Ruth Davidson has quit the Scottish Conservative party, blaming both her feelings about Brexit and becoming a mother for her departure.
In her resignation letter she writes: 'Those of us who are lucky enough to serve in political leadership accept the toll it takes but there's always a part of us which can never accept the effect it has on family and friends too.
'As we go forward to an incredibly turbulent time in UK and Scottish politics, I want to make clear the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party is in great shape and will continue to hold the SNP to account
'Scotland's best interests will always be as part of the UK and everyone in the party - from the leader to our activists - are determined to make that case every day from now until the general election.'
Davidson's resignation letter is (probably deliberately) obtuse, mentioning both motherhood and Brexit as her motivations for going. She's keeping her powder dry, allowing people to focus on her motherhood as the reason for her departure, above her opinions on Brexit and Boris's handling of it.
The narrative that RD was struggling to combine motherhood and work started yesterday when The Sun published a quote from an inside source, saying: 'She [Ruth] has been under huge pressure as a new mum. Nobody really fully understands how your life is going to change as a parent until it happens. Ruth is no different in this respect.
'She's tried to juggle motherhood with being the very high-profile leader of the opposition in Scotland, and it's taken its toll. All of this has been made more difficult with the current political climate, where she's found herself at increasing odds with the new leadership in London.'
Given that Davidson has previously been heralded as a role model for women who want to have it all, her departure is disappointing. It's not her fault, but this very public move will compound the existing myth that women are less capable of working when they have babies.
That said, if Ruth Davidson really has quit her job because it is incompatible with motherhood (rather than because of her feelings towards Boris and Brexit) then we need to take a long hard look at how the system works, because it is a travesty to lose talented women because of a system which will not allow them to be mothers and have a career.
Of course balancing a political career with motherhood is tough. Tulip Sadiq demonstratedthat when she put off her c-section to vote. The whole system needs to be reworked if it's going to suit women who have children.
But then, isn't that true of any job? Being a mum and having a job is often a story of being spread too thin across too much surface, feeling like you're failing at both, never quite spending enough time on your work or your children.
The working world was designed when one person worked outside the home and the other raised the children. That is no longer the world that we live in. Which is why we need flexible working, the option to work from home and where possible on-site childcare for offices.
The fact that we are willing to accept motherhood as a get-out-of-jail-free card is problematic within itself. It's like we're all saying 'fair play Ruth, we all know that a woman's real purpose is to look after her kids. Why bother trying to keep your high powered career in the air when you've finally done what all women are supposed to do and become a mum?'
When David Cameron quit as PM following the Brexit vote, he didn't stand at the podium and claim that he wanted to spend more time with his kids. He stood and spoke about his inability to steer the country through a change that he disagreed with.
Being a father is entirely balanceable with being a political heavyweight. The majority of British Prime Ministers have been fathers. Only one of them has been a mother.
We have made so much progress as a sex over the last 150 years. And yet the general attitude that motherhood is a defining characteristic that overrides everything else about you as a woman still feels utterly Victorian.
How many more talented, brilliant women do we have to lose from the world of politics, science, teaching, banking and hundreds of other industries before we can recognise that the system needs to be overhauled?
Women are a wasted resource, and will continue to be so until we make real change.