Osborne issues statement to constituents following his appointment as Evening Standard editor

osborne

After all that you have read over the recent days about my new role as editor of the Evening Standard, I want to talk directly to you, my constituents.

It is the greatest honour to be your Member of Parliament, elected by you to represent our community here in Cheshire and take part in the national debate about the great issues Britain faces.

For sixteen years I have done that - thanks to your growing support at each election - and with your help we have achieved some major successes. We've stopped the closure of the A&E Department at Macclesfield District Hospital, not once but twice. We've got the Alderley Edge bypass built, after people had been trying for 70 years. We've improved the direct train services, got great new facilities for our academy schools, and brought new businesses and new jobs to the area. Throughout that time I've been able to help countless local people privately with their individual problems in the surgeries I've held and the efforts of my hard-working team in the office.

For almost all of those sixteen years, I have also held prominent positions in the public life of the country. For five years I was Shadow Chancellor. For these last six years I was Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was a real privilege to hold one of the great offices of state but it is also one of the most demanding jobs in the country - working dawn to dusk, and on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Throughout that time I was there for you as your local MP.

Now I have left Downing Street I want to continue to take part in the debate about the future direction of our country. No longer being Chancellor gives me time to do that in other ways - yes, in the Chamber of the House of Commons; but also as the editor of a major newspaper, the Evening Standard. There is a long tradition of politics and journalism mixing. One of the greatest newspaper editors ever, CP Scott, combined editing the Manchester Guardian with being an MP. In our age, politicians from Iain Macleod and Richard Crossman to, of course, Boris Johnson have combined the role of editor and Member of Parliament.

Meanwhile the hard work in the constituency continues unaffected. Take this week alone. I've been helping the schools in Cheshire get a fairer deal out of the proposed new funding formula. I'll be helping to officially open the new A556 link road - badly needed for decades, yet only delivered now because of my campaign and our collective hard work. I'll be at the opening of another new business here, speaking at a fundraising dinner for a great local charity and holding my regular constituency surgery. It is all in a week's work as your MP.

I will also be in Manchester to promote our efforts to build the Northern Powerhouse - a concept I launched two years ago and which it is one of my jobs now to promote through the new partnership we have created. Nothing has greater potential to improve the opportunities for the future in this area than that Northern Powerhouse

I believe this diversity of experience makes our Parliament stronger. I hope you agree and I look forward to continuing to hear what you have to say and to work with you on the problems we face and the great future we can all build.

Best wishes, George.

Tags:
George Osborne
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Nick Jones
Tuesday 21st March 2017 at 1:14 pm
That’s what show business is.. Sincere Insincerity .. Do the honourable thing George !
Gill Fitz
Tuesday 21st March 2017 at 1:32 pm
Tatton voters aren't stupid.
Remember Martin Bell?
Gill Fitz
Tuesday 21st March 2017 at 5:06 pm
Tatton voters aren't stupid.
Remember Martin Bell?
Derek Ferguson
Tuesday 21st March 2017 at 8:52 pm
Why not let us decide? Resign as an MP then stand in the ensuing by-election.
Lynne Prescott
Wednesday 22nd March 2017 at 6:15 pm
Resign as our MP now and let someone who has the time and will represent our interests!

I agree with Derek - you should give us the choice. Given this is now your fifth or sixth job, can you confirm how much time you will be planning to spend in the constituency, dealing with the concerns of the people that elected you to represent us. This is unethical, shameless and shows a lack of integrity... but I have to say that your blustering attempts to show that your behaviour, behaviour already criticised in Parliament, is acceptable do not surprise me. It's yet another example of the growing belief some politicians have that the rules were not designed for them to obey.
Mark Goldsmith
Wednesday 22nd March 2017 at 6:29 pm
I was very happy for George to be a part time MP when he was serving the country as Chancellor instead.

Now he is just serving himself. And he is insulting our intelligence with this lame excuse too.

So make your mind up George. MP or editor? One or the other, but you can't do both.
John Clegg
Wednesday 22nd March 2017 at 6:51 pm
Oh, look a statement.
Well, that's fine.
Simon Smith
Wednesday 22nd March 2017 at 9:33 pm
Insulting.
I'll expand personally next time I see you shopping in Handforth precinct.
I recall you are a regular visitor.
Pete Taylor
Wednesday 22nd March 2017 at 10:46 pm
@Simon, yes he's often in the pasty queue at Peter Herd's. Must be taxing for him to mix with us riff-raft though.
Chris Boothman
Thursday 23rd March 2017 at 6:28 pm
RESIGN now. No way he can serve us properly.
Richard Stain
Thursday 23rd March 2017 at 9:42 pm
I thought that as an MP you got paid a full time salary for a full time job. But perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe this is a flexitime job where you just work when you feel like it or when you're not editing the Evening Standard.

True Blue as I am, I would not be able to vote for someone who took their public duties so lightly.

Maybe I'll vote Green or Independent next time.
Peter Stubbs
Friday 24th March 2017 at 5:14 pm
Is this a miracle for Gabriel - or outrageous Trumpery? I thought the 1832 Reform Act did away with rotten boroughs but here is our MP demonstrating that they're alive and well in the naive North.
A real editor's job is a severe test for an experienced journalist, let alone a newspaper ingenue like George. It is hubris of the most blatant degree to imagine that he can fulfil all that he claims at the moment, and he would do well to recall the fate of Neil Hamilton and of the Scottish Labour MPs when they thought they could take too much for granted. A high visibility newspaper may seem a useful launch-pad from which to challenge for the Tory leadership when Brexit shakes the darling buds of May, but steady on, Master Osborne...
Nick Jones
Friday 24th March 2017 at 5:32 pm
@ Peter,....Great analogy...but.... Maybe its not a conflict of interest, as he is actually not interested in the journalism aspect .... Just the Cash !!

A rush of party colleagues coming to his defence is imminent !!... Maybe not then !!....

So were stuck with a London- centric MP with 5 better cash paying jobs..but with a very nice pension from just this one !
Peter Smith
Wednesday 29th March 2017 at 12:41 pm
There is little point in those constituents of Wilmslow nor indeed Alderley Edge, getting too wound up over this issue, since New Boundary Commission rules are due to be activated in 2018 in time for the next General Election due in 2020; which proposal would abolish the existing Tatton Constituency, and putting both Wilmslow and Alderley Edge within Macclesfield Constituency; so it is highly unlikely that George Osborne would be your MP for much longer. He has said he would wish to continue in Westminster, but would first need to stand for another seat !!

n.b. The Boundary Commissions above proposals have yet to be voted on by Parliament.
If you wish to make representations (for or against), see here until 18th March :

https://www.bce2018.org.uk/node/6487