George Osborne
Encyclopedia
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP
(born 23 May 1971 in Paddington
, London) is a British Conservative
politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer
of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton
since 2001.
Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish
aristocracy, known in Ireland as the Ascendancy
. He is the heir to the Osborne baronetcy
(of Ballentaylor, in County Tipperary
, and Ballylemon, in County Waterford
).
He was educated at St Paul's School and Magdalen College
, University of Oxford, before entering politics.
the firm
of fabric and wallpaper
s designers Osborne & Little. His mother is Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, the daughter of artist Lady Clarisse Loxton Peacock.
Originally named Gideon Oliver, he changed his name to George when he was 13. In an interview in July 2005, Osborne said: "It was my small act of rebellion. I never liked it. When I finally told my mother she said, 'Nor do I'. So I decided to be George after my grandfather, who was a war hero. Life was easier as a George; it was a straightforward name."
in Holland Park
and St Paul's School in Barnes (near Hammersmith
), followed by a Bachelor's degree
at Magdalen College
at the University of Oxford where he received a 2:1 in Modern History
. At Oxford he edited the university's Isis magazine
, and was a member of the Bullingdon Club
. He also attended Davidson College
in North Carolina
for a semester as a Dean Rusk
Scholar.
computer. He also briefly worked for Selfridges
, re-folding towels. He originally intended to pursue a career in journalism, but instead got a job at Conservative Central Office
.
in 1994 and became head of the Political Section. Between 1995 and 1997 he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
as special advisor to minister Douglas Hogg
(during the BSE
crisis) and worked in the Political Office at 10 Downing Street.
Between 1997 and 2001, he worked for then Conservative leader William Hague
as a speechwriter and Political Secretary. In this role he helped prepare Hague for the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions
, often playing the role of Prime Minister Tony Blair
. Under the successive leaderships of Michael Howard
and David Cameron
he remained on the Prime Minister's Questions team.
, Cheshire, in June 2001, Osborne succeeded the Independent
MP Martin Bell
, who had famously defeated the controversial former Conservative minister Neil Hamilton
at the 1997 election
. Osborne won with a majority of 8,611, becoming (at that time) the youngest Conservative MP in the House of Commons. At the 2005 election, he was re-elected with an increased majority of 11,731 (51.8% of the vote) and in 2010 increased his majority still further to 14,487.
In September 2004, Osborne was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet
as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
.
Following the 2005 general election, he was promoted to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
at the young age of 33 by the then-Conservative Party
leader Michael Howard
. Howard had initially offered the post to William Hague
, who turned it down. Press reports suggest that Howard's second choice for the post was in fact David Cameron
, who also rejected the job as he preferred to take on a major public service portfolio (he was made Shadow Education Secretary). Thus Howard turned to Osborne as his third choice for the role. His promotion prompted speculation he would run for leadership of the Conservative Party when Howard stepped down, but he ruled himself out within a week. Osborne served as campaign manager for David Cameron's leadership campaign, and kept the Shadow Chancellor's post when Cameron became leader later that year.
In 2009 when David Cameron was asked whether or not he would be willing to sack a close colleague such as Osborne, he stated, "With George, the answer is yes. He stayed in my shadow cabinet not because he is a friend, not because we are godfathers
to each other's children but because he is the right person to do the job. I know and he knows that if that was not the case he would not be there."
Osborne has expressed an interest in the ideas of "tax simplification" (including the idea of flat tax
). He set up a "Tax Reform Commission" in October 2005 to investigate ideas for how to create a "flatter, simpler" tax system. The system then proposed would reduce the income tax rate to a flat 22%, and increase personal allowance from £4,435 to £10,000-£15,500. The idea of a flat tax is not included in the current Conservative party manifesto.
Each year between 2006 and 2009, Osborne attended the annual Bilderberg Conference, a meeting of influential people in business, finance and politics.
's Pre-Budget Report on 5 December 2005, Osborne accused Brown of being "a Chancellor past his sell by date, a Chancellor holding Britain back". In an interview the same week, he also referred to Brown as 'brutal' and 'unpleasant'. In October 2006 Osborne was rebuked by the Speaker of the House of Commons
when he attacked the Chancellor at Oral Questions to the Chancellor by citing a comment attributed to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
John Hutton
, describing the Chancellor as likely to make an 'effing awful' Prime Minister. It was widely suggested that Osborne was leading an assault on Brown which would allow the Conservatives to discredit him without damaging David Cameron's public image. Osborne faced criticism from some quarters for appearing to suggest that Brown was "faintly autistic". After talking about his ability to recall odd facts in an interview, a host suggested that Osborne may have been "faintly autistic"; Osborne responded by saying that "We're not getting onto Gordon Brown yet".
as "pretty extraordinary", Osborne spoke out warning that the more the government borrows the less attractive sterling
becomes. He said: "We are in danger, if the government is not careful, of having a proper sterling collapse, a run on the pound." Labelling Gordon Brown's tactic as a "scorched-earth policy", which a future Conservative government would have to clear up, Osborne continued: "His view is he probably won't win the next election. The Tories can clear this mess up after I've gone." Lord Kalms, a prominent supporter of David Davis
in the 2005 leadership election, told the BBC
that former shadow home secretary David Davis would be more appropriate as shadow chancellor.
stated that George Osborne had tried to solicit a £50,000 donation from the Russian aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska
, which would have been a violation of the law against political donations by foreign citizens. Rothschild wrote: "[I]t turns out that your obsession with Mr. Mandelson is trivial in light of Mr. Osborne's actions. I also think it ill behoves all political parties to try and make capital at the expense of another in such circumstances. Perhaps in future it would be better if all involved accepted the age old adage that private parties are just that." Rothschild had hosted Deripaska, Osborne and Lord Mandelson
at a party in his villa in Corfu. The alleged solicitation of a donation occurred on Deripaska's yacht during the party. The Electoral Commission
received a formal complaint initiated in a letter by the Liberal Democrats
' Home Affairs Spokesman, Chris Huhne
, requesting them to investigate the claims against Osborne. The Commission rejected the claims and said it saw "no information" suggesting an offence. The story was coined by the press as 'Yachtgate.'
describes Osborne as "metropolitan
and socially liberal. He is hawkish on foreign policy with links to Washington neo-conservatives and ideologically committed to cutting the state. A pragmatic Eurosceptic
". There is evidence of this commitment to cutting the state in his party's manifesto
, with Osborne and the Conservatives
seeking to cut the deficit "faster and deeper" than any other main party as well as committing to various tax cuts such as inheritance tax
and national insurance
. According to an IFS
report before the 2010 election, the Conservatives needed to find more money from cuts beyond what they had outlined than any other major party, although the report was also critical of Labour
and the Lib Dems
.
the next day.
Osborne acceded to the chancellorship in the continuing wake of the financial crisis
. Two of his first acts were setting up the Office of Budget Responsibility and commissioning a government-wide spending review, to conclude in autumn 2010, to set limits on departmental spending until 2014–15. In July 2010, Osborne seeking cuts of up to 25 per cent in government spending to tackle the deficit, taking on the £20 billion cost of building four new Vanguard-class submarine
to bear Trident
would require a severe reduction in the rest of the Ministry of Defence
budget. The Chancellor insisted that Trident had to be considered as part of the MoD's core funding. He said, "The Trident costs, I have made it absolutely clear, are part of the defence budget." He warned that if Trident was considered core funding, there would have to be severe restrictions in the way that Britain operated militarily, amid suggestions that regiments could be axed, or, potentially, the Royal Air Force
and Royal Navy
amalgamated. Liam Fox
said, "To take the capital cost would make it very difficult to maintain what we are currently doing in terms of capability."
On 4 October 2010, in a speech at the Conservative conference in Birmingham
, Osborne announced a cap on the overall amount of benefits a family can receive from the state, estimated to be around £500 a week from 2013. It has been estimated this could result in 50,000 unemployed families losing an average of £93 a week. He also announced that he would end the universal entitlement to child benefit
, and removed the entitlement from people on the 40% and 50% income tax
rates from 2013.
In February 2011 Osborne announced Project Merlin
whereby banks will lend about £190bn to businesses this year – including £76bn to small firms – curb bonuses and reveal some salary details of their top earners. The Bank of England
will monitor whether loans targets are being met. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott resigned after the agreement was announced. This was in addition to the government increasing its levy on banks to £2.5bn this year – raising an extra £800m. HSBC
, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group have signed up to the Project Merlin agreement, while Santander has agreed to the lending parts of the deal. Other pledges include providing £200m of capital for David Cameron's Big Society
Bank, which is supposed to finance community projects.
commentator Martin Wolf
wrote: "I have been fascinated—if appalled—by the pre-Keynesian approach you and the prime minister have taken to the UK's fiscal challenges. What Keynes called "the Treasury view"—that fiscal policy has no effect on activity, even in a deep recession—is alive and well in Downing Street." Comparing Coalition austerity measures with the Opposition's, Wolf commented that the "big shift from Labour. . . . is the cuts in welfare benefits."
Leaked Treasury documents the next month revealed that Osborne anticipated his tighter spending would lead to 1.3 million jobs lost over the course of the parliament. Osborne has termed those who object to his policy "deficit-deniers".
In September, the IMF described Osborne's deficit reduction plans as "essential", though revised its growth estimate down, and dozens of leading British CEO's publicly declared their support in a high-profile letter. Others were openly hostile to Osborne's plans, notably David Blanchflower
and Martin Wolf. It was also reported in September that the quarterly UK trade deficit for April–June 2010 was the largest since annual records began in 1946. "July's dreadful UK trade figures cast further doubt over the ability of the external sector to drive the recovery once the boost from government and consumer spending fades," commented Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics
.
George Osborne, presented the Government's Spending Review on 20 October, which fixed spending budgets for each government department up to 2014–15. Before and after becoming chancellor, Osborne had alleged that the UK was on "the verge of bankruptcy". When he maintained the stance to justify the Spending Review, Martin Wolf took issue: "The chancellor presents the hypothesis of looming national 'bankruptcy'. If so, the UK must have been bankrupt for much of the past two centuries." A fortnight after his Review presentation, the Treasury Select Committee also accused the chancellor of using inflammatory language to justify the large public spending cuts.
More bad news was to follow as it was reported that UK exports had fallen at a record pace in the fourth quarter of 2010, highlighting the fact that Britain had not escaped a plunge in global trade. Vicky Redwood remarked: "Until the UK's export sector starts to perk up, any recovery in the overall economy seems unlikely." The economy also posted a contraction of 0.5 percent for the final quarter of 2010. Hetal Mehta from Dalwa Capitol described the negative growth as "a horrendous figure. An absolute disaster for the economy. . . . It seems that the economy is incredibly vulnerable. And with the fiscal tightening yet to fully bite, we will have to brace ourselves for a bumpy ride." Osborne said that although the figures were disappointing, there was strong performances and growth from sections of the economy less affected by the weather, such as manufacturing
. He also declared that the poor figures and bad weather would not affect implementation of his austerity measures and budget deficit reduction, and that he would not be "blown off course".
Osborne's policies caused continuing concern as a series of bad data indicated the deteriorating state of the UK economy. Martin Wolf observed: "The release of the preliminary version of the May 2011 Economic Outlook from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
allows the reader to trace the disappointing path that the UK economy has taken", and NIESR, predicting a growth slump, recommended delaying the spending cuts. On 6 June, fifty-two people, including some of Britain's leading economists, two former Whitehall advisers and two signatories of the previous year's high-profile letter backing the Tories' cuts, publicly warned Osborne that the UK was too fragile to withstand his drastic spending cuts and that he must draw up a plan B. As in January, Osborne dismissed the criticism. Over the following week, the IMF reaffirmed its support for Osborne's cuts, again describing them as "essential", though again revising its growth prediction down, and a number of economists publicly encouraged Osborne not to abandon his deficit-reduction programme. The same week featured a repetition of a threat by Moody's
to downgrade the UK's credit rating (a Chinese ratings agency had already downgraded Britain's credit rating because it foresaw years of sluggish growth), contradicting Osborne's claim a few weeks prior that the UK's credit rating had "come off negative outlook when other countries are facing downgrades. We have brought much-needed stability at home and attracted near universal confidence abroad".
In June it was reported that Osborne's staff had been complaining privately to the BBC about an alleged negative bias in the latter's coverage of the economy, and Osborne aired the accusation publicly in a BBC interview. The BBC rebutted Osborne's comments on its website.
Second-quarter GDP-figures were, with just 0.2% growth, "horribly unimpressive". The Office for National Statistics
(ONS) argued the figures were heavily influenced by one-off, suppressing factors, though Lex argued that, "Little weight should be put on" the ONS's argument. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls accused Osborne of being "breathtakingly complacent", while Malcolm Barr, an economist at JPMorgan, said, "No one can claim that the economy is anything but disappointing". Though the OBR's monthly survey of private sector economists showed progressive downgrades of GDP growth estimates—the July forecast was a 1.3 per cent rate of expansion, down from 1.7 per cent in March—the OBR reported that public finances were on track. Commenting on the low, 0.2% growth of GDP, Osborne, as on previous occasions, stated that, although the economy was carrying some "heavy weights", abandoning his austerity programme "would only risk British jobs and growth." An FT editorial again gave qualified praise for Osborne's performance.
Within days, however, bad news emerged for the manufacturing sector, which had been "the economy's stellar performer since the UK emerged from recession". Optimism among manufacturers fell for the first time in two years (shortly thereafter it emerged that manufacturing had contracted in July, the first such decline in more than two years, as British manufacturers fired a broadside at ministers' efforts to "rebalance" the economy); Osborne's plan to offer a national insurance holiday to small companies to boost jobs growth in the UK's regions had had only a "minuscule" take-up since it was launched a year ago; the CBI lowered its growth forecast for 2011 again, but emphasised that the economy was still expected to grow; the IMF, pointing to weak growth prospects, cast doubt on Osborne's ability to meet his 2015–6 goal for eliminating the deficit; the head of the OBR stated his belief that the UK would fail to meet its 2011 growth target of 1.7%; leading builders merchants complained that the construction sector's recovery was being held back by Osborne's austerity measures; the IMF estimated that British households would lose £1,500 a year for the next five years as a consequence of the austerity drive, warned that the UK faced a "bumpy and uneven" recovery, and that Osborne should prepare to be flexible; NIESR, in a more outspoken fashion than the IMF, told Osborne that his cuts would lead to the deficit's existence past his 2015–16 target; NIESR and the IMF estimated that the UK's structural unemployment rate would be worse than before the financial crisis; UK car sales continued their uninterrupted fall for each month of Osborne's chancellorship; and, with the Bank of England preparing to slash growth forecasts, Business Secretary Vince Cable warned that the UK was facing the risk of a double-dip recession.
With problems with eurozone and US debt peaking again, Osborne interrupted his holiday to make crisis calls.
Frances Victoria Howell
(b. 18 February 1969), author and elder daughter of former and current Conservative Cabinet Minister Lord Howell of Guildford
, on 4 April 1998. The couple have two children, Luke Benedict, born at Westminster
, London, on 15 June 2001, and Liberty Kate, born at Westminster
, London, on 27 June 2003.
He has an estimated personal fortune of around £4 million, as the beneficiary of a trust fund that owns a 15-per-cent stake in Osborne & Little, the wallpaper-and-fabrics company co-founded by his father, Sir Peter Osborne, Bt.
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Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(born 23 May 1971 in Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
, London) is a British Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton
Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)
- Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1980s :- Sources :* Data for the 2005 election are from the .* Data for the 2001 election are from http://www.election.demon.co.uk/....
since 2001.
Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
aristocracy, known in Ireland as the Ascendancy
Protestant Ascendancy
The Protestant Ascendancy, usually known in Ireland simply as the Ascendancy, is a phrase used when referring to the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland by a minority of great landowners, Protestant clergy, and professionals, all members of the Established Church during the 17th...
. He is the heir to the Osborne baronetcy
Osborne Baronets
There have been three Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Osborne, two in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Ireland. One creation is extant as of 2010....
(of Ballentaylor, in County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, and Ballylemon, in County Waterford
County Waterford
*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...
).
He was educated at St Paul's School and Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, University of Oxford, before entering politics.
Early life and family
Osborne is the eldest of four sons. His father, Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet, co-foundedEntrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
the firm
Firm
A firm is a business.Firm or The Firm may also refer to:-Organizations:* Hooligan firm, a group of unruly football fans* The Firm, Inc., a talent management company* Fair Immigration Reform Movement...
of fabric and wallpaper
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
s designers Osborne & Little. His mother is Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, the daughter of artist Lady Clarisse Loxton Peacock.
Originally named Gideon Oliver, he changed his name to George when he was 13. In an interview in July 2005, Osborne said: "It was my small act of rebellion. I never liked it. When I finally told my mother she said, 'Nor do I'. So I decided to be George after my grandfather, who was a war hero. Life was easier as a George; it was a straightforward name."
Education
Osborne was educated at two independent schools in west London: at Norland Place SchoolNorland Place School
Norland Place School is a coeducational independent school for boys aged 4–8 and girls aged 4–11. It is situated in the Holland Park area of London, and was founded in 1876 by Miss Emily Lord.-Famous pupils:Notable former pupils include:* Veronica Wedgwood...
in Holland Park
Holland Park
Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London, England.Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants...
and St Paul's School in Barnes (near Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
), followed by a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
at the University of Oxford where he received a 2:1 in Modern History
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
. At Oxford he edited the university's Isis magazine
Isis magazine
The Isis Magazine was established at Oxford University in 1892 . Traditionally a rival to the student newspaper Cherwell, it was finally acquired by the latter's publishing house, OSPL, in the late 1990s...
, and was a member of the Bullingdon Club
Bullingdon Club
The Bullingdon Club is a socially exclusive student dining club at Oxford University. The club has no permanent rooms and is notorious for its members' wealth and destructive binges. Membership is by invitation only, and prohibitively expensive for most, given the need to pay for the uniform,...
. He also attended Davidson College
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
for a semester as a Dean Rusk
Dean Rusk
David Dean Rusk was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk is the second-longest serving U.S...
Scholar.
Early career
Osborne's first job was entering the names of people who had died in London into a National Health ServiceNational Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
computer. He also briefly worked for Selfridges
Selfridges
Selfridges, AKA Selfridges & Co, is a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The flagship store in London's Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and was opened on 15 March 1909.More recently, three other stores have been...
, re-folding towels. He originally intended to pursue a career in journalism, but instead got a job at Conservative Central Office
Conservative Campaign Headquarters
Conservative Campaign Headquarters , formerly known as Conservative Central Office is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members....
.
Political career
Osborne joined the Conservative Research DepartmentConservative Research Department
The Conservative Research Department is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters at 30 Millbank, London SW1....
in 1994 and became head of the Political Section. Between 1995 and 1997 he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 1919 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries...
as special advisor to minister Douglas Hogg
Douglas Hogg, 3rd Viscount Hailsham
Douglas Martin Hogg, 3rd Viscount Hailsham PC, QC is a British politician and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1995-97, and was a Member of Parliament from 1979 to 2010.Hogg's claim for cleaning of the...
(during the BSE
BSE
- Medicine :* Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a neurological disease commonly known as "mad cow disease"* Breast self-examination* Bone surface element- State Secondary Education Boards of India :*Board of Secondary Education, Assam...
crisis) and worked in the Political Office at 10 Downing Street.
Between 1997 and 2001, he worked for then Conservative leader William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
as a speechwriter and Political Secretary. In this role he helped prepare Hague for the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
, often playing the role of Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. Under the successive leaderships of Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
and David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
he remained on the Prime Minister's Questions team.
Member of Parliament
Elected as the Member of Parliament for TattonTatton (UK Parliament constituency)
- Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1980s :- Sources :* Data for the 2005 election are from the .* Data for the 2001 election are from http://www.election.demon.co.uk/....
, Cheshire, in June 2001, Osborne succeeded the Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
MP Martin Bell
Martin Bell
Martin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician...
, who had famously defeated the controversial former Conservative minister Neil Hamilton
Neil Hamilton (politician)
Mostyn Neil Hamilton is a former British barrister, teacher and Conservative MP. Since losing his seat in 1997 and leaving politics, Hamilton and his wife Christine have become media celebrities...
at the 1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. Osborne won with a majority of 8,611, becoming (at that time) the youngest Conservative MP in the House of Commons. At the 2005 election, he was re-elected with an increased majority of 11,731 (51.8% of the vote) and in 2010 increased his majority still further to 14,487.
Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
.
Following the 2005 general election, he was promoted to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is in the gift of the Leader of the Opposition but is informal. The Shadow Chancellor has no constitutional...
at the young age of 33 by the then-Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
. Howard had initially offered the post to William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
, who turned it down. Press reports suggest that Howard's second choice for the post was in fact David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, who also rejected the job as he preferred to take on a major public service portfolio (he was made Shadow Education Secretary). Thus Howard turned to Osborne as his third choice for the role. His promotion prompted speculation he would run for leadership of the Conservative Party when Howard stepped down, but he ruled himself out within a week. Osborne served as campaign manager for David Cameron's leadership campaign, and kept the Shadow Chancellor's post when Cameron became leader later that year.
In 2009 when David Cameron was asked whether or not he would be willing to sack a close colleague such as Osborne, he stated, "With George, the answer is yes. He stayed in my shadow cabinet not because he is a friend, not because we are godfathers
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
to each other's children but because he is the right person to do the job. I know and he knows that if that was not the case he would not be there."
Osborne has expressed an interest in the ideas of "tax simplification" (including the idea of flat tax
Flat tax
A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...
). He set up a "Tax Reform Commission" in October 2005 to investigate ideas for how to create a "flatter, simpler" tax system. The system then proposed would reduce the income tax rate to a flat 22%, and increase personal allowance from £4,435 to £10,000-£15,500. The idea of a flat tax is not included in the current Conservative party manifesto.
Each year between 2006 and 2009, Osborne attended the annual Bilderberg Conference, a meeting of influential people in business, finance and politics.
Comments on Gordon Brown
During Osborne's response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
's Pre-Budget Report on 5 December 2005, Osborne accused Brown of being "a Chancellor past his sell by date, a Chancellor holding Britain back". In an interview the same week, he also referred to Brown as 'brutal' and 'unpleasant'. In October 2006 Osborne was rebuked by the Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
when he attacked the Chancellor at Oral Questions to the Chancellor by citing a comment attributed to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.The Ministry...
John Hutton
John Hutton (Labour MP)
John Matthew Patrick Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness in Cumbria from 1992 to 2010, and has served in a number of Cabinet offices, including Defence Secretary and Business Secretary...
, describing the Chancellor as likely to make an 'effing awful' Prime Minister. It was widely suggested that Osborne was leading an assault on Brown which would allow the Conservatives to discredit him without damaging David Cameron's public image. Osborne faced criticism from some quarters for appearing to suggest that Brown was "faintly autistic". After talking about his ability to recall odd facts in an interview, a host suggested that Osborne may have been "faintly autistic"; Osborne responded by saying that "We're not getting onto Gordon Brown yet".
"Run on the pound"
On 14 November 2008, in an intervention described by the BBC's Nick RobinsonNick Robinson
Nicholas Anthony "Nick" Robinson is a British journalist and political editor for the BBC. Robinson was interested in politics from a young age, and went on to study a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics degree at Oxford University, where he was also President of the Oxford University Conservative...
as "pretty extraordinary", Osborne spoke out warning that the more the government borrows the less attractive sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
becomes. He said: "We are in danger, if the government is not careful, of having a proper sterling collapse, a run on the pound." Labelling Gordon Brown's tactic as a "scorched-earth policy", which a future Conservative government would have to clear up, Osborne continued: "His view is he probably won't win the next election. The Tories can clear this mess up after I've gone." Lord Kalms, a prominent supporter of David Davis
David Davis (British politician)
David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...
in the 2005 leadership election, told the BBC
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
that former shadow home secretary David Davis would be more appropriate as shadow chancellor.
The Deripaska claim
In October 2008, Osborne's school and university friend the financier Nathaniel RothschildNathaniel Philip Rothschild
Nathaniel Philip Victor James Rothschild , also known as Nat, is a British-born financier who has settled in Switzerland, and a scion of the prominent Rothschild family. He is the Chairman of "JNR Limited", an investment advisory business primarily focused on emerging markets and the metals, mining...
stated that George Osborne had tried to solicit a £50,000 donation from the Russian aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska is the Russian Chief executive officer of Basic Element company and a member of the Board of Directors and CEO of United Company RUSAL, a Russian aluminium industry company...
, which would have been a violation of the law against political donations by foreign citizens. Rothschild wrote: "[I]t turns out that your obsession with Mr. Mandelson is trivial in light of Mr. Osborne's actions. I also think it ill behoves all political parties to try and make capital at the expense of another in such circumstances. Perhaps in future it would be better if all involved accepted the age old adage that private parties are just that." Rothschild had hosted Deripaska, Osborne and Lord Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
at a party in his villa in Corfu. The alleged solicitation of a donation occurred on Deripaska's yacht during the party. The Electoral Commission
Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
received a formal complaint initiated in a letter by the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
' Home Affairs Spokesman, Chris Huhne
Chris Huhne
Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne is a British politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire...
, requesting them to investigate the claims against Osborne. The Commission rejected the claims and said it saw "no information" suggesting an offence. The story was coined by the press as 'Yachtgate.'
Expenses
In 2009, he received criticism for the way he had handled his expenses, after he was found to have "flipped" his second home, changing which property he designated as his second home in order to pay less capital gains tax. The Lib Dems estimated he owed £55,000 to the public purse as a result of this. He had previously paid back £1,193 on overpayments on his mortgage and chauffeur fares after a complaint from a Labour activist, and it also emerged that he had claimed £47 for two copies of a DVD of his own speech on "value for taxpayers' money". Parliament's standards commissioner's report found that although Mr Osborne had breached the rules the offence was "unintended and relatively minor". Osborne had been told at the time by the Fees Office that his claims would be within the rules. "We entirely accept that Mr Osborne derived no significant benefit from them," the report added. The BBC's Political Correspondent Iain Watson said the repayment was relatively small in comparison with those made by some other MPs and would not be regarded as politically damaging.2010 general election campaign
During the 2010 general election campaign, Osborne was considered to have been sidelined due to his perceived unpopularity and the perception as a 'weak link' by both the Liberal Democrat and Labour strategists.Political views
The Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
describes Osborne as "metropolitan
Metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:* A metropolis* A metropolitan area* A metropole, "mother country", or central part of a colonizing state* Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see"...
and socially liberal. He is hawkish on foreign policy with links to Washington neo-conservatives and ideologically committed to cutting the state. A pragmatic Eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
". There is evidence of this commitment to cutting the state in his party's manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
, with Osborne and the Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
seeking to cut the deficit "faster and deeper" than any other main party as well as committing to various tax cuts such as inheritance tax
Inheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
and national insurance
National Insurance
National Insurance in the United Kingdom was initially a contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment, and later also provided retirement pensions and other benefits...
. According to an IFS
Institute for Fiscal Studies
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is an economic research institute based in London, United Kingdom which specialises in UK taxation and public policy...
report before the 2010 election, the Conservatives needed to find more money from cuts beyond what they had outlined than any other major party, although the report was also critical of Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and the Lib Dems
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Osborne was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 May 2010 and, as per custom with Cabinet Ministers, was sworn in as a Privy CounsellorPrivy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
the next day.
Osborne acceded to the chancellorship in the continuing wake of the financial crisis
Late-2000s financial crisis
The late-2000s financial crisis is considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s...
. Two of his first acts were setting up the Office of Budget Responsibility and commissioning a government-wide spending review, to conclude in autumn 2010, to set limits on departmental spending until 2014–15. In July 2010, Osborne seeking cuts of up to 25 per cent in government spending to tackle the deficit, taking on the £20 billion cost of building four new Vanguard-class submarine
Vanguard class submarine
The Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines , each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles...
to bear Trident
UK Trident programme
The UK Trident programme is the United Kingdom's Trident missile-based nuclear weapons programme. Under the programme, the Royal Navy operates 58 nuclear-armed Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and around 200 nuclear warheads on 4 Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines from...
would require a severe reduction in the rest of the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
budget. The Chancellor insisted that Trident had to be considered as part of the MoD's core funding. He said, "The Trident costs, I have made it absolutely clear, are part of the defence budget." He warned that if Trident was considered core funding, there would have to be severe restrictions in the way that Britain operated militarily, amid suggestions that regiments could be axed, or, potentially, the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
amalgamated. Liam Fox
Liam Fox
Liam Fox MP is a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament for North Somerset, and former Secretary of State for Defence....
said, "To take the capital cost would make it very difficult to maintain what we are currently doing in terms of capability."
On 4 October 2010, in a speech at the Conservative conference in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Osborne announced a cap on the overall amount of benefits a family can receive from the state, estimated to be around £500 a week from 2013. It has been estimated this could result in 50,000 unemployed families losing an average of £93 a week. He also announced that he would end the universal entitlement to child benefit
Child benefit
Child benefit is a social security payment disbursed to the parents or guardians of children. Child benefit is means-tested in some countries.-Australia:...
, and removed the entitlement from people on the 40% and 50% income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
rates from 2013.
In February 2011 Osborne announced Project Merlin
Project Merlin
Project Merlin is an agreement between the British Government of David Cameron and four of the major high street banks in the United Kingdom. These banks are Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC...
whereby banks will lend about £190bn to businesses this year – including £76bn to small firms – curb bonuses and reveal some salary details of their top earners. The Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
will monitor whether loans targets are being met. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott resigned after the agreement was announced. This was in addition to the government increasing its levy on banks to £2.5bn this year – raising an extra £800m. HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
(RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group have signed up to the Project Merlin agreement, while Santander has agreed to the lending parts of the deal. Other pledges include providing £200m of capital for David Cameron's Big Society
Big Society
The Big Society was the flagship policy idea of the 2010 UK Conservative Party general election manifesto. It now forms part of the legislative programme of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement. The aim is "to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building...
Bank, which is supposed to finance community projects.
2010
Osborne set himself the target of reducing the UK's deficit to the point that, in the financial year 2015–16, the total public debt would be falling as a fraction of GDP. On 24 May 2010, Osborne outlined £6.2bn cuts: "We simply cannot afford to increase public debt at the rate of £3bn each week." A Financial Times editorial agreed. In an open letter to the chancellor, however, the respected FTFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
commentator Martin Wolf
Martin Wolf
Martin Wolf, CBE is a British journalist, widely considered to be one of the world's most influential writers on economics. He is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.-Early life:...
wrote: "I have been fascinated—if appalled—by the pre-Keynesian approach you and the prime minister have taken to the UK's fiscal challenges. What Keynes called "the Treasury view"—that fiscal policy has no effect on activity, even in a deep recession—is alive and well in Downing Street." Comparing Coalition austerity measures with the Opposition's, Wolf commented that the "big shift from Labour. . . . is the cuts in welfare benefits."
Leaked Treasury documents the next month revealed that Osborne anticipated his tighter spending would lead to 1.3 million jobs lost over the course of the parliament. Osborne has termed those who object to his policy "deficit-deniers".
In September, the IMF described Osborne's deficit reduction plans as "essential", though revised its growth estimate down, and dozens of leading British CEO's publicly declared their support in a high-profile letter. Others were openly hostile to Osborne's plans, notably David Blanchflower
David Blanchflower
David Graham Blanchflower CBE is a leading labour economist, currently a tenured economics professor at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire...
and Martin Wolf. It was also reported in September that the quarterly UK trade deficit for April–June 2010 was the largest since annual records began in 1946. "July's dreadful UK trade figures cast further doubt over the ability of the external sector to drive the recovery once the boost from government and consumer spending fades," commented Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics
Capital Economics
Capital Economics Ltd is an independent macroeconomic research consultancy based in London, UK. It was founded in 1999 by Roger Bootle. The firm has offices in London, UK, and Toronto, Canada....
.
George Osborne, presented the Government's Spending Review on 20 October, which fixed spending budgets for each government department up to 2014–15. Before and after becoming chancellor, Osborne had alleged that the UK was on "the verge of bankruptcy". When he maintained the stance to justify the Spending Review, Martin Wolf took issue: "The chancellor presents the hypothesis of looming national 'bankruptcy'. If so, the UK must have been bankrupt for much of the past two centuries." A fortnight after his Review presentation, the Treasury Select Committee also accused the chancellor of using inflammatory language to justify the large public spending cuts.
More bad news was to follow as it was reported that UK exports had fallen at a record pace in the fourth quarter of 2010, highlighting the fact that Britain had not escaped a plunge in global trade. Vicky Redwood remarked: "Until the UK's export sector starts to perk up, any recovery in the overall economy seems unlikely." The economy also posted a contraction of 0.5 percent for the final quarter of 2010. Hetal Mehta from Dalwa Capitol described the negative growth as "a horrendous figure. An absolute disaster for the economy. . . . It seems that the economy is incredibly vulnerable. And with the fiscal tightening yet to fully bite, we will have to brace ourselves for a bumpy ride." Osborne said that although the figures were disappointing, there was strong performances and growth from sections of the economy less affected by the weather, such as manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
. He also declared that the poor figures and bad weather would not affect implementation of his austerity measures and budget deficit reduction, and that he would not be "blown off course".
2011
2011 ushered in better news, with the revised figures for the month of January indicating that the deficit in trade in goods had narrowed compared to December 2010, and by much more than expected. "This is welcome news for the UK economy and signals a further rebalancing of the economy towards export-led manufacturing growth," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit Group.Osborne's policies caused continuing concern as a series of bad data indicated the deteriorating state of the UK economy. Martin Wolf observed: "The release of the preliminary version of the May 2011 Economic Outlook from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...
allows the reader to trace the disappointing path that the UK economy has taken", and NIESR, predicting a growth slump, recommended delaying the spending cuts. On 6 June, fifty-two people, including some of Britain's leading economists, two former Whitehall advisers and two signatories of the previous year's high-profile letter backing the Tories' cuts, publicly warned Osborne that the UK was too fragile to withstand his drastic spending cuts and that he must draw up a plan B. As in January, Osborne dismissed the criticism. Over the following week, the IMF reaffirmed its support for Osborne's cuts, again describing them as "essential", though again revising its growth prediction down, and a number of economists publicly encouraged Osborne not to abandon his deficit-reduction programme. The same week featured a repetition of a threat by Moody's
Moody's
Moody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized...
to downgrade the UK's credit rating (a Chinese ratings agency had already downgraded Britain's credit rating because it foresaw years of sluggish growth), contradicting Osborne's claim a few weeks prior that the UK's credit rating had "come off negative outlook when other countries are facing downgrades. We have brought much-needed stability at home and attracted near universal confidence abroad".
In June it was reported that Osborne's staff had been complaining privately to the BBC about an alleged negative bias in the latter's coverage of the economy, and Osborne aired the accusation publicly in a BBC interview. The BBC rebutted Osborne's comments on its website.
Second-quarter GDP-figures were, with just 0.2% growth, "horribly unimpressive". The Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
(ONS) argued the figures were heavily influenced by one-off, suppressing factors, though Lex argued that, "Little weight should be put on" the ONS's argument. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls accused Osborne of being "breathtakingly complacent", while Malcolm Barr, an economist at JPMorgan, said, "No one can claim that the economy is anything but disappointing". Though the OBR's monthly survey of private sector economists showed progressive downgrades of GDP growth estimates—the July forecast was a 1.3 per cent rate of expansion, down from 1.7 per cent in March—the OBR reported that public finances were on track. Commenting on the low, 0.2% growth of GDP, Osborne, as on previous occasions, stated that, although the economy was carrying some "heavy weights", abandoning his austerity programme "would only risk British jobs and growth." An FT editorial again gave qualified praise for Osborne's performance.
Within days, however, bad news emerged for the manufacturing sector, which had been "the economy's stellar performer since the UK emerged from recession". Optimism among manufacturers fell for the first time in two years (shortly thereafter it emerged that manufacturing had contracted in July, the first such decline in more than two years, as British manufacturers fired a broadside at ministers' efforts to "rebalance" the economy); Osborne's plan to offer a national insurance holiday to small companies to boost jobs growth in the UK's regions had had only a "minuscule" take-up since it was launched a year ago; the CBI lowered its growth forecast for 2011 again, but emphasised that the economy was still expected to grow; the IMF, pointing to weak growth prospects, cast doubt on Osborne's ability to meet his 2015–6 goal for eliminating the deficit; the head of the OBR stated his belief that the UK would fail to meet its 2011 growth target of 1.7%; leading builders merchants complained that the construction sector's recovery was being held back by Osborne's austerity measures; the IMF estimated that British households would lose £1,500 a year for the next five years as a consequence of the austerity drive, warned that the UK faced a "bumpy and uneven" recovery, and that Osborne should prepare to be flexible; NIESR, in a more outspoken fashion than the IMF, told Osborne that his cuts would lead to the deficit's existence past his 2015–16 target; NIESR and the IMF estimated that the UK's structural unemployment rate would be worse than before the financial crisis; UK car sales continued their uninterrupted fall for each month of Osborne's chancellorship; and, with the Bank of England preparing to slash growth forecasts, Business Secretary Vince Cable warned that the UK was facing the risk of a double-dip recession.
With problems with eurozone and US debt peaking again, Osborne interrupted his holiday to make crisis calls.
Personal life
Osborne married The Hon.The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Frances Victoria Howell
Frances Osborne
Frances Osborne is a British author. She is the eldest daughter of former and current Conservative Cabinet Minister David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford and Cary Davina Wallace....
(b. 18 February 1969), author and elder daughter of former and current Conservative Cabinet Minister Lord Howell of Guildford
David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford
David Arthur Russell Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford, PC , is a British Conservative politician, journalist, and economic consultant. Having been successively Secretary of State for Energy and then for Transport under Margaret Thatcher, Howell is now a Minister of State in the Foreign Office...
, on 4 April 1998. The couple have two children, Luke Benedict, born at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, London, on 15 June 2001, and Liberty Kate, born at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, London, on 27 June 2003.
He has an estimated personal fortune of around £4 million, as the beneficiary of a trust fund that owns a 15-per-cent stake in Osborne & Little, the wallpaper-and-fabrics company co-founded by his father, Sir Peter Osborne, Bt.
See also
- Conservative Research DepartmentConservative Research DepartmentThe Conservative Research Department is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters at 30 Millbank, London SW1....
- Cameron MinistryCameron MinistryDavid Cameron is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government after the resignation as Prime Minister of Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010. Leading a coalition government formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the coalition...
- New Enterprise Council (Conservative Party, United Kingdom)New Enterprise Council (Conservative Party, United Kingdom)The New Enterprise Council is a Conservative Party group founded in 2008 to form a link between the party and business leaders. The Council advises the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne...
External links
- George Osborne MP official Conservative Party profile
- George Osborne for Tatton official constituency site
- George Osborne collected news and commentary at The TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
- Profile: George Osborne BBC News, 5 April 2005
- Economic thinking after the crunch, video speech, RSA Insights, 8 April 2009
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