I have written in the past about the sympathy all political participants should feel for the side that goes down - for "the footsoldiers who persevered in the face of consistent, horrifying polls, the volunteers who just kept plugging away for their beloved Party, and will now be feeling as wretched as can be."
I loathed the last government, and what it stood for. I campaigned against it. But I have no doubt that - no matter how wrongheadedly - they genuinely believed that they were doing what was best for our country, they worked hard for that, and, unlike some others in Parliament, the Labour Party had and has a coherent political narrative and set of principles which made and makes them worthy opponents.
I also thought that Gordon Brown spoke with a singular dignity last night as he conceded office. Nothing so became him in office as the manner of his leaving it, and I wish that he had governed in that style, but that moment should nevertheless be recognised. And I note that the first time I ever saw a photograph of his children was in this morning's papers, capturing them leaving Downing Street.
