With local elections likely to see major changes in the political line-up of councils, Suzanne Cumberbatch and Jamie Hailstone consider the effects on chief executives

You know how these things are – when it's just the two of you. You laugh about the past, dream of the future, and take on the world together, because you are not just a couple, you are a team. But then something unexpected happens, and two becomes one. A few chief executives will be waking up tomorrow morning to find long-running partnerships with their council leaders have come to an end, because the electorate has voted in another party.