It is the world's most tired interview question: What is your greatest weakness? And Mr Rishi Sunak, one of the two remaining candidates in the race to become Britain's prime minister, gave the world's most tired answer - perfectionism - when he was asked it at an online hustings last month.

No interviewee would answer this question with an unambiguous negative ("stupidity", say, or "body odour"). Like all those who have reached for it before, Mr Sunak will have intended his reply to signal that his flaws are virtues, especially compared with the shambolic style of Mr Boris Johnson's outgoing government.