After months of speculation about the future of the beleaguered transport secretary, he came face to face with "the enemy" in a Downing Street press conference yesterday.

His decision to go has been met with glee by a media who played a considerable part in his downfall.

The FT editorial suggests that Byers inherited a mess "from the largely barren Prescott years".

It says the new transport secretary will need "clear-thinking, determination and tenacity".

"The upside is that a person with these qualities should be able to produce the results that eluded Mr Byers," says the paper.

Writing in the Guardian, Jackie Ashley says that the infamous Jo Moore email spelled the end of Byers' career.

"His refusal to sack Jo Moore immediately after 'that email' was never going to be forgiven," she writes.

The Express claims that "the prime minister's judgement has again been found wanting in personnel issues".

In The Sun, Trevor Kavanagh says Blair should have buried Byers months ago.

"Everything he touched turned sour," says Kavanagh.

"Yesterday's resignation was a spectacular end to an otherwise lacklustre career."