George Osborne is to take up an academic fellowship at the institution established by John McCain, the main Republican foe of Donald Trump, where the former chancellor will be asked to “build on his skills as a statesman and leader”.
Osborne has become the first Kissinger Fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, the institute said. While it is based in McCain’s home state of Arizona, Osborne will remain in the UK.
It is the second post-government role revealed in little more than a week for Osborne, who remains MP for Tatton in Cheshire.
Earlier this month, it was disclosed that he was taking on a part-time advisory role at BlackRock, the world’s biggest fund manager, where he is expected to earn a six-figure salary. Separately, Osborne earned more than £500,000 late last year from a series of US speaking engagements.
His latest role was described by the McCain Institute, a self-described non-partisan leadership thinktank based at Arizona State University, as “an opportunity for Mr Osborne to build on his skills as a statesman and leader”. The fellowship is named after the former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who said Osborne’s “principled leadership during his impressive career can be a model for the qualities promoted by the McCain Institute”.
Osborne was also praised by McCain, the Arizona senator who has been a persistent critic of Trump. On Sunday, he called the US president’s ban on travellers from seven Muslim countries “a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism”.
“George has shown strong and thoughtful leadership throughout his career and proved incredibly able as chancellor,” McCain said. “At a time when the great democracies of the world are facing challenges such as we have not seen for generations, we need strong, values-driven leaders like George Osborne.”
The fellowship is described by the institute as “an opportunity for senior leaders to hone their own skills as statesmen”. In the role they are expected to “take on a challenge of international significance” and make some contribution towards addressing it.
Osborne said he was honoured to have been chosen by the institute, chaired by fellow Briton Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, who formerly chaired the family’s eponymous investment bank. “I look forward to using this opportunity to work with the McCain Institute to see how we best promote our western values and secure a stable world order in this time of change,” Osborne added.
