But with his image as a safe pair of hands in tatters, that may now change.
Mr Portillo cannot offer a safe pair of hands but he can claim to be interesting.
"We could have just gone for a safe pair of hands, " Law admitted to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
Mr Isdell, a 60-year-old Irishman, was welcomed by investors and analysts as a safe pair of hands.
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Mr Zapatero is pushing this former European commissioner as the safe pair of hands that Spain needs.
Companies often choose those banks that have done the business before and are therefore a safe pair of hands.
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After so long on the roller coaster people want a safe pair of hands, and Bersani is banking on that.
Both Mr Berlusconi on the right and Mr D'Alema on the left reckoned he would be a safe pair of hands.
Another blue-collar mid-westerner from a swing state, Tom Vilsack , the governor of Iowa, also looks a safe pair of hands.
Ms Brainard is not known for having grand policy initiatives or big ideas, but she would be a safe pair of hands.
Given the situation Toronto FC was in need of a safe pair of hands but instead the head coach position has been handed to an apprentice.
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He gained a reputation as a "safe pair of hands" and was subsequently parachuted into two troubled ministries, health and transport, to help with unpopular reforms.
Some previous secretaries of state - say Labour's Paul Murphy - saw their role as staying in the background and providing a discreet safe pair of hands.
He is slightly scary, slightly standoff-ish, a totally safe pair of hands, someone whom you instantly respect before he has done anything and are instantly wary of crossing.
Mr Silva is less orthodox than Mr Kuczynski, but is still seen by investors as a safe pair of hands: he is unlikely to allow spending to run amok.
Written and directed by Michael Patrick King, a safe pair of hands from the HBO days, "Sex and the City, " the movie, is aimed fair and square at the fans.
Mr Darling is too familiar a figure now to extract much benefit from this kind of event, but he showed once again that he is a safe pair of hands.
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Vatican watcher Austen Ivereigh said that if Wednesday brought white smoke, the new Pope would likely be Cardinal Angelo Scola, a 71-year-old Italian theologian widely regarded as a safe pair of hands.
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If he became Conservative leader, he could offer a safe pair of hands for voters to turn to if they tire of Tony Blair's tricksy ways and Labour's unfulfilled promises on public services.
He was regarded by the leadership as a safe pair of hands, trusted with some of the most sensitive briefs in government and known as one of the most committed modernisers in the government.
The choice of Mr Cheney shows confidence on Mr Bush's part - he is not picking someone who will help him massively in the election but instead opting for someone who is competent and a safe pair of hands and would help him in government.
No such luck, though, on Radio Foyle where I was cornered into giving a view that, whilst he's fought a strong campaign and proved beyond doubt what a safe pair of hands he has, John McCallister won't be able to overhaul Mike Nesbitt.
After the challenge 2010 hosts South Africa has faced getting facilities ready for the continent's first World Cup, and with 2014 hosts Brazil having already been criticised for falling behind schedule, England will hope they catch the eye of Fifa by representing a safe pair of hands.
But as several religion-watchers have noted, the church would risk sending an odd signal to the country and the world if it rejected him in favour of a safe, white pair of hands.
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Or it can hope that the left in power will in time become as arrogant as the right was before it, and offer the right a role as a fresh pair of safe hands all over again.
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