With ministers now enjoying their holidays, Westminster-watchers have turned their attention to the names and job titles up for grabs once the prime minister chooses to reshuffle his ministerial pack, as if finalising their fantasy football picks.

However, while pundits seek to show how David Cameron could form the perfect political squad to ‘refresh' the second half of the coalition's allotted parliamentary term, Whitehall is being forced to cope with a quite unprecedented game of musical chairs.