Jonathan Swift’s satirical take on 18th-century politics comes to mind when we think of those who have fallen from grace in the UK government recently. Some, like Peter Mandelson, were deft on the tightrope but undone by personal weakness. Others, like former cabinet secretary Chris Wormald, barely registered a presence and were shuffled out within a year. Many others have come and gone in quick succession from Number 10. The heap of political corpses grows as public confidence in government collapses.