While Jeremy Corbyn was outside Manchester Cathedral exciting a rally of thousands of activists, George Osborne was at the Conservative Party conference stealing all of Labour's best policies. Osborne is making a habit of this. During his speech, Osborne had warm words for the Labour Party's legacy of creating the NHS. This wasn't so much an attempt at one-nation politics from a chancellor, but an attempt to win the centre ground of British politics, to try and make the country a one-party nation.

Pinching the ideas of like a National Infrastructure Commission right from Ed Miliband's Labour manifesto, George even had the wheeze of hiring Lord Adonis from Labour to run it as a crossbench peer. Shared parental leave for grandparents and the big local government business rates announcement were Labour policies, too.

It's a sign of Conservative confidence which has allowed this land grab. Like the soon to be released James Bond, they see Jeremy Corbyn with his anti-nuclear rhetoric and nationalising priorities as a relic of the Cold War. Politically at least, the Conservatives expect Mr Corbyn to die.

This isn't the first time George Osborne has stolen Labour ideas. Right after the election the Conservatives started squeezing non-doms, and they recently upped the national minimum wage to a "living wage" of £9 per hour by 2020. With that last policy, Osborne wasn't just borrowing Ed Miliband's idea, but Boris Johnson's policy as London Mayor, too.

One commentator said George Osborne walked onto the stage as chancellor, but walked off as leader.

One commentator doing the rounds last night said that George Osborne walked onto the stage as chancellor, but walked off as leader. That confidence in the chancellor is premature, but his speech was clearly aimed at cementing his position as heir apparent as the pretenders to Cameron's job circle. "It's time for NiMo to get back into her fish tank" is the Downing Street Line on Education Secretary Nicky Morgan who spent conference on manoeuvres, but for now Boris is still George Osborne's biggest threat.

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The London Mayor did not deny that he is in talks with Michael Gove's former special advisor Dominic Cummings to play what many people expect to be a leading role in the campaign for Britain to leave Europe. With Boris as standard-bearer, the campaign to leave the EU will enjoy a boost, but it's Boris's own ambitions which benefit most from the plan. George Osborne's ascendancy is unavoidably linked to his involvement in the campaign to stay in Europe, a campaign which is likely to win the referendum, but which will be less popular among Conservative voters. Boris' role as an opponent will allow him to steal one idea off Jeremy Corbyn that George Osborne can't: Boris can win the party from the right, and George Osborne risks becoming the Andy Burnham of the Conservatives' leadership contest.

George Osborne probably still has a few years to continue building his platform, helping to promote his people, and ensuring he doesn't make the Burnham error, when the time comes, of lending nominations to a struggling candidate. If anything, he'll lend support to anyone but Boris to avoid a showdown with the Mayor in the members' vote. George's grand strategy is twofold: secure Downing Street, and steal from Labour any claim they have to be a centrist party. While Jeremy Corbyn plays the activist in Manchester to his adoring fans, George Osborne plays the role of Niccholo Machiavelli's Prince. It takes confidence to push against the natural instincts of the party's members and shift to the left.

It is a strategy which may win the Conservatives the next election, but one which is in direct tension with Osborne's personal ambitions. Balancing the two will be his mission for the next few years.

Follow Rupert Myers on Twitter: @RupertMyers