He makes her palms sweat, she longed to brand herself with his name ...

WHILE the nation is obsessing with all things gold, Tory MP Louise Mensch – who also happens to be a best-selling author, married to a wealthy rock band manager and founder of a website aimed at rivalling Twitter – has managed to grab the headlines.

In a move executed with the timing of a winning forward four-and-a-half somersault dive (see, we're all experts now), the 41-year-old has announced she is stepping down from her seat in Corby.

In her resignation letter to Prime Minister David Cameron – released publicly, of course – mother-of-three Mensch said she had been unable to "make the balancing act work for our family". The announcement has triggered reams of debate.

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