Osborne Matures

by Graham Davies

He will never be a British Obama, but George Osborne has now become the Tories' best teleprompt performer. He seems to be able to look past the glass, rather than at it.

Yesterday marked Osborne's Coming of Age as a political presenter. He has managed to get rid of that annoying air of Deputy-Head-Boy smugness. When he has something specific to announce, he manages to strike just the right note of earnestness without being too lofty. He was like someone who was confiding with some close friends at a rather important dinner-party.

He even presented a couple of gags nicely: playing them as though they were serious lines and so letting the words do the work.

This is the first time that I have seen him in front of a large audience coming across as a decently concerned human being, rather than a pompous toff politician who wants to show us how jolly clever he is.

But I do hope that he drops We are All in this Together, before We all Puke Together.