I exposed the ‘Plebgate’ stitch-up last year. So why are the police still investigating?

Andrew Mitchell actually had big doubts about becoming chief whip. True, he had often spoken to friends of being ‘a whip at heart’, and how he’d loved the army-like camaraderie, discipline and intrigue of serving in the whips’ team under John Major. But his regular trips overseas as Secretary of State for International Development meant he didn’t know many of the Tory MPs elected in 2010.

And he so enjoyed being Development Secretary, too, and making a visible impact in one of the few ministries not afflicted by cuts. But Mitchell’s appointment as chief whip this time last year suddenly thrust him from the margins of Westminster to the heart of government, advising Cameron on other promotions.

Two weeks later, on Wednesday 19 September, Mitchell spent much of the day placating colleagues who’d lost their jobs. At 7.31 p.m. that night, Mitchell left his room in the Cabinet Office, mounted his old-school bicycle (complete with undergraduate basket), and pedalled his way down Downing Street.