“The Tories are going to do what?” cried one outraged Whitehall knight when I had told him about revelations in Monday’s FT that the Tories have drafted in a blonde, TV management guru called Kristina Murrin. She is to give them “frank assessments” of top civil servants ahead of formal meetings between the shadow cabinet and the permanent secretaries next month. Kris Murrin has starred in TV shows such as Honey We’re Killing the Kids, which warned about the effects of chips and chocolate on toddlers.

“If that’s the Tory approach, it makes me weep,” said the knight, adding “Modern politics is all about management consultants and TV personalities who know sweet Fanny Adams about what makes a good or a bad permanent secretary.