Chancellorship of George Osborne

George Osborne served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from May 2010 to July 2016 in the David Cameron–Nick Clegg coalition Conservative-Liberal Democrat government and the David Cameron majority Conservative government. His tenure pursued austerity policies aimed at reducing the budget deficit and launched the Northern Powerhouse initiative. He had previously served as Shadow Chancellor in the Shadow Cabinet of David Cameron from 2005 to 2010.

Following the 2010 general election, negotiations led to David Cameron becoming prime minister as the head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. Osborne was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Cameron–Clegg coalition. He succeeded Alistair Darling, inheriting a large deficit in government finances due to the effects of the late-2000s financial crisis. At age 39, Osborne became the youngest Chancellor of the Exchequer since the appointment of Randolph Churchill over 120 years prior at age 37. As Chancellor, Osborne pursued austerity policies aimed at reducing the budget deficit and launched the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

After the Conservatives won an overall majority in the 2015 general election, Cameron reappointed Osbourne as Chancellor in his second government and gave him the additional title of First Secretary of State. He was widely viewed as a potential successor to David Cameron as Leader of the Conservative Party; one Conservative MP, Nadhim Zahawi, suggested that the closeness of his relationship with Cameron meant that the two effectively shared power during the duration of the Cameron governments.

Following the 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union and Cameron's consequent resignation, he was dismissed by Cameron's successor Theresa May. He was succeeded by Philip Hammond. Osborne served on the backbenches for a year before leaving public office at the 2017 general election.