The final chapter in the saga of "Mr and Mrs Expenses" came to an ugly end in Hounslow's Civic Hall this morning, at the fag-end of a very long night.
Husband-and-wife MPs Alan and Ann Keen, whose west London constituencies abutted each other, had both sought re-election — but only one made it.
After the embarrassment over their second home allowances, standing again was always going to be a bold move.
A few months ago, acquiring such nicknames appeared to have delivered a fatal blow to their chances. Yet the Labour vote held up more strongly than many expected in a borough the party has controlled for three decades.
Mr Keen survived in Feltham and Heston. Mrs Keen lost her seat in Brentford and Isleworth — but those expecting decapitation were disappointed. Rather, this was the slow death of a thousand paper cuts. However, the extent to which the fiasco has soured the politics of Hounslow was on gruesome show.
As the count ground on through the night, the Keens were nowhere to be seen. They finally turned up minutes before the declaration, surrounded by minders.
She seemed determined to face defeat with brittle good grace while, bizarrely, he seemed no less determined to welcome victory with insult and foul temper.
Mr Keen's speech could have introduced the phrase "sore winner" to the lexicon. He accused his Liberal Democrat opponent from the stage of "lying" — to shouts of "You should be ashamed of yourself" from the floor — and left with a snarl at interviewers.
His wife's result was declared minutes later. After the victorious Conservative, Mary MacLeod, had spoken, Mrs Keen made a speech of restrained grace then joined her husband. They fled down a corridor, photographers were pushed aside, a camera lens hit the floor.
Mrs Jekyll and Mr Hyde, as they now seemed to be, were gone.
