The departure of Peter Mandelson was said to remove an "irritant" for Gordon Brown yesterday and few doubted that Tony Blair's loss is Brown's gain - with the chancellor's position in Whitehall, and on the euro, strengthened by the day's events.

Some suggest Mandelson's willingness to walk was, in part, a result of the continued feuding with his Scottish rival - who regarded Mandelson's role in the coming general election as akin to the office manager. Brown now looks likely to take over as the sole election supremo - making him the central figure in Labour's likely re-election.

However, Brown's wings were clipped when Blair appointed Helen Liddell as the Scottish secretary. The chancellor is known to view Liddell - who is variously dubbed "Stalin's granny" and "Lady Macbeth" - as unnecessarily aggressive in her approach.

Liddell, who served alongside the chancellor at the Treasury, had been written-off as a lost cause - having occupied four government posts since the election.

Her return to Scotland in the post-devolution age may prove difficult, with some dubbing the post a "non-job", although she now enters the cabinet for the first time.