I was at Lambeth Palace a few hours ago, hearing the Archbishop of Canterbury introduce a lecture by dramatically describing the "chaos" and "failure" of the current political moment.
Then I returned home and switched on the News to catch a breaking story that a third minister has resigned from Gordon Brown's cabinet.
The departures of the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith (leaked Tuesday), and the Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, who stood down yesterday, were not fatal. They were tainted by revelations about their expenses claims, and were expected to be sacked in an upcoming cabinet reshuffle.
But the Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, is quite categoric why he is leaving. As long as Brown is in charge, Labor has no chance of winning the election.
"I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more not less likely," he said in a letter to the prime minister.
It is a devastating blow, which -- judging by the shocked reactions tonight -- has caught the Government completely by surprise.
He was acting on his own, and not as part of a rather feeble backbench plot to unseat Brown. But that doesn't matter. Purnell is effectively declaring Brown unelectable.
If others follow his lead, the prime minister could be gone very soon. Labor MPs know they can't win the next election. But they want to hang on to their seats, and most think that's more likely if a new leader takes over and announces an early poll.
But none of them has wanted to make the first move. Now Purnell has.
Never has Gordon Brown been so close to losing office. Anything can happen now.
