The heroic benignity of the unperson. Welcome back, John Major. It is almost eccentric to mention the seven Major years now. William Hague has forgotten them entirely - except as a dim time when people who tend to criticise him committed their own follies. Tony Blair remembers them only tactically in a blur of old statistics and scorn.
Academic wisdom is limited to compiling lists of the departed century's worst prime ministers.
The memory hole yawns wide. And yet, in truth, it's difficult to work your way through Blair's worst month in Blair's worst year without thinking about John Major - because New Labour, in so many ways, was constructed as the antithesis of Major governance. For a supposedly mild, self-effacing family man, substitute a vibrant, powerful family man who pays due tribute to Margaret Thatcher. Where there was once no team playing, let there henceforth be scant pretence of a team - just a strong leader. Where there was doubt, let there be certainty.