George Osborne

George Osborne (born 23rd May 1971) was the British finance minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, responsible for administering the UK public revenue, from 2010 to 2016. He was appointed on 12th May 2010 by the Prime Minister, David Cameron; the post is the highest executive office after Prime Minister. He was dismissed by the new Prime Minister, Theresa May, on 13th July 2016.

Osborne is widely considered to have been an unmitigated disaster as Chancellor and few people were surprised when May sacked him as soon as she became PM. The mark of his tenure was an unnecessary emphasis on austerity which harmed the economy and increased poverty and homelessness. Probably the most striking example of Osborne's incompetence was the inexcusable way he wrecked women's pensions. With hardly any notice or prior communication, Osborne hiked the pension age of working women from 60 to 63, leaving a million born in the 1950s considerably worse off after a lifetime of work. In 2024, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has finally recognised (with a general election imminent) that the ladies deserve compensation but, as of March 2024, the final outcome remains to be seen.

Osborne had previously served as Shadow Chancellor, i.e. the Opposition speaker on financial matters.

From 2001 to 2017, Osborne was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton. In September 2016, he stated that he would not leave Parliament, although that same month new constituency boundary proposals were unveiled that saw his seat abolished.

Osborne formed a new think tank to promote the "Northern powerhouse" project that he pursued as Chancellor, which proposed economic development of the north of England and is held to have failed miserably, especially since Johnson and Gove became involved and called it "levelling up".