There was unsustainable tension at the heart of this, Theresa May’s final, Prime Minister’s questions.
Jeremy Corbyn had to both acknowledge Mrs May’s public service while decrying what she did during her time in office.
Mrs May had to show she was leaving with dignity while also reminding her backbenches she had not been a total disappointment.
The Labour leader started with the niceties by noting that being a leader could be a lonely job which also took its toll on your families.
He then rattled off, more in sorrow than anger, the list of failures on Mrs May’s watch from the rise in child poverty, the rise in A&E waiting times, to the rise in violent crime.
The Prime Minister responded by listing her achievements which took linger to read out than they merited.
They included bringing “joy” to the faces of every couple who had been able to buy their own home.
This was a curious boast when more than one million people are on the housing waiting list and the dream of home ownership has never been so remote for young people.
Corbyn followed with a cleverly crafted questioned that welcomed action on fixed odds betting terminals and the introduction of the child funeral fund.
These were, it did not need saying, all Labour manifesto commitments.
The Labour leader then had a stab at getting Mrs May to disown Boris Johnson by asking how he would succeed on Brexit where she had failed.
Mrs May replied by accusing Mr Corbyn of “playing party politics” when it came to Brexit.
She has used this attack line before and it has not improved with repetition, not least because putting your party’s interests first is a central part of the job description of the leader of the opposition.
It was also entirely in keeping with a PM who has responded to 4,500 questions in the last three years and answered hardly any of them.
Both leaders were wrestling with the desire to be statesmanlike while at the same time seeking to score the final point.
In the end the brutal side of politics inevitably won out.
The Prime Minister signed off by saying that she had accepted her time as party leader had come up. “Perhaps the time is now for him to do the same,” she said.
It was a snide, if effective, parting shot that spoke of the deep loathing between the two leaders.
The fact it was cheered by the same Tory backbenchers who had bundled Mrs May from office tells you a lot about the venal nature of politics.
David Cameron also used his final PMQs to urge Corbyn to go.
It has so far proved equally unsuccessful.
