The maybe ministers

Danny Alexander, Nick Clegg's chief of staff, has been tipped as a possible Scottish secretary. The Tories have only one MP in Scotland. Alexander was chair of the group responsible for producing the Lib Dem manifesto. Photograph: Andrew Winning/Reuters Photograph: Andrew Winning/guardian.co.uk Paddy Ashdown: the highly respected former leader came very close to a seat in the cabinet when discussing a possible alliance with Labour before the 1997 election. He turned down Gordon Brown's offer of the Northern Ireland secretary job three years ago. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images Photograph: Matt Cardy/guardian.co.uk Paul Burstow, the Lib Dems' chief whip, was elected to parliament in 1997. He has previously served as spokesman on health and London. Photograph: Chris Ison/PA Photograph: Chris Ison/guardian.co.uk Nick Clegg, the party leader, could be given the role of home secretary or the deputy leadership. But there is also the suggestion that he could stay outside a coalition cabinet while continuing to lead the Lib Dems. Clegg was widely praised for his performance during the first leaders' debate, but the party's campaign lost momentum before polling day. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Photograph: Gareth Fuller/guardian.co.uk Known to be ambitious, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, has twice challenged for his party's leadership. He positioned himself to the left of Clegg in his 2007 attempt. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Photograph: Oli Scarff/guardian.co.uk Norman Lamb, the party's health spokesman, made his first foray into politics as a researcher for a Labour MP in the early 1980s. He later joined the Liberal-SDP alliance and was elected to parliament for the Lib Dems in 2001. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian Photograph: guardian.co.uk David Laws, the Lib Dem education spokesman, could take on the schools portfolio within a coalition cabinet. The Lib Dems and the Tories are close to each other on education policy. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk Sarah Teather, the Lib Dems' housing spokeswoman, won a close victory over Labour's Dawn Butler in the new seat of Brent Central at the general election. She is the highest-profile woman on the Lib Dem frontbench. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images Photograph: Mike Hewitt/guardian.co.uk