Why has Tony Blair backed George Osborne over Evening Standard editor鈥檚 job?
As the parliamentary standards committee prepares to meet to discuss George Osborne's new job he wins backing from... Tony Blair.
Sunday 19 March 2017 14:49, UK
George Osborne hasn't exactly been overwhelmed with public pronouncements of support since the announcement of his editorship of the Evening Standard.聽
Amongst the most vituperative reaction has been from his own Conservative parliamentary colleagues.
One senior backbench MP told me that the former Chancellor was "taking the p***".
Other MPs are angry that his decision may cost all of them their second jobs as it has now prompted the Committee for Standards in Public Life to revisit the rules.
Lord Bew, who chairs the committee, has told Sky News they will meet later this week to discuss the issue.
He said: "This is not the only example, but it seems time to revisit the last advice we issued in 2009 which was that second jobs for MPs are OK as long as constituents are told at election time."
"Polls are increasingly showing that people are less accepting of MPs who divide their time between Westminster and other work," he said.
"But also public opinion is often contradictory: they don't want 100% professional politicians but they want them to devote enough time to Parliament."
And yet a near lone-voice of support has emerged and it's not from where you might think.
Former prime minister Tony Blair has offered Mr Osborne his congratulations, telling BBC1's Andrew Marr show: "I think it is a great thing for the Evening Standard.
"Why not? He is a highly capable guy and it should make politics more interesting."
This wasn't an act of generosity, Mr Blair I'm sure, chose his words carefully. Helping to burnish Mr Osborne's credentials will, he must believe, help the former prime minister prevent or ameliorate Brexit.
Mr Osborne's unusual move is an attempt to build an alternative power base outside of Parliament.
With his political ambitions wilting on the backbenches, the attractions for the Tory "Remainer-in-Chief" of editing the newspaper read by hundreds of thousands of Londoners, the Remainer capital of England, are obvious.
Any significant Brexit backlash against the "Hard Brexit" being pursued by the government must surely start in London - and as editor of the Standard Mr Osborne will be perfectly situated to fan those flames.
And at the risk of overextending the fire metaphor, be able to hold his former cabinet colleagues' feet to the fire.
Likewise, the divisions between the Osbnornite liberal wing of the Conservative Party and the May/Brexit Brexit wing are becoming starker every day, something this appointment has thrown into stark relief.
One of Mr Osborne's key lieutenants (and another victim of the Theresa May axe) former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said today: "George is very much about being the voice of the liberal Conservative Party.
"When you're fired as we all were last summer, what did they expect, the government? That we are all just going to disappear?
"No, we are going to make our voices heard, whether it's me writing articles, whether it's George being editor of the Evening Standard. There's a liberal Conservatism point of view to be talked about and we're going to do that."
No wonder that voices in Downing Street see this as part of a long-term attempt to undermine Mrs May's leadership from both within and without of the Conservative Party.
And beyond the intra-Conservative politics, Mr Blair is clearly playing the long game too. He will doubtless see this as part of the Remainer fightback.
Securing the co-operation of a key newspaper at a time when Remainer influence in the mainstream press is pretty limited.
It's yet another sign that the constellations of British politics have shifted, with the Remainer/Leaver tribes (temporarily at least) superseding old party loyalties and bringing together odd bedfellows.
Mr Blair is right about one thing at least, politics is about to get even more interesting.