The next election is proving very difficult to call, but I think we can make one prediction fairly confidently: there will be a new secretary of state for local government.
Many in local government will think this no great loss. Fairly or not, Eric Pickles has become one of the least popular communities secretaries in recent memory. But council leaders should think carefully before popping the champagne corks.
For all his faults, Mr Pickles is a genuine localist of a sort and his great contribution to the sector has been not to meddle very much for the past few years.
