KEY POINTS:
It was an emotional day. One on which the normal laws of politics were suspended.
Tony Blair was cheered out of the House of Commons with a standing ovation that broke all the rules. Earlier, his double bed, running machine and exercise bike were removed from the front
door of Number 10 in the full glare of the TV cameras.
It began for the outgoing Prime Minister with a final Commons joust with Conservative leader David Cameron. Sprinkled amid briefings on the floods and his new job as international envoy to the Middle East were a few jokes.
He feigned exasperation when a eurosceptic MP demanded a referendum on a EU treaty. He retorted that all he could say was: "Au revoir, Auf wiedersehen. Arrivederci."
Even to the end, Blair was shadowed by Iraq. Anti-war protesters gathered outside the gates of Downing Street, joining people protesting against health cuts - a reminder of two isssues at the top of new Prime Minister Gordon Brown's in-tray.
In the Commons, Iraq also loomed large. The chamber fell silent when a sombre Blair paid tribute to the latest servicemen to die in Iraq and Afghanistan. He praised the dedication of Britain's armed forces. "I have never come across people of such sustained dedication, courage and commitment. I am truly sorry about the dangers they face today in Iraq and Afghanistan."
But the overall mood was favourable to Blair. Cameron paid a generous tribute to him and wished his family well. "That's nice," said Cherie Blair, sitting in a gallery high above the chamber with her four children, including 7-year-old Leo.
"That's it, the end," an emotional Blair concluded in a brief farewell statement at the end of Prime Minister's Questions. Brown patted Blair on the back and led an unprecedented two-minute standing ovation by Labour MPs. Only a few Tories joined in at first but Cameron waved his troops to their feet.
Several women Labour MPs were in tears, including Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, and Jacqui Smith, the Chief Whip. "It was like a wedding and a funeral rolled into one," one minister said. A diehard ultra-Blairite added: "What have we done? We will miss him."
As he walked back to Number 10 to say a final farewell to his staff, a group of schoolchildren and visitors broke into spontaneous applause.
Despite the outbreak of political consensus, normal hostilities resumed immediately Blair left. Just outside the chamber, Labour MPs greeted their surprise new recruit, Quentin Davies, who defected this week. But some Tories could not disguise their anger. Alistair Burt told Davies sharply: "You are dishonest. You are a wretched man. You are a wretched 24-hour hero." Davies replied: "Don't be stupid" before other MPs intervened to break up the argument.
The carefully choreographed day went mostly to plan. There was an unscripted remark from Cherie Blair as the Blairs left Number 10 to go to Buckingham Palace for the Prime Minister to tender his resignation. "I don't think we'll miss you," she told the media with a smile. And when the Blairs left the Palace after less than half an hour, an egg was thrown at their Jaguar car.
The spotlight was moving quickly on to Brown. He emerged with his wife Sarah in a Treasury building, lined with staff who applauded him.
The Browns spent 55 minutes with the Queen, travelling to the Palace in his Vauxhall Omega but leaving in a Prime Ministerial Jaguar. At Downing Street, he looked nervous as he approached the microphone to address the cameras. It was a low-key affair, a deliberate contrast with the flag-waving crowds of "ordinary people" - actually mostly hand-picked party members - who lined Downing Street when Blair took office 10 years ago. His message was simple: he would lead "a new government" which would provide "change" and promised "a government of all the talents."
There was an awkward pause at the famous black front door, as Brown appeared to hesitate over how long to linger for the photographers who will now follow him everywhere. Downing Street staff took pictures of Brown from the window with their mobile telephones as he addressed the media.
Led by Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, the staff crowded into the lobby and applauded Brown as he entered the building. He set to work immediately, addressing the troops. "I don't want to be called anything other than Gordon," Britain's new Prime Minister said, going further than his predecessor's "call me Tony" edict to his Cabinet in 1997, which did not apply to staff.
Brown told his new team he knew it had been "an emotional day" for them because they had said goodbye to "a great leader and a great family".
He added it had been "an interesting day" for him. "It's not every day you meet the Queen at 1.30pm, become the Prime Minister at 2pm, speak to the President at 3pm, and get told by Sarah to put the kids to bed at 7pm."
There were telephone calls to George W. Bush, the United States President; Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President; Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister. He also had brief chats with Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader.
As Brown began work on his Cabinet reshuffle, Blair was coming to terms with life outside Downing Street as he headed to his Sedgefield constituency to announce he was also standing down as an MP. Blair had to carry his own bag at Kings Cross as he boarded a train for Darlington. The two friends-turned-rivals, whose fortunes have been bound together for so long, had finally diverged.
- INDEPENDENT