Only 24 hours earlier he was vowing to stay on as the leader despite speculation he would face a leadership spill after his party’s disastrous performance in Saturday’s Orange byelection.

Certainly, some of his party members were baying for his blood, even if some were only doing so privately.

The view was they did not have the numbers to topple him. What changed?

Orange had been touted as a litmus test for Mr Grant, Premier Mike Baird and their Coalition Government after months of anti-government anger over council mergers and the greyhound racing ban.

Many condemned the policies as an over-reach by an overly confident – even arrogant – government. Mr Baird and Mr Grant were generally dismissive of critics of those and other unpopular policies.

The message from the grassroots was the Nationals were ignoring constituent concerns. The government eventually back-flipped on their greyhound stance, with Mr Baird and Mr Grant saying they were listening to the people.

The back-flip turned into a belly flop on Saturday.

Mr Grant, to a degree, was caught in a cleft stick. The Nationals are in government with an urban-focused partner, meaning he and his members had to toe the line.

Nationals MPs generally hold electorates by large margins … seats are safe, supporters glued to them. Governments often believe they can push through policies which might upset their own because of that loyalty.

The US election, Brexit, the reincarnation of Hansonism and now Orange have shown that is no longer true.

Mr Grant was first elected as an MP in 2011. He had a meteoric rise to Cabinet, Nationals leader and Deputy Premier.

As leader he was responsible for his party’s performance. He honoured that and quit, a move often fiercely resisted by some politicians.

For that, he deserves respect.

Mr Baird and Mr Grant were a close team so the Premier has some responsibility in his deputy’s demise.

It will be no solace to Mr Grant, but some Liberals have been rumbling about Mr Baird and government decisions and there has been speculation about the political domino theory.