A high-flying female Labour cabinet minister comes to grief over her expenses, while Tory MPs find ever-more creative ways to fund their lavish lifestyles with taxpayer's money.
Fact, of course, but also fiction.
Two of the lobby's finest, John Higginson from Metro and Clodagh Hartley from The Sun, have put their heads together to create Stiffed!, a new satirical play based on the incredible events of the past year.
When we met to discuss Stiffed!, which will be staged at the Tabard theatre from April 14 to May 9, Clodagh is quick to point out that they have created "an entirely fictional world".
The parallels with recent events are there for all to see, but John explains that the outrageous nature of MPs' claims for duck houses and moat cleaning posed a serious challenge.
"What you cannot do is take the jokes that are already out there," he explains.
"Rather than the joke being completely obvious and predictable we had to go one further than that."
The cheeky nature of Stiffed! is apparent from the publicity material.
"Progressive Quentin Dellaware has just picked up a Tory seat in a landslide by-election.
"Keen to make a difference, he is swiftly shown the status quo by his old school chum George Moore-Lys.
"Meanwhile, Labour front-bencher Paula Stiff is pressing for a fairer Britain with the help of her husband-cum-aide Marty, whose real passion is toy trains.
"Which would all be politics as usual except that young Sally Pauper, an aspiring journalist, aims to make her mark by uncovering the biggest parliamentary story since the Gunpowder Plot."
Clodagh says the idea for the play was John's.
After reporting on the expenses storm day in day out for weeks, he saw the potential for a great piece of satire.
They decided to write it together.
"Neither of us had written a play before so it was a steep learning curve," explains Clodagh.
"First we set out to do it together but we quickly learned it was easier if we each took a scene individually and sent it to the other for approval and editing.
"It was an organic process but we had a lot to learn in terms of not realising the constraints of theatre.
"We had a whole host of characters, a whole newsroom, and in the theatre you have to pare that down and concentrate on the most interesting ones."
John stresses that they got a lot of practical support from friends.
"Early on we were put in contact with various theatre people," he says.
"The Tabard theatre loved the first draft - even at that stage they could see its potential."
With the opening night just weeks away, they are still finessing the script.
"We are on draft five or six now," explains Clodagh.
"It is still a movable feast in terms of some of the characters and dialogue."
The theatre liked the first draft so much they took the unusual step of going into co-production with the lobby's budding satirists.
Clodagh and John are co-financing the production, a sign of their faith in the project.
They are aware that as journalists writing a play they are outside their comfort zone.
"It's strange to be on the other side of the barrier," admits Clodagh.
"When you write a news story it is not thought of in your own mind as a creative process," adds John.
"A good news story is about facts, not about getting laughs."
Clodagh describes the process of putting your work up for public judgement as "deeply personal, your creative process is exposed".
Both are quick to describe themselves as journalists who have written a play rather than playwrights.
"We have been really lucky with the help and feedback we have had," says John.
"We have had an awful lot of help along the way from people who know theatre a lot better than us."
They both said the most fun character to write was old school Tory MP George Moore-Lys.
"He is a bumptious, old fashioned home counties Conservative, a caricature but also a type you do see around Westminster," says John.
"He is a conservative in the true sense of the word in that he wants to conserve things as they are."
The scandal is still resonating at Westminster – Clodagh says this parliament will always be remembered for expenses.
"It is one of those things where you look back and think 'how can things ever have been like that?'"
John rates it as "the biggest story in British politics in a decade - it will have a resonance that will last for many, many years to come".
Clodagh says the new intake of MPs at the general election will be so worried about being tainted by the scandal they may become "overly-transparent".
"The public may find it a bit tedious, you want to know what your MP is doing and he is telling you how many paperclips he has got.
"In a farcical way we could get to a stage where people are writing news stories complaining that there is too much information."
Luckily John and Clodagh were there to report on the mother of all scandals, and have produced their own testament to the madness that was this parliament.
Stiffed! will be playing at the Tabard theatre in London from April 15 to May 9 – CLICK HERE to book tickets.
