George Osborne

George Osborne is the youngest Chancellor of the Exchequer in over a century and the author of the most radical austerity programme since the war. He is also the government’s political brain and a man with an eye on the premiership. There is no more controversial figure in British politics. He has produced the most unpopular Budget of recent times and made enemies on his own side as well as on the left. George Osborne: The Austerity Chancellor is the story of his extraordinary ascent to power: a journey driven by luck, guile, resilience, risk-taking and searing ambition. This is the chronicle of a time as well as a man. Osborne has had a starring role or front-row seat at all the Tory dramas since the fall of Thatcher. As a back-room adviser, an opposition MP and a Cabinet member, he has lived through the dog days of the Major government, the party’s long years in opposition, its eventual resurrection and now the glories and burdens of office. Here is the inside story of George Osborne and the political era he has helped to shape.