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US vice-president JD Vance’s surprise break in the Cotswolds was arranged by an unlikely holiday planner: George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor, aided by his old boss David Cameron.
The origins of Vance’s trip to Oxfordshire have been shrouded in mystery, but several people briefed on it said it was arranged after he called his friend Osborne for advice on where to go.
“George did it all,” one person briefed on the planning of the visit told the Financial Times, as the former chancellor added a new role to his broad portfolio of work since leaving 11 Downing Street in 2016.
Vance’s holiday in a Georgian manor house in the Cotswolds village of Dean, which started on Sunday, continued on Wednesday with a breakfast with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Osborne then called former prime minister Cameron, who lives in the Cotswolds, for local tips. “David came up with a few ideas,” said another person briefed on the search for a getaway location. “But George did the rest.”
“He’s actually a friend of mine,” Osborne said on his Political Currency podcast last year. “He was an admirer of the Cameron government and what it had done.”
JD Vance fishes during a stay at foreign secretary David Lammy’s summer residence Chevening on Friday © Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Vance stayed at the 18th century home of lighting millionaire Johnny Hornby and his wife Pippa, who have apologised to locals for the “circus” accompanying Vance’s visit. The Hornbys are friends of Cameron, who lives down the road.
Osborne said he came to know Vance after reading the vice-president’s autobiography Hillbilly Elegy. “I sought him out,” Osborne said on his podcast last year. “I met him in San Francisco 10 years ago.”
He added that they remained in regular contact, adding: “He’s one of those people who is absolutely fascinating.”
Osborne also played a role in Vance’s social agenda during his time in the Cotswolds, dubbed the “Hamptons of the UK”, including organising a group to attend a drinks party hosted by the vice-president on Tuesday.
Conservative party officials said that Osborne assembled guests to meet Vance, including shadow ministers Robert Jenrick and Chris Philp, who share the vice-president’s robust views on immigration.
Osborne then went for dinner with Vance, accompanied by the vice-president’s family friends, according to people briefed on the occasion. Vance has been approached for comment and Osborne declined to comment.
The former chancellor’s apparent talent for holiday planning is the latest twist in a post political career which has seen him edit the London Evening Standard, work as an adviser to BlackRock and as a partner at the elite UK corporate finance advisory firm Robey Warshaw.
Osborne is also the chair of the British Museum, which last month secured the rights to display the Bayeux Tapestry — on loan from France — in what he said would be “the blockbuster exhibition of our generation”.