The Thick of It

When the job at the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship is turned down by everybody else, unknown quantity Nicola Murray is promoted to the Cabinet.

Nicola has only been in the Cabinet for a week, but already the press question her survival chances. Then someone wipes the immigration records of 170,672 people.

Nicola Murray is stuck in an Eastbourne hotel bedroom with a laptop, a printer and a tiny kettle while she tries to finish her party conference speech.

The civil servants at DoSAC prepare for a visit from the DoSAC shadow minister Peter Mannion - yet another distraction for Nicola Murray.

After trading bitter blows in the press, DoSAC minister Nicola Murray MP and her shadow Peter Mannion MP are invited onto BBC Radio 5Live for a debate.

Just as Nicola Murray is about to launch her Fourth Sector Initiative to the media, the media decide that they want someone to launch another leadership contest.

Nicola Murray and her team need a sports personality to be the face of DoSAC's Healthy Choices campaign. They take advice from the PM's new fixer, Steve Fleming.

As the election looms and the Opposition eye the prize, the word around Westminster Village is that Malcolm is running out of both options and friends.