George Osborne given Boris Johnson’s old ‘s***’ shabby office after being turfed out of Downing Street
His new digs are next to a photocopying room, looks onto other offices and neighbours mid-ranking MPs
GEORGE Osborne has had to suffer the ridicule of moving into his former leadership rival Boris Johnson’s old shabby office after being sacked from Cabinet.
The ex Chancellor was turfed out of the back door of his plush digs in No11 Downing Street when he was relieved of his duties by Theresa May last week.
And he has also had to give up his swanky office in the Treasury after being relegated to the backbenches.
Instead the one-time favourite to succeed David Cameron as PM has been lumped with a fourth-floor office in Portcullis House, across the road from the Palace of Westminster, next door to a photocopying room.
Rather than the spectacular view over the Thames he enjoyed as shadow Chancellor in the Norman Shaw South building, he now looks onto the back of other offices – usually home to mid-ranking MPs.
As one Westminster insider told political blog : “It’s a s*** office. Really woeful for a former Chancellor.”
To add insult to injury, the last MP to occupy the office was Mr Johnson, who has enjoyed a surprise upgrade to the Foreign Office.
Mr Osborne had harboured ambitions for No10 before Britain voted to leave the EU last month. The former Chancellor gambled his career on the outcome and his support base collapsed after the historic vote went against him.
Mr Johnson's own Downing Street dream was torpedoed by former ally Michael Gove before Mrs May promoted him to the Foreign Office in the shock appointment of her reshuffle.
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Mr Osborne has also lost access to the Chancellor's official retreat, the 18th century mansion in Dorneywood, Buckinghamshire while BoJo has told he must share the Foreign Scretary's official residence in Chevening, Kent, with fellow Cabinet members David Davis and Liam Fox.