Ex-chancellor hires ‘super-smart’ former strategist to George Osborne to advise on policy

A FORMER key strategist to George Osborne who helped the Tories win an unexpected election victory in 2015 has been hired to advise Rishi Sunak on policy. Eleanor Shawcross, a highly respected former senior aide to Mr Osborne when he was chancellor, is now advising Mr Sunak on policy issues as part of his leadership campaign.

The appointment makes Ms Shawcross a probable candidate to head up Mr Sunak’s Downing Street policy unit if the former Chancellor is elected as prime minister.

Ms Shawcross – who is married to Tory peer Lord Wolfson, the chief executive of the Next clothing chain – is understood to have been drafted in recently. A source in Mr Sunak’s team confirmed that the “super-smart” Ms Shawcross was now “helping out on policy stuff ” for Mr Sunak.

The scope of the role is limited by the fact that Mr Sunak’s policy platform was constrained by the manifesto he had signed off on in 2019 when Boris Johnson led the Tories.

A second source said she was coordinating policy formulation for Mr Sunak and having meetings with MPs who are feeding in ideas on particular areas.

“We already have a manifesto – so it is tweaks and changes,” the source said.

The appointment will lead to speculation that Ms Shawcross could be closely involved in drawing up the Conservatives’ manifesto for the next general election, expected in May 2024. A Sunak campaign source said it was too early to decide whether Ms Shawcross would have any further role if Mr Sunak gets the keys to No10: “We are working hour by hour.”