Family fortunes
Louise Mensch became the latest MP to resign in order to spend more time with her family. The phrase has become something of a euphemism over the years to refer to somebody who has made a suspicious exit, not least because the original politician to resign for that stated reason — Norman Fowler from his job as employment secretary in January 1990 — did so a few months after the sudden departure of Nigel Lawson as chancellor of the exchequer.

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