OUT with the old in with the new.

If there is one certainty in politics, it is that all political careers come to an end.

And depending on the circumstances, it can be a bloody business: If you have been running the country for a few years, it's not surprising that leaders find it hard to let go.

The trick is to find a way to show humility at the same time as reminding people of all the good things you have done - usually a subjective list.

Not for the first time, Boris Johnson decided to ignore the political playbook and do things on his terms.

The departing Prime Minister opted for petulance rather than modesty, refusing to even mention the word ‘resign’ in his, er, resignation speech and then took to task the MPs who were forcing him out of office. Gracious it wasn’t.

You half expected him to vault over the the protective railings around Downing Street and sprint to the Thames, throwing the keys to Number 10 into the murky waters and shouting ‘na na na na na.’

A smattering of ultra loyal MPs were rounded up to clap and cheer his farewell speech; he could have read out the cooking instructions on a supermarket ready meal and they would have hollered their appreciation.

Spin doctors and PR consultants have probably already filed the speech in the ‘how not to resign’ folder for use in training courses.

It’s tricky, admittedly, to suggest to anyone, let alone a Prime Minister, that it maybe better to dial down the recriminations.

But Boris always has done it his way and that has been the problem.

As for Tom Tugendhat’s bid, the campaign has had what you could call an impressively slick soft launch.

Writing in today’s Telegraph he has adopted key buzzwords designed to appeal to a wider audience than just the parliamentary party and rank-and-file activists.

And most importantly, of course, to keep some distance from the old regime - so we have a heavy sprinkling of ‘new’,’renewal’, 'a clean start’. There is also an emphasis on ‘trust’ which for many has been absent from politics in the past two years or so.

The biggest challenge in what looks like being a crowded field is to keep in the race and to be one of the final two MPs to go out to the ballot of party members.

WITH the sacking of Michael Gove as the levelling up minister, the Prime Minister has turned to the Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark to take on the initiative. On one level this is an astute appointment.

There has been some concern at the focus on the so-called red wall seats, with the suspicion that it might see resources diverted away from counties like Kent.

The MP will now be in pole position to speak up for investment in other regions. Like Kent...

ONE of the unresolved mysteries of the multiple resignations of ministers and aide was whether the Maidstone MP Helen Grant was preparing to relinquish her role as Envoy on Girls Education.

We shall never know: Boris's capitulation came along too quickly.