Peter Hain's resignation in the wake of the Electoral Commission's decision to ask the police to look into donations to his deputy leadership campaign is overdue.
The revelations ruined the government's attempt to gain the upper hand in the New Year, made the whole party seem sleazy and thrust the loans/donations rows back into the public eye.
The PM talking about 'incompetence' really did not help matters.
With his departure comes lots of news stories about the new generation of Labour leaders - Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and James Purnell all favoured with high-profile roles.
But when you look across at the shadow Cabinet, it still makes a lot of Brown's team look like old hands.
Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Theresa Villiers and Nick Herbert all became MPs at the last election.
As did the new Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.
The challenge of the next year for Labour will be to demonstrate to the electorate that they are dynamic and capable of profound change.
It is not even an issue of age as such - after all Ruth Kelly is not yet 40, but it feels like she has been at the heart of the government for many years.
Ed Balls, Douglas Alexander and Ed and David Miliband are all young, but not in any way new. That being said, there does not seem to be a serious rival to Gordon Brown among any of them.
For a decade the Labour party and the public knew that Tony Blair would be succeeded by Gordon Brown. But who will be the next leader?
For the rising stars, the next twelve months will be critical in establishing themselves not so much as the heirs to new Labour but as someone who can take on David Cameron and win.
