George Osborne has moved to strengthen his personal, political operation by hiring the political editor of the Daily Mail James Chapman as his director of communications.
This beefing up of his media team will be seen in Westminster as a statement of political intent by the Chancellor; it gives him a more formidable operation than any of the other likely contenders for the Tory leadership. I am told that Chapman will be handling communications for Osborne in his role as both Chancellor and First Secretary of State.
One of the reasons that Osborne was keen to hire a Fleet Street heavy hitter to be his director of communications, he’s never had one before, is that he is likely to take charge of the EU referendum campaign, should the government recommend an In vote following the renegotiation.
With Chapman and the former BBC political producer Thea Rogers working for him, Osborne has experts on both print and broadcast media on board.
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