It is a job description to send shudders through Whitehall. Gordon Brown is looking for a new chief speechwriter to fill a job described by Number 10 as “a high profile and demanding post involving daily contact with the prime minister”.

The job spec might add that the successful candidate should enjoy having their work ripped up and replaced by Mr Brown’s leaden prose, long days in a tense environment and the risk of being hit accidentally by a flying stapler.