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Gorgeous George has it (nearly) all. The brain, the determination and the well-dressed wife in the front row.
Yet an awkward question always hovers over this youthful genius: has he got the character for the second most important job in politics? Yesterday, Mr Osborne took us on a character building course under the rainy Manchester skies. And we all know how enjoyable those are.
There are two ways to be chancellor. The bruiser (Nigel Lawson, Ken Clarke, Gordon Brown) and the quiet man (Lord Barber under Heath, Alistair Darling).
George is not the shy and retiring type. The conference faithful love him for exactly the reasons many people outside the clammy halls of Manchester do not: because he is more of a hard-core Tory boy than his boss and they are surer of his instincts. They were sitting in the aisles and clustered around screens outside the hall to catch his words.
Seriousness being the message of the day, he was wearing an “age of austerity” navy suit and one of those dark silk ties so boring they sell them off in Jermyn Street in the sales.
That cherubic mouth was set in a thin, hard line as he described Britain “drowning in a sea of debt”. It is being so cheerful that keeps him going.
This was a Grim George, freezing public sector pay for a year and telling us all to work longer (assuming anyone still has a job). Mr Osborne has suffered from a lack of clout in the City, so there were lots of references to the “age of responsibility”, a “culture of savings” and a judicious approach to the banks.
He is on a collision course with Boris over the 50p tax rate and the need to constrain those naughty bankers. Watch this grudge match.
“I've learnt in the past four years,” said George. Not bad for a man who can come over as too smart for the comfort of others, but lacks the benefit of experience. He didn't quite say “I used to be a bit glib,” but that's what he meant.
The shadow chancellor was here to tell us he had grown up. He has lost the flamboyance and the flirtatious appeal that made him the young matinee idol of Camp Cameron. But he has the keys to Number 11 in his grasp and he's not going to drop them. George just got serious.
Reader views (2)
The trouble with the current Tory Leaders is that they tailor their speeches to the audiences. I am sure that George doesn't warn the Bankers and Hedge Fund Managers who fund his office and attend his monthly dinner parties about their bonuses. But it get's a cheer from some of the Conference Attendees. I'll look forward to himk keeping his promise to rein his mates in when he produces his first budget.
- B D'Eath, Kennington England
If Boy George thinks we all want to take Route 66 while he still wants inheritence tax cuts well he must be living in a fantasy land.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
