George Osborne was on No 10 list to be UK ambassador to US, Keir Starmer’s biographer says

Sources confirm claim likely to cast further doubt among Labour MPs about judgment of Downing Street aides

George Osborne was on Downing Street's shortlist to be the next UK ambassador to Washington, it has been claimed, despite the former Conservative chancellor being reviled by many in the Labour party and wider political left.

In the new edition of his biography on Keir Starmer, the writer Tom Baldwin suggests the prime minister's senior aides invested considerable effort" in unsuccessfully pushing Osborne's application. Sources confirmed to the Guardian that the former Tory politician was approached about the role.