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.'