After a mourning period of one day, they moved on to sharpening their elbows in preparation for the upcoming jostling for position.
It was the year in which leaders toppled like skittles in New Zealand.
Key followed a succession of former Labour leaders heading for Parliament's exit signs - Phil Goff fled to Auckland, David Cunliffe on his way to a consultancy, and now David Shearer heading off to South Sudan.
Of them all, Key was the only one who could leave without some resentment at the treatment meted out by his party, caucus and the voters.
There was little fanfare around Shearer's departure, partly because it happened very quickly but also because Labour has long feigned amnesia over Shearer's time as leader - a time when it did him down only to lose 10 points in the polls, from which it has never quite recovered.
Shearer is off to do work more dangerous, more difficult and more worthy than being a politician in New Zealand. His job comes with a squad of 30 bodyguards and armoured vehicles.
He surely deserved a bit more than cheap wine at the press gallery party as a farewell. Labour didn't even give him the dignity of waiting until he had left before they started picking over the bones in his Mt Albert seat.
But Shearer moved on without even a public sniff of bitterness and with words of support for both Labour and leader Andrew Little.
By way of marking the occasion, MP David Clark did tweet a picture from inside caucus of Shearer talking about his new job.
At the edge of the picture was a screen with a tantalising glimpse of the caucus agenda - usually a tightly held secret.
Item One was "apologies". Those have got Labour into trouble in the past. David Cunliffe was too fond of them while Andrew Little was not fond enough and so will end up in the courts for defamation next year.
Item Nine was more intriguing: "Good Ide" was visible. What might Ide be?
Was it "Ides of March," signifying another coup?
Was it "Good Ideologues", a way of rewarding those who exhibited true allegiance to the Labour faith?
Was it a rendition of The Darkness' Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time by Shearer at his last caucus meeting?
Or was it "Good Ideas", the slot in which caucus members played show and tell with their Eureka moments?
High-level sources have since revealed it was the Good Idea Award - a longstanding item on Labour's agenda which must surely have undergone significant stress-testing over the past eight years.
Back in National, the culling was under way. On Sunday, English will set out his new Cabinet. He has begun with a bit of a honeymoon period courtesy of a strong performance at his initial public events. That will make his job easier.
For some there will be a return to ululating and rending of sackcloth, albeit at their own fates rather than Key's this time. They are already falling on their swords in anticipation.
But perhaps the most sorrowful bunch after the events at Parliament this week were the PM's protection squad. In the space of a fortnight they have gone from holidays in Maui to holidays in Dipton.
