John Healey: the Aussie boomerang trip and his saucy secret
Some supporters of Rawmarsh and Conisbrough MP John Healey may have been disappointed when he stepped down as Defence Secretary.
But spare a thought for his Australian counterpart, who had travelled about 10,000 miles for a programme of meetings and events with the South Yorkshireman - only for much of the schedule to disappear quicker than a kangaroo over the horizon.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles was in Britain for talks and due to appear alongside Mr Healey at Portsmouth Naval Base.
The pair had even managed to squeeze in a morning run together before politics took a rather different route.
Mr Healey's resignation came less than three hours before a planned media event connected to the AUKUS defence partnership.
And while many Australians are used to long journeys, this one ended up being something of a boomerang trip to Portsmouth.
Journalists had already headed for the south coast expecting photo opportunities, demonstrations and a press conference.
Instead, the event was cancelled at short notice, leaving members of the travelling media pack feeling like tourists who had arrived at Bondi Beach to find the tide out.
Australian broadcaster ABC reported that staff initially indicated the Portsmouth engagement would still go ahead before it was pulled around 90 minutes before it was due to begin.
For Mr Marles, it was hardly the welcome committee he might have expected after crossing the globe.
And for the journalists dispatched to cover the event, it was a long trek for a story that suddenly wasn't there.
The Portsmouth event may have vanished into the outback, but it certainly provided one of the more unusual footnotes to the end of Mr Healey's time in one of the government's most senior jobs.
Meanwhile the New Statesman has revealed an unusual secret about Healey's non-political life – he takes HP sauce wherever he goes.
He confirmed to the BBC: "It is true, I have always done it… I love HP sauce and these days you too often get a brown sauce substitute. You've got to take your own!"