Is he still a worthy favourite?

George Osborne remains the favourite to be Cameron’s replacement but I just wonder how much damage this will do to his leadership ambitions?

Today’s rushed commons statement by the home secretary on alcohol pricing, something that almost never happens on Fridays, is an indication of how much trouble the government spin machine thing they are in. Clearly the hope is that the narrative will move on.

But just looking at the front pages once again and you get the clear impression is that there’s no love for Osborne in even the friendly media.

When at some stage Dave decides to pack it in to spend more time with his dvds will the grannytax saga be rolled out again by his opponents to undermine the chancellor? Leadership campaigns can be very dirty and a negative like this might be hard to shake off.

The crazy thing is that it was all so avoidable if it had been presented right.

I’ve never felt that the party would choose another product of an elite public school and Oxford to succeed Dave and this week just adds to Osborne’s challenge.

@MikeSmithsonOGH