George Osborne to relinquish media and investment jobs to become full-time banker

Ex-chancellor served as editor-in-chief of Evening Standard and adviser to world’s largest investment firm

Mr Osborne is set to step down from positions at the Evening Standard and Blackrock next month (PA)

George Osborne is set to leave his roles at the Evening Standard newspaper and Blackrock investments to become a full time banker.

The former chancellor will join investment bank Robey Warshaw in April, the firm has announced.

Mr Osborne worked first as editor and then editor-in-chief of the Standard, the sister publication of The Independent, alongside a role as an adviser to investment management group Blackrock.

He is now set to leave both jobs in March to focus on mergers and acquisitions for Robey Warshaw.

Mr Osborne became editor of the Evening Standard  in 2017, while still sitting as a backbench MP. Before that, he served in David Cameron’s government as chancellor between 2010 and 2016.

Mr Osborne said: “I’ve loved my time at the Evening Standard. Editing the paper was everything I hoped it would be – and more. The team there are among the most dedicated people I’ve had the pleasure to work with, and it’s the readers who drive us to produce great news and entertainment. 

“I am hugely grateful to Evgeny Lebedev for giving me the chance to edit one of the great newspapers at such a dramatic, news-packed time in our country’s history. I know the Standard has a strong future ahead of it.”

Other jobs to have graced his CV during and after his political career include teaching roles at the University of Manchester and Stanford University, California, positions at think tanks the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and the McCain Institute in the US, after-dinner gigs with the Washington Speakers Bureau and advisory work for Italian holding company Exor.

A spokesman for Robey Warshaw said Mr Osborne would “significantly enhance the advice we give to clients”.

“He brings differentiated experience and expertise to our team from his leading roles in global finance over the past decade,” the spokesman added.