Frosty relations at Liverpool Council following call for probe into chief executive Colin Hilton
Revenge, they say, is a dish best serve cold.
So the timing of the news, in the frostiest week for 28 years, that Liverpool Council's former finance chief Phil Halsall wants an investigation into chief executive Colin Hilton seemed strangely fitting.
Of course the episode needs to be taken with a rock-sized pinch of salt.
The full scale of the frictions between the pair have been threatening to break out into the open ever since Mr Hilton beat Mr Halsall to the top job at Liverpool Council in 2006.
But the latest revelations that Mr Hilton reported Mr Halsall to professional standards body the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) would appear to show just how deep the rift ran.
Intriguingly the complaint, of which Mr Halsall was cleared, included allegations about the council's controversial IT joint venture with BT - Liverpool Direct Limited (LDL).
Now Mr Halsall wants an investigation into Mr Hilton saying the chief executive misled and kept politicians in the dark over the complaint to the outside body.
It would be surprising if Mr Halsall's complaint does not get short shrift, but it is another damaging chapter in the repercussions from the fall-out between former council leader Mike Storey and ex-chief executive Sir David Henshaw.
Mr Halsall was the last member of former Sir David's inner circle - known to critics as "the cabal" but who always rejected those claims - to leave the council.
He departed in April with a £500,000 payoff after his post was deleted, a move, the council said was designed to improve performance and give Mr Hilton greater responsibility over financial affairs.
It came after the council had been labelled the worst in the country because of the poor state of its finances, though Mr Halsall always defended his own record.
Mr Halsall is believed to have felt he was being punished for his unpopularity with the ruling Liberal Democrat party.
And he would argue that Mr Hilton, not only failed to protect him, but actually proposed the restructure that led to his departure.
Things have of course moved on since then. Mr Halsall's career is being rehabilitated at Tory-led Lancashire County Council.
But what will become of Mr Hilton should there be a change of administration at Liverpool Council in May?
Readers will remember that opposition Labour leader Joe Anderson requested that Mr Hilton be suspended in the middle of the city's Capital of Culture celebrations.
Their relationship has since thawed, but Mr Hilton is still skating on thin ice with Cllr Anderson.
This is the column I wrote for today's Daily Post, standing in for regular Jim Hancock who was away this week but returns next Monday.
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David Bartlett - City editor of the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs. He was previously chief reporter of the Daily Post and here he gives his insight into the workings of regional politics.
Joe Anderson has on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of a very small band of extremely bitter people who spend every waking moment consumed by extreme anger, wishing and hoping that revenge can be exacted on those they blame for their own downfall (which in truth was mostly self inflicted).
But how likely is it to happen, and what would be the justification for them losing their jobs?
If we look back to when the Lib Dems were elected to office in 1998 the city was one of the worst performing local authorities in the country. A team of experts came in and concluded the council would never, ever change without the entire top team being replaced. So David Henshaw arrived and so began a (controversial) revolution. Henshaw was aided and abetted by one person in particular (part of what I term the "bitterati"). Curiously, this same person had no qualms about actively and enthusiastically doing Henshaw's bidding with great gusto, passion (and no questions asked) for well over five years. Perhaps their present bitterness is borne out of guilt? Hey-ho!
Fast forward to 2010 and the city is ranked as three star by the government and City of Culture is now largely viewed as a success (much to the frustration of previously mentioned bitter people/person). All main services are performing well according to the inspectors - unlike in 1998. There are financial issues (every other local authority in the country can speak with feeling about that one!), but the key now is that the council makes the most of its present budget, rather than worrying about past decisions. There will continue to be long and pointless political arguments about whether the city could have increased council tax by a larger amount in the past which would have helped cushion the blow of the predicted cuts in government spending (conveniently ignoring the fact that the clear electoral mandate from the people of the city at the time was to keep increases to a minimum).
Taking all of this into account, I don't believe that there is any chance of significant change at the top if Labour take control. The city is performing well. The problems of the past are being tackled. If Joe wants to get rid, it is going to cost him big time. The question is - can he he really he afford to do so, not just financially but politically? Over to you, Joe!