Now is the time to buy stock in George Osborne

Few politicians have a more volatile share price than George Osborne. His career to date has been a tale of highs (the inheritance tax announcement, the 2010 emergency budget) and lows (yacht-gate and the aftermath of the 2012 budget). Westminster’s stockbrokers were waiting for next week’s autumn statement to decide if his stock was on the up again. But the Chancellor has beaten them to it. His success in persuading Mark Carney, the governor of the Canadian Central Bank, to take on the role of Bank of England governor, is a market-moving intervention.

To be sure, few voters will head to the polls in 2015 determined to return to government the man who put a Canadian in charge of the Bank of England. But Carney’s acceptance of the role is a boost to Osborne’s reputation. He has recruited the man regarded by his peers as the most successful central banker in the world.