Lord Young's comments that we had "never had it so good" despite a "so-called recession" led to him to stand down this lunchtime.

But one thing that stands out in all the coverage of Young's remarks are the omnipresent pictures of him wearing a bow-tie.

Could his choice of neck-wear have enhanced the impression that Young is an "out of touch", unreformed Tory? Perhaps it gave his remarks more bite.

One person who thinks that wearing a bow tie in public office is a mistake is Martin Popplewell. Martin runs Coconut Communications, a PR firm specialising in image management.

"As I was watching the coverage today, the first thing I thought was that it was a quick way to make yourself look out of touch with rather a lot of people," he said.

This seems to be close to received wisdom in political circles.

"You can get away with it more in the US, where it's more common, but not at all in the UK," says Shane Greer, editor of the book So You Want To Be Politician?

But the bow tie has actually had a revival in high-fashion circles as recently as 2009.

An account of Toronto Fashion Week 2009 on Fashion in Motion magazine's blog says that there was "no doubt" that bow ties were "in".

"I was struck by how many bow ties were fashionably worn on and off the runway," added reporter Jordana Garbati.

It seems unlikely that Lord Young attended Toronto Fashion Week however.

With his resignation, Young no longer has to worry as much about what sort of tie he wears.

But it would be a foolish politician indeed who ignores the part, however small, that the bow tie played in his demise.