George Osborne's London Evening Standard backs Tories

The London Evening Standard has backed the Conservatives in the General Election, stating that they offer the country the 'better party', with 'better policies and better personnel than the alternative'.

George Osborne. Picture: Getty

An editorial in former chancellor George Osborne’s paper endorsed the Tories and attacked Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as the “most unsuitable candidate for the premiership ever put forward by a major political party in this country”.

“He has only outperformed expectations in this campaign because those expectations were so low,” the paper claimed.

“He presents himself as a kind of Compo figure, from The Last Of The Summer Wine. In truth, he has the wrong ideas, the wrong values and makes the wrong decisions.

“Today’s Labour Party is positively dangerous for the country and must not be let near power.”

Instead, the paper said Theresa May was the “only person in this election with the policies, party and people capable of leading this country”.

But Mrs May’s party, which has been the subject of several swipes by the paper since Mr Osborne took over as editor, was also criticised, with the paper claiming that the Tory leadership was moving in the “wrong direction”, by going “further away from the social and economic liberalism that has made our country and its capital a global success story”.

It said that Mrs May’s supporters had been left feeling “embarrassed” by her “performance on the stump”, but said “no one doubts her intelligence, diligence or integrity”.

“She is a patriot who works hard to achieve the best for Britain. She did not vote for Brexit, but is right to say that we should try to make the best of it rather than re-fighting last year’s referendum.”

The paper also took aim at the Liberal Democrats, accusing them of “performed miserably under their unimpressive leader”.

“We suspect Tim Farron will be one of the casualties of the post-mortem they will have to hold - and rightly so.”

The paper concluded: “A vote for Labour - or the minor parties - is a vote for Jeremy Corbyn, and that man can not be allowed to become our Prime Minister. Theresa May is the only person in this election with the policies, party and people capable of leading this country.”

The endorsement for the Tories follows that of the Sunday Telegraph and Financial Times, while the Economist magazine opted for the Lib Dems and the Guardian backed Labour.