There is always a risk of speaking too soon, but we might be about to enjoy a period of political calm. Or at least some calm before another storm.
There is now a route to settling the Andy Burnham question once and for all. The Manchester mayor will either win Makerfield in his Greater Manchester backyard with the surreal message – “Vote Labour to bin the Labour leader”.
Or he will lose it to Reform and go looking for a retirement pursuit such as an allotment to tend.
It is unlikely now that any more Cabinet ministers will follow Wes Streeting’s example and resign, which means Keir Starmer won’t have to either.
Nor will the other leadership contenders in the frame this week, such as Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband, enter the fray until the burning Burnham question is put to rest.
This allows the PM to get on with running the country and a whisker of a chance over the next month or so of proving he really is the best man for the job.
It’s about the best he could have hoped for because the alternative was to be out on his ear almost immediately.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed was on message as a Starmer cheerleader when he told GB News this morning: “If you keep chopping and changing prime ministers, it doesn’t solve the problems. I don’t agree with what Wes said.”
The Makerfield by-election is likely to be held on June 18, the week when the PM will be away at the G7 summit in France, so at least he will have something else to think about.
And he will be privately hoping that last week’s local election results will prove to be as bad for Mr Burnham as they were for his councillors.
Reform captured the eight Makerfield wards with 50.4 per cent of the vote to Labour’s 22.7 per cent, easily enough to wipe out Labour’s 5,399 majority.
It's Makerfield or break for Andy Burnham as puts the most surreal pitch to voters | Getty Images
But if anyone can defeat Reform, then Andy Burnham can. He is the only senior Labour politician with an approval rating above the water at +4.
Mr Starmer is drowning on -46. And if Mr Burnham can defeat Reform and the PM realises the game is up, he could enter Downing Street and be measuring up for carpets and curtains before Parliament breaks up for Summer recess.
Nigel Farage, of course, promises to throw everything Reform has got at the seat. Which is ironic when you think about it.
He bigged up last week's elections as the way the country could rid itself of Keir Starmer. Now he must go hell for leather to stop the one man certain to do it