It isn't just the prime minister who looks older and wiser.
All sensible ministers look as if they've had the corners knocked off.
There is a new caution and circumspection born of three years discovering how very hard it is to steer a rowing boat from Whitehall, let alone the ship of state. They look forward to next week's cascade of spending money from the chancellor with a certain wariness. Start back at the glorious dawn. Take from your pocket that crumpled card with the Five Pledges and contemplate its very modest proposals. Remember that they were the result of extraordinary New Labour discipline, promising very little but certain to deliver.