If industry analysts and investors are right, Vittorio Colao will become the next chief executive of Vodafone later this year. “Colao is running for office,” says one veteran observer of Vodafone.

Except that this is a very low-key campaign. Since he became Vodafone’s deputy chief executive in 2006, the charming Mr Colao has given no interviews to the media, partly because Arun Sarin, the current chief executive, is keen to avoid any public discussion of when he will depart.