‘I’ve never been happier’: George Osborne, 49, reveals he is dating former chief of staff who oversaw his image make-over as Chancellor and is now communications chief at Deliveroo
- Mr Osborne revealed he is in a relationship with Thea Rodgers
- He said he had entered into a relationship with Ms Rodgers ‘within the past year’
- Mr Osborne announced last summer he had separated from his wife Frances, 51,
George Osborne is dating his former chief of staff who helped to overhaul his image when he served as Chancellor.
Mr Osborne revealed he is in a relationship with Thea Rodgers, 51, who worked as his special adviser when he was in government.
The former chancellor, who was fired by Theresa May after she became Prime Minister in 2016, said he had entered into a relationship with Ms Rodgers ‘within the past year’.
George Osborne is dating his former chief of staff, Thea Rodgers (left), 51, who helped to overhaul his image when he served as Chancellor
The former chancellor, who was fired by Theresa May after she became Prime Minister in 2016, said he had entered into a relationship with Ms Rodgers ‘within the past year’
Mr Osborne, who is now the editor of the Evening Standard, announced last summer that he had separated from his wife Frances, 51, who is the mother of his two children.
Speaking to The Times about his new relationship, the former politician said, ‘I probably have never been happier in my life.’
Ms Rodgers, who is now head of strategy and communications at Deliveroo, was given the credit for shifting Mr Osborne’s image with a new hairstyle and wardrobe and revamping his diet.
Mr Osborne also refused to rule out a return to frontline politics and said, ‘I think second acts are hard in British politics but it doesn’t mean they never happen.’
Mr Osborne, who is now the editor of the Evening Standard, announced last summer that he had separated from his wife Frances, 51, who is the mother of his two children
It comes after Mr Osborne warned there will be ‘hard choices’ for the British Government as it seeks to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking about figures which showed the Government borrowed £62.7billion over the 12 months to the end of March, Mr Osborne said: ‘These numbers are striking but they’re not a surprise.
‘And of course, they reflect the fact that there’s a lot of emergency, one-off spending – quite rightly, on things like the furlough scheme and loans to small businesses.’
The former chancellor warned: ‘We have to come to terms with the fact that Britain, like every other country, is poorer than we thought it was going to be and our economy is smaller than we thought it would be.
‘And that I’m afraid, will lead to hard choices about what we can afford, how much we want to spend and how many taxes we want to raise to pay for it.’