The former chancellor has told friends he is well placed to replace Christine Lagarde, who was picked as head of the European Central Bank this week.

The former chancellor was spotted walking through the grounds before taking up his position in Centre Court's Royal Box, where he was seen chatting with former Bank of England governor Mervyn King.

Former Chancellor and London Evening Standard editor George Osborne, 48, and his author wife Frances, 50, are getting divorced after 21 years of marriage, they announced in a statement today.

The abrupt departure of Sir Kim Darroch following his extraordinary spat with Donald Trump has left a vacancy in the Foreign Office's most prominent overseas post.

The post was vacated last month when France's Christine Lagarde stepped down following her appointment as the next head of the European Central Bank.

The number of non-doms, people who are not legally domiciled in the UK but enjoy tax advantages, fell from 98,500 to 78,300 last year, a record low. The tax they contributed also dropped by £2billion.

Receipts from residential purchases fell 10 per cent in 2018/19 to £8.4billion compared with the previous year. This is the biggest fall since house prices collapsed during credit crunch in 2008.

Judge Louis Walsh was filming scenes with his act, Love Actually star Olivia Olson, on a London street when George, who proclaimed himself a huge fan of the IITV show, turned up.  

The former Chancellor was pictured with colleague Laura Weir, editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard's weekly magazine at a charity dinner for Rod Stewart at the Rosewood Hotel.

George Osborne has urged Boris Johnson not to scrap HS2 after the Prime Minister launched a major review of all government projects with plans to axe those which are deemed a waste of money.

The former Remain Tory chancellor, who was accused of being the architect of 'Project Fear' during the referendum, acknowledged the City could thrive when free from Brussels.

Conservative heavyweights were out in force today for Lord Bell's memorial service at St Paul's in Knightsbridge.

The 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge on additional properties was introduced by the former Chancellor in 2016 and it was hoped it would raise £2.9billion in tax by the end of the 2019/2020 tax year.

The former politician, who oversaw austerity in the years following the 2008 financial crisis, raised the spectre of banks refusing to lend money if businesses start going to the wall.

The latest leader of the anti-EU party responded by pointing out that at least he'd stuck to his birth name, unlike the former chancellor, who swapped from Gideon to George as a teenager.

George Osborne has used an editorial in the Evening Standard newspaper of which he is the editor to declare his support for Boris Johnson in a boost to the latter's hopes of being the next PM.

The ex-prime minister revealed that his former chancellor and right-hand man had urged him 'destroy their credibility' as leaders of the Leave campaign, saying they were 'killing' his leadership.

The pro-European former Chancellor told the BBC that Mr Cameron (pictured in the Commons together in 2016) had spent his career 'feeding the idea' that 'Brussels was to blame'.

The FTSE 100 held onto modest gains after the Chancellor admitted the economy would slightly contract in 2012.

The Chancellor was forced to admit in the Commons that the economy will SHRINK by 0.1 per cent this year, forcing him to announced the Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted the economy will shrink this year by 0.1 per cent, down from the 0.8 per cent growth forecast just nine months ago.

Osborne claims the UK is open for business but beyond the hyperbole his budget statement has closed the door on chances to stimulate growth, says one entrepreneur.

Treasury sources said the Chancellor will have to ‘make a decision’ on what to do about business rate relief as it is due to expire next year.

The Chancellor unveiled a raft of upbeat data pointing to the recovery gaining momentum, with record numbers in work, borrowing falling and house prices forecast to soar by 5.2 per cent next year.

In a blow for the Chancellor who used the Autumn Statement to unveil a raft of populist giveaways, 60 per cent thought it was good for ‘rich people’.

Oil price decline provides a key backcloth to the budget. It will keep downward pressure on inflation, and offers the prospect that the decline in real earnings could start to be reversed.

The purchasing managers’ index of activity in the UK construction sector dipped from 61.4 in October to 59.4 in November, which is still well above the 50 mark that divides growth and decline.

The annual deficit has fallen from the record £153bn racked up by Labour in 2009-10 to £97.5bn last year, but progress has now all but stalled as tax receipts disappoint.

Income tax free personal allowance to rise to £10,600 rather than the planned £10,500 next year. Higher rate income tax threshold to rise to £42,385 next year.

The big omissions from a Budget or an Autumn Statement are always revealing. It used to be help for savers. This week the missing element was the squeezed middle. Not households, but firms.

As analysts digested the detail of the Chancellor’s ‘mini-Budget’ the ramifications of reforms to stamp duty, business rates and the North Sea tax regime became clearer…

Three major changes to pension saving are on the horizon, which will hit those helping to build a healthy fund for retirement. Now, the Chancellor faces calls to reverse a planned tax grab

Chancellor George Osborne will use tomorrow’s spending review to announce that the Health Service will receive an extra £6billion straight away – rising to £10billion a year by 2020.

Border systems will be upgraded to better target weapons being smuggled into the country while a joint operation centre will see police, intelligence agencies and the military to work more closely.

Today George Osborne will reveal details of his Autumn Statement. We round-up what to expect, including his tax credit headache and the predicted pension changes.

The NHS, defence, foreign aid and housing are set to be the big winners, but the police, transport, justice and the environment will bear the brunt, with families braced for big hikes in council tax bills.

Public funding - known as Short Money - given to opposition parties to prepare to become an alternative government is to be slashed by 19 per cent, in line with Whitehall departments.

The Prime Minister took a few seconds out from the 65-minute brief to subtly unravel the treat and pop it into his mouth like a mischievous schoolboy.

George Osborne showed himself a master of his political trade in yesterday's Autumn Statement - but seems to have abandoned his early enthusiasm for slimming down the size of the state.

The climbdown means George Osborne (pictured) will breach his self-imposed welfare cap for the next three years, meaning a minister must explain and apologise to Parliament.

Draconian rises signalled by the Chancellor will see the average bill for a Band D household rise up to £320 by 2020/21. George Osborne urged town halls to impose increase to fund social care shortfalls.

He has repeatedly slashed domestic spending, but the Chancellor remains committed to funnelling 0.7 per cent of Britain's GDP into an array of dubious overseas aid projects.

In his Autumn Statement and Spending Review, Mr Osborne claimed he is tackling the 'crisis in home ownership' head-on with the 'biggest housebuilding programme since the 1970s.'

Until yesterday, Chancellor Philip Hammond was among the most dismal of doom-mongers. But as he delivered his Autumn Statement, he seemed transformed.

George Osborne, to his credit, was sitting on the backbenches yesterday to listen to his successor Philip Hammond deliver his first financial statement as Chancellor, says PETER OBORNE.