Former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has hinted at a possible return to frontline politics, arguing the case against a full Brexit, and even demanding that immigration into the United Kingdom does not necessarily have to be reduced.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4, the editor of the Evening Standard newspaper said: “I don’t rule out going back into politics, but it is certainly not plan A”.

Despite being an ardent Remain campaigner, Osborne now says he both didn’t want to have a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, and would personally have preferred to deny the British people the vote.

“I was not keen on having a referendum in the first place, but I chose to be part of the collective decision making of the government,” he said.

“I certainly did not walk out of the government at the time. That is not the way I tried to behave as chancellor. I was not trying to be the difficult next-door neighbour. I was trying to be the person who, with David Cameron, my friend, made things work for the country.”

Furthermore, the ex-MP remarked: “I don’t accept that just because we are leaving the EU we have to, for example, leave the customs union or radically clamp down on immigration”.

Osborne’s successor, as well as his then-boss David Cameron’s, are all Remain campaigners, meaning most of the top posts in the British government still belong to people who actively campaigned against what was decided as the will of the British people on June 23rd 2017.

Brexiteers hold just a few posts in government, and it was revealed this week how Brexit leader Nigel Farage will again be passed over for a knighthood or honour from the British political establishment despite winning the vote and becoming the most influential political figure in a generation.