Local authority chief executives are used to seeing their salaries make the news headlines. Even before Eric Pickles, the ‘fat cat pay deals' of council ‘bureaucrats' were fair game for everyone from local hacks to national commentators.

Mr Pickles' high-profile campaign to limit pay deals merely intensified existing fervour: senior salaries, which had started to creep upwards, have remained static since – although Eric's aim to rid the sector of chief executives altogether has faltered.