Just days after Nick Raynsford, local government and planning minister from 1997 to 2005, announced he was retiring from politics after the next general election, his successor David Miliband also announced he is leaving for a job in New York.

Mr Raynsford retired to the back benches after the 2005 Cabinet reshuffle and Mr Miliband became minister of state for communities and local government in the Office of the Deputy PM with a seat in Cabinet. His official website says while there he 'created the idea of city regions'. He also pioneered the idea of 'double devolution' and attended The MJ Awards gala reception in London in 2005.