James Forsyth reviews the week in politics
When all the Tory staff moved into the soulless Millbank complex for the election campaign, they were addressed by George Osborne in his role as campaign director. They were told that the next 60 days were the most important period of their professional lives. For no one in the room was this truer than for Mr Osborne. If the Tories triumph, he will be chancellor and (if he is lucky) hailed as the mastermind behind a winning campaign. If it ends in disaster, he’ll be held responsible.
His dual role — campaign director and shadow chancellor — has been deeply controversial and has exposed him to criticism from those who say he does neither job well. In the summer of 2007, as Gordon Brown soared in the polls, Osborne copped the blame. Frontbenchers and backbenchers alike complained that Mr Osborne had underestimated the new Prime Minister and had not furnished the party with an economic narrative. There were grumblings that if Brown did call an election and win, moving Osborne would be a precondition of Cameron’s survival.
But within weeks, Osborne was hailed as a political genius for his plan to raise the inheritance tax threshold to a million pounds, a move paid for by a levy on non-doms, which turned the political tide and led to Brown ducking out of an early election. As Brown’s premiership unravelled, Osborne celebrated by telling colleagues, ‘see, I told you all he was mad.’
In the next month, Osborne’s reputation will ebb and flow again. Labour is determined to target him. They know that he is the most important person in this election behind Gordon Brown and David Cameron. Labour thinks that if they can discredit or destabilise Osborne they can cripple the Tory campaign.
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