George Osborne has won the backing of his local Conservative association after insisting that his editorship of the Evening Standard was a part-time role and only four days a week. The former chancellor made a speech to members of the Tatton Conservative Association at their annual general meeting held at Toft cricket club near Knutsford in Cheshire on Friday night.
After the meeting, Patty Goddard, president of the association, said there was no question of a vote of no confidence. She said: “I have to say it was one of the best AGMs we’ve had in years. It was very well attended – though it normally is – but you could feel the support in the room.
“Everybody in the room was fully supportive of George, our MP, and he got a huge round of applause when he’d finished speaking. I was George’s chairman for four years and I know how hard this guy can work.
“He’s got amazing stamina and he never ceased his duty to Tatton while he was chancellor of the exchequer, and I’ve no reason to believe that will change when he’s editing a newspaper four mornings a week. We all feel that he’s got the capability and the ability to do that, and we’ve every confidence in him.
“It was so positive. I feel so pleased it happened that way. We thought there might be some problems, but none whatsoever. We did ask the questions and he answered them satisfactorily.”
Osborne arrived at and left the 75-minute meeting, which was not open to the press, without comment.
His new role, announced a week ago, has provoked derision from Labour and disquiet from some Tory MPs. The House of Commons committee on standards said on Friday that it would examine guidance on MPs’ second jobs amid questions over how much time Osborne would be able to devote to his Tatton constituents.
Asked what Osborne told Tory councillors and members about his many time commitments, Steward Gardiner, a Knutsford town councillor, said: “He was basically saying that none of the jobs he’s taken outside parliament are full time. He has agreements with all of his other employers that he will not be working on Friday so he can spend time in the constituency and actually he will be more available now than he was when he was chancellor.
“When he was chancellor, he had to be in London on far more occasions than he will have to be as the editor of this newspaper. This newspaper is finished at lunchtimes so he can still do all the stuff on the parliamentary estate on the daytime. He can still speak for the people of Knutsford in the House of Commons.”