Speculation had been growing in recent days that Tony Reeves was going to resign from his position as the chief executive of Liverpool City Council.
So it wasn't a major surprise to those within the city's political circles when the news of his immediate departure was confirmed today. That didn't make it any less of a seismic moment for a local authority that has had far too many of them in recent years.
It feels like the council has been engulfed in chaos for much of the past five years. The arrest and dismissal of former chief executive Ged Fitzgerald in 2017 was followed by regeneration director Nick Kavanagh and then mayor Joe Anderson going the same way in 2019 and 2020 respectively. All three men deny wrongdoing and have not been charged.
