Being ignored is a nightmare for any politician. You don't win votes if no-one knows who you are. You don't get a tick in the box if the name on the ballot paper means nothing to the voter clutching their stubby pencil in the voting booth. In the last couple of years the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, has bungee-jumped, jet-skied, and even ridden a hobby horse into the public's imagination.
Rachel Reeves has gambled billions of pounds of infrastructure spending on renewing Britain ahead of the next election but faces a battle to convince voters that Labour can deliver change amid deep cuts to everyday spending.