There comes a time in the life of any government where it dawns on everyone that the ship is going under.
And so begins a scramble for the lifeboats. A trickle of MPs wanting to stand down at the next election swells to a flood, all hoping to beat the post-election rush for jobs on the outside. Others plead to be airlifted to the safety of the House of Lords. Yet even as the rats start fleeing the proverbial, it often pays to watch for hardier souls swimming seemingly inexplicably towards it.
