Speculation about Daniel’s future at the bank has been present ever since its acquisition of HBOS. According to yesterday’s Guardian, Lloyds hired JCA Group, a firm of headhunters, to draw up a shortlist of potential successors.

But Lloyds said yesterday that it was not seeking a replacement for Daniels and described a headhunting mandate to identify a successor to him as purely a “contingency plan”. Coupled to an improving picture at Lloyds, it makes a Daniels’ ousting seem improbable.

On the job at hand, Daniels should be licking his lips at the prospect of sticking it out and pushing Lloyds’ share price to 114p. If he manages it, he will receive a pay package of £6.2 million. At today’s prices he only has 52p to go.

Which won’t please everyone, “We have serious reservations about the use of share price targets for long-term incentives,” wrote Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Investments, in a letter to Lord Myners, the City Minister.