Tainted love: is it all over for the workplace romance?

Bernard Looney, BP’s chief executive, was forced to resign after failing to be fully transparent with the board about the number of colleagues with whom he had had personal relationships. Photograph: Kamran Jebreili/AP

Workplace relationships have existed as long as there have been workplaces. Many people find their life partners in the place where they spend most of their waking hours.

But the politics of the office romance have changed. For generations of senior male executives, relationships with more junior staff were commonplace. Now they are a minefield.