From Mr Bean to Mr Has-Been?

So Gordon Brown has got his 42 days, but only thanks to the pristinely selfless and patriotic votes of the Ulster Democratic Unionists.

This humiliating "victory" may prove to have been won at too high a price. There's a well-known saying that one of the risks of asking for what you want is that you might get it. This could well turn out to be true not only of tonight's vote, but of Brown's entire long-coveted premiership.

If I were a Labour MP, I would be seething tonight whichever way I had voted.

What goes around, comes around.