Osborne tells of his ‘gloom’ over EU vote

George Osborne has said he was “not keen” on the decision by David Cameron to stage a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.

The former chancellor, who campaigned strongly for Remain, said he had always been “gloomy” about the likely result of last year’s vote.

However, he said he had not wanted to create difficulties for Mr Cameron who remained a close friend and ally.

“I was not keen on having a referendum in the first place but I chose to be part of the collective decision-making of the government,” he said.

“I certainly did not walk out of the government at the time.

“That is not the way I tried to behave as chancellor.”

Mr Osborne said, as the vote approached, he had become increasingly pessimistic about the chances of a Remain victory.

“I was always quite gloomy about the referendum and its outcome,” he said. “I went round the country and I kept hearing from people I would assume wanted to stay in the EU that they wanted to leave so I was pretty pessimistic.”

Mr Osborne acknowledged his strong support for Remain meant he was a divisive figure withintheconservativeparty, but said he had not ruled out a return to politics at some point in the future. “I don’t rule out going back into politics but it is certainly not plan A,” he said. He said he remained friends with Environment Secretary Michael Gove, despite having been on opposite sides in the referendum campaign.