has any realistic ideas of how to help alleviate the crisis.
Despite the inclement weather, there were still quite a few shoppers in Bury town centre as the news broke about Ms Truss' resignation. It meant that for some people, the news was inadvertently broken to them when Manchester Evening News approached them for a chat.
