Known as one of the party's big thinkers, former shadow education secretary David "Two Brains" Willetts was shunted sideways in the July 2007 reshuffle after a bitter row over the party's policy on grammar schools.

A former Treasury civil servant and graduate of the Number 10 policy unit at the height of Margaret Thatcher's time in office, he subsequently became director of research for the Centre for Policy Studies.

After his eleciton to the Commons in 1992, he enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks before being criticised for his role as a whip during the Neil Hamilton cash-for-questions investigation.

In opposition, he served as shadow education and employment secretary under William Hague before taking on the work and pensions job. He briefly dallied with a party leadership bid in 2005 before throwing his weight behind David Davis.