Now that the economy is recovering and George Osborne has overtaken Ed Balls in the polls for having the best economic policies, he may be forgiven for wondering if wider rehabilitation is next. The Chancellor’s allies have long seen him as the man who will succeed David Cameron, perhaps in 2018, and imagine that his problem — looking too young — will remedy itself and that his personal popularity will recover along with the economy.
Today’s polls suggest this isn’t happening – at least, not yet. While the Chancellor’s professional reputation is recovering from the omnishambolic 2012 budget his personal reputation is still pretty low. In today’s Independent on Sunday, Osborne ranks last for whom people would like to have a meal with, join their pub quiz team or spend Christmas with, compared to the other party leaders:
On professional matters, the Chancellor ranks top for who you’d most like looking after your financial affairs — I’m sure he’s thankful for this.
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