As the saying goes, you wait forever for a bus and then two come at once.

This could also apply to political resignations in Northern Ireland, where the Ulster Unionists lost their leader in the past week alone and the SDLP is now causing unrest.

Sources close to Colum Eastwood said his departure from the party leadership would be much smoother than that of his former opposition partners at Stormont.

Although the news may come as a surprise to many, there has been talk in SDLP circles for some time that Colum Eastwood was feeling a little burnt out.

And with the Westminster election over and any further elections not for another three years, it seemed as good a time as any to call it a day and resign of his own accord.

He will defend the Westminster seat of Foyle, which he won again at the recent general election, and is expected to help the party’s New Ireland Commission, which he set up.

There is only one obvious choice to succeed Mr Eastwood: his colleague on the Green Bench, Claire Hanna.

For the MP who once nearly severed ties with her party after Colum Eastwood entered into a short-lived “partnership” with Fianna Fáil, the moment of truth has come.

According to party rules, only Ms Hanna and the party’s eight MPs are allowed to run for chairmanship.

And a senior source said they would be “amazed” if it ended up being a competition instead of a coronation for Claire Hanna.

Mr Eastwood will no doubt be questioned by reporters on this on Thursday, but he will also be asked to account for his time at the helm of the SDLP.

Apart from a brief glimmer of hope in the 2019 Westminster election, the party has struggled to win in almost every election during his time in office – and there have been plenty of them over the past nine years.

Can Mr Eastwood seriously claim that he has left the party in a better state than when he took it over, and what advice will he give to his future successor who faces the same unenviable task?