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[/audioplayer]When George Osborne last stood up to deliver a budget, he had reached his post-election apotheosis. His economic (and political) strategy had been amply vindicated by the election result. He was, for the first time, regarded as David Cameron’s most likely successor. By the time the Chancellor sat down that status had been confirmed: his announcement of a National Living Wage had shown he was serious about the Tories’ claim to be the new workers’ party. Yet when Osborne comes to the despatch box on Wednesday to present this year’s budget, he will do so not as the prime minister-presumptive, but rather as a Chancellor in need of a political pick-me-up. To become the front-runner in a Tory leadership contest, even one several years away, is to put a target on your back, and Osborne has had a tough time lately.
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