Judging by his margin of victory, health secretary Andrew Lansley couldn’t have been a bigger pantomime villain if his presence among GPs had been highlighted with cries of ‘he’s behind you’.

Dr Clare Gerada has gone beyond the call of duty in grabbing headlines since taking over as RCGP chair, even contriving to generate thousands of hits on Pulse’s website after falling off her bike and breaking her foot.

In a year when it's been the fashion for GP leaders to be bold, brash and visible, it's been strange to watch Dr Laurence Buckman play second fiddle to Dr Clare Gerada.

Never mind the bollocks, here’s the Health and Social Care Bill – that appeared to be the message from NHS Future Forum chair Professor Steve Field, in an unlikely transformation from mild-mannered, genial RCGP chair to the Johnny Rotten of health politics.

It was a close-run thing, but the champion chosen by over 400 readers of Pulse magazine was RCGP chair Dr Clare Gerada.