City anger over shortage of successors for Diamond

Barclays' chairman, Marcus Agius, was last night facing increasing criticism over the absence of succession planning at the bank which makes it extremely difficult for Bob Diamond to leave without creating huge disruption to the business.

At a time in which the political climate requires Barclays to be run by an emollient figure not associated with the controversial "casino" banking that Mr Diamond embodies, his two henchmen at the bank, Rich Ricci and Jerry Del Missier, both also hail from the same aggressive, risk-taking division.

One analyst said: "Nobody has ever been able to control Bob Diamond and now we're stuck with the result of that. The board, under Agius, has failed to put in any checks and balances against him."

Antony Jenkins, head of retail banking, appears to be the only potential internal candidate, although one analyst said he was "not seen as a particularly inspiring choice".

Other potential external candidates include figures such as Standard Chartered's finance director, Richard Meddings, former HSBC head Mike Geoghegan and Hector Sants, whose role leading the Financial Services Authority came to an end today.