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.
