Osborne sets Vance up with next generation of Tory leaders

Telegraph

a day ago

JD Vance was introduced to a string of Conservatives tipped for future leadership positions at his Oxfordshire summer retreat by George Osborne this week.
Mr Vance, the US vice-president, spent 90 minutes enjoying drinks, nibbles and discussions about politics on Tuesday night with a crowd assembled by Mr Osborne, the former Tory chancellor.
About a dozen or so guests were invited to the 18th-century home Mr Vance is renting for a holiday with his family in the Cotswolds village of Dean.
Among them were four current Tory MPs, all aged under 50 – Robert Jenrick, 43, Laura Trott, 40, Chris Philp, 49, and 34-year-old Katie Lam.
Mr Osborne, who has a friendship with Mr Vance stretching back long before his campaign to become vice-president last year, is understood to have pulled together the invitation list.
The decision to connect Mr Vance with the rising stars of the Conservative Party rather than the most famous names of past Tory governments is notable.
Mr Vance, 41, became America's third youngest vice-president to take office earlier this year and is still relatively new to elected politics, having only become a US senator in 2023 after rising to prominence as an author.
He is well placed to seek the Republican nomination for the 2028 presidential election, given that Donald Trump is barred from a third term in the White House, and could be central to US-UK relations for years to come.
Each of the four Conservative MPs are set for long political careers ahead, with their leadership ambitions points of discussion among Tory circles.
Mr Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has done little to hide his ambition to lead his party, having made the final two in last year's campaign before losing out to Kemi Badenoch.
Ms Trott, the shadow education secretary, ended Rishi Sunak's premiership as chief secretary to the Treasury, with some commentators tipping her as a future chancellor.
Mr Philp, as shadow home secretary, holds the briefs for the great four offices of state for the Tories, and is often put up by the party for television and radio interview rounds.
Ms Lam is the newest to politics of the four, having only been elected to the Commons last summer, but already has been marked as one to watch by colleagues.
It was not just MPs at the gathering. Mr Osborne, who as Lord Cameron's chancellor from 2010 to 2016 built a reputation for championing allies, was also present.
So too was Sir Paul Marshall, the media baron whose influence in Tory politics is on the rise as the owner of GB News and the recent buyer of The Spectator magazine.
Ukraine, free speech in the UK – the erosion of which Mr Vance has taken swipes at in public – and the challenges of immigration all understood to have featured during the chat.
'He was very down to earth,' said one source familiar with the discussions. 'Nice and relaxed. Both interested and interesting.'
Mr Vance is not meeting the Conservative Party's longest-serving British prime minister of the 21st century, who lives nearby – Lord Cameron, who is otherwise engaged.
But the Tory peer has helped his friend Mr Osborne with arrangements for Mr Vance's stay a short drive away from the ' Chipping Norton set' so associated with his premiership.
A more curious omission from Mr Vance's diary is a meeting with Mrs Badenoch, the current Conservative Party leader, whom he will not be seeing this visit.
Aides of both politicians insist there is no snub, with an inability to make the diaries match cited. Mr Vance's press secretary released a statement calling Mrs Badenoch a 'friend'.
The Tory leader spent Monday visiting a hotel housing migrants in Epping that has become a flashpoint for protests. She spent Tuesday in the Isle of White with Mel Stride, her shadow chancellor, and had no public engagements on Wednesday.
On each of those days, Mr Vance hosted other politicians. No 10 insiders and Tory aides expressed bemusement over why she had not changed her plans to meet him.
'Two old friends meeting'
On Wednesday morning, Mr Vance hosted Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, for a one-on-one breakfast that lasted about 45 minutes.
Mr Farage told The Telegraph: 'It was two old friends meeting with many, many common interests. After all, I've been the longest public supporter of Maga in Britain.' He would not reveal what was discussed, saying the conversation must remain 'entirely confidential'.
On Monday evening, a dinner was hosted by Mr Vance, attended by Dr James Orr, a Cambridge academic who is a friend; Danny Kruger, the Tory MP who had his book reviewed by Mr Vance; and Thomas Skinner, a former contestant on The Apprentice increasingly known for his political commentary.
Mr Kruger told The Telegraph: 'JD is genuinely interested in Britain and British politics. He does love this country and genuinely believes in it. He wants it to prosper.'
The vice-president himself made a similar point as he addressed American soldiers publicly on Wednesday, referencing his various political meetings during his trip, which have included formal talks with David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, at Chevening on Saturday.
Mr Vance said: 'Over the past couple of days I've met with a number of leaders across the UK, across political parties, across the generations.
'Because that's one of the great things about the UK's special relationship with the United States. It cuts across political alliances, it cuts across political parties, it cuts across generations because we've been working together for literally centuries.'