George Osborne and wife Frances to divorce after 21 years

Former chancellor George Osborne and his author wife Frances are to divorce after 21 years of marriage, it has been announced.

A statement on behalf of the Evening Standard editor said the pair remain “good friends” and “jointly devoted” to their two children, Liberty and Luke, but had mutually decided to split.

The statement issued to PA said: “George and Frances Osborne have sadly decided to divorce after 21 years of marriage.

“This is a long thought-through and mutual decision. They remain good friends and jointly devoted to their wonderful children.

“For the sake of their children, they ask that the family’s privacy is respected. Neither George nor Frances will be making any comment.”

The pair met at a mutual friend’s house over Sunday lunch, before marrying in 1998.

Mr Osborne, who served as Chancellor between 2010 and 2016, stood down as MP for Tatton two years ago and has gone on to hold a number of other roles.

He is a Northern Powerhouse Partnership chairman, and during his editorship of the London newspaper has served as a dean’s fellow at the Stanford Graduate School for Business, an honorary professor of economics at the University of Manchester, and a fellow at the McCain Institute in Washington DC.

He was appointed as an adviser to US investment giant Blackrock in early 2017.

Mrs Osborne, who was educated at the independent Marlborough College and Oxford University before training as a barrister, is the daughter of Tory former minister Lord Howell of Guildford.