This is much less salacious than it seems. Government departments had ministerial rest rooms in the days of interminable beer-and-sandwich meetings. Overcrowding meant that Normington found himself working at a fancy dressing table, perched on an ornate chair.

These revelations and more come courtesy of an obsequious interview in fb, the DFES house magazine. This was the penultimate question: “Did you know your nicknames are Rocking DJ (David John); Stormin’ Normington; Homeboy and Dreamboat?” (Normington’s incredulous response: “Dreamboat?”) Impossible to surpass such brown-nosing? The shameless interviewer continues: “Women in the London office called you that and, I hear, hung around corridors in the hope of bumping into you.” Dreamboat’s answer is robust. “All I can say is ‘how sad. Get a life!’”