safe pair of hands

noun phrase

British
: someone who can be trusted with responsibility or a job
The next leader of the party should be a safe pair of hands.

Examples of safe pair of hands in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Seen as a safe pair of hands, Ishiba took the helm of the LDP in September 2024 and became the 10th man in the party to serve as prime minister since 2000. Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025 Goldsmith was the ultimate safe pair of hands, a remarkably prolific industry fixture who had scored 36 films, TV shows, and specials between 1970 and 1974 alone. David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2025 Maignan’s ability to be a net positive in terms of keeping the ball out of his goal, over the equivalent of more than 250 league appearances for Lille and Milan, marks him out as a safe pair of hands. Liam Twomey, New York Times, 11 June 2025 Moyes is a safe pair of hands who coached the club successfully for 11 years previously. Phil Hay, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025 He was seen as a capable politician and a safe pair of hands, one of the strongest members of Zelensky’s cabinet. Alex Stambaugh, CNN, 4 Sep. 2024 While the Conservatives have traditionally been seen as a safe pair of hands, their reputation was rocked by the revelation that multiple parties were thrown inside Downing Street at a time when Johnson had placed the U.K. population under stringent COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing rules. Phil Boucher, Peoplemag, 5 July 2024 Singh was regarded as a safe pair of hands and was expected by many in the industry to oversee Sony’s next growth steps in the country. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 June 2024 In a country where impeachments are not uncommon, this was an important gesture: should Congress find Lula too radical, his backup looks to be a safe pair of hands. Oliver Stuenkel, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2022

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Cite this Entry

“Safe pair of hands.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/safe%20pair%20of%20hands. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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