Mr Layton was earnest but known for being a little clueless and hapless at times. One of my family was snubbed in a group when Mr Layton forgot that the little people were both union members and voters, and his admin reminded him he should run out and say hello to the people he just marched past.

It was a common oversight he made, but he was still beloved as politicians go. It was like an honest fuckup instead of a cruel trend, and ultimately it was fine as it was without malice.

I think Mr Mulcair, on balance, would have made an equally flawed but intelligent and considerate leader, as we’d get a bit of a passionate hothead in exchange for Mr Singh’s common fault of jumping on the “hair guy bad” cheap-shot and special-interest bandwagon a bit much. Same-same.

I’ll always hold dear in my heart the shot of Mr Harper saying something mind-numbingly dumb in QP and a blurry Mr Mulcair laughing uproariously in the background.