Youngest Tory MP to challenge Brown

THE Conservatives last night propelled their youngest MP into the role of Shadow Chancellor. George Osborne, 33, has been an MP for only four years, replacing the former BBC journalist Martin Bell as Member for Tatton.

Osborne's promotion, one of a series of appointments to the Shadow Cabinet by party leader Michael Howard, is seen as part of the necessary changes to introduce new blood and rejuvenate the Tories after their third General Election defeat.

Despite his youth, Osborne has already been the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a Shadow Work and Pensions Minister and Shadow Economic Secretary. He has also been a member of the Public Accounts Select Committee and the Transport Select Committee.

Shadowing Gordon Brown, however, will either be his making or his undoing. Widely seen as Labour's leader-in-waiting following last week's election, Brown has already outlasted six Tory Shadow Chancellors. Labour's success in managing the economy means Brown enjoys a healthy reputation and his opposite numbers have struggled to make much headway against him, either in the Commons or outside.

Osborne's predecessor, Oliver Letwin, made the mistake of publishing too much detail about his tax and spending ideas, effectively giving Labour the chance to pick and choose for their own policies from his plans.

But Conservative MPs said that growing evidence of an economic slowdown could benefit to Osborne. 'We've seen poor retail sales figures from the British Retail Consortium, numerous warnings from retailers generally, a slowdown in house prices and claims from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that taxes will have to rise. All this will undermine Brown's reputation for economic mastery and as long as the Conservatives have the right person in place to exploit this, they could do well,' said one political source.

Osborne said he accepted that the Conservatives had to broaden their appeal beyond their traditional heartland vote to those who had switched to other parties or who had not voted at all. He added: 'Obviously the economic policy of the party is central to that.'