Pensions minister Steve Webb is one of the more technocratic politicians having mastered a complicated brief to the extent that he can easily hold his own as a speaker with pension anoraks. The Liberal Democrat minister for Thornbury and Vale near Bristol has also actually delivered something substantial other than soundbites and short-term initiatives.

His achievements include auto-enrolment, the triple-lock guarantee for pensioners and a single pension from 2016. Maybe being a former economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies where he researched into benefits, and a professor of social policy, helps. Either way, he could feature in any post-election leadership contest to replace Nick Clegg.