Analysis: Tories fret over George Osborne's driving role Not only is Mr Osborne in charge of economic policy - the Coalition's existential purpose -he also effectively runs the Conservatives" political strategy, and much else besides, often chairing the twice-daily No 10 meetings that effectively run the Coaltion's day-to-day operations. Put bluntly, Mr Cameron has placed a very big bet on his friend's abilities. So when those abilities are questioned, the doubts go to the very foundation of Mr Cameron's premiership. And those questions are now being asked. Some MPs believe Mr Osborne is stretched too thin, blaming his dual role for what they see as self-inflicted wounds arIsing from his Budget. A full-time Chancellor, they whisper, might have done a better job selling new taxes on pensioners and pasties. Others say that Mr Osborne's political role deprives the Conservative Party of the full-time chairman they believe should be the party's voice in the Cabinet and on the airwaves. Just for good measure, some even blame Chairman George for a Downing Street back-office operation they see as underperforming: his influence is felt in key staff appointments there too. Once feted by his party as the man who saw off Mr Brown, Mr Osborne now risks becoming a lightning conductor for discontent, a proxy for the wider Cameron project that some Tories have never taken to heart. Mr Cameron has lived with that discontent since his election as leader in 2005. He will back himself and his chancellor to live with it a good while yet. Next month's London mayoral election represents a real test - a Boris Johnson defeat would be grievous -- but it is only the agonisingly slow recovery of the UK economy that truly frightens the hyper-confident Cameron-Osborne duumvirate. For as the historians in No 10 recall, Mr Blair survived his own crisis of confidence over fuel and went on to win the 2001 election at a canter. It took another six years before the doubts of his own party -- and his unusual relationship with his Chancellor -- forced him out.