Last week, the sector mourned the sudden departure of local government minister Simon Clarke.
Mr Clarke quit just weeks before the launch of the Local Recovery and Devolution White Paper – the fruition of his work.
So what provoked the departure?
Was it a protest at the Government's plans to break international law?
An internal row over local government reorganisation?
A protest at the lack of devolution?
One insider even speculated that the minister may have been miffed at the Redmond review – some people take audit very, very seriously.
Well, according to the red tops, it was altogether less political.
The Sun reported over the weekend that the minister resigned – and left his wife – over a relationship with a ‘Westminster colleague'.
As one wag said: ‘With the morality of the current government, I would have thought that's the sort of thing that would earn you a promotion.'
