And he likes to celebrate winning trophies, according to Pallister, by "rapping on the stage and doing a bit of singing and dancing and entertaining the whole banqueting hall".

BBC: Ryan Giggs in a league of his own

In one generation, he often muses, his family has vaulted from the man standing at the back of the banqueting hall serving drinks to the one at the front, giving the speech from the podium.

ECONOMIST: Lexington