George Osborne's promotion of allies sends policy signal

George Osborne spent election day last week agonising with David Cameron at the prime minister's Oxfordshire home over how to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats: private Tory polling gave the party 295 seats.

The Conservatives' final haul of 331 seats not only swept the Lib Dems out of government but gave the chancellor an unexpected chance to pursue an ambitious second-term economic agenda on his own terms.

Mr Cameron swiftly made Mr Osborne his "first secretary of state" - effectively his deputy - formalising the chancellor's primacy in the ministerial ranks and his status as the prime minister's preferred successor.

Then Mr Osborne went to work; his fingerprints were all over Mr Cameron's reshuffle that created the first fully Conservative cabinet since John Major's ejection from Number 10 in 1997.

As usual, the promotion of Mr Osborne's allies was portrayed as an attempt by the chancellor to put in place powerful figures who might one day support him for the leadership.

But it was also a strong policy signal: Mr Osborne wants to remodel the British economy and has put in place ministers whom he feels will help to deliver his writ across Whitehall.

In an interview with the Financial Times in March, the chancellor said that apart from fixing the deficit, his biggest challenge was fixing the supply side of the British economy: "We've got a big productivity problem, we're not exporting enough as a country."

Mr Osborne is expected to set out his economic vision in a summer Budget, while across government "Osbornite" ministers get to work. So who are the key players in delivering the chancellor's plan?

SAJID JAVID, business secretary: Mr Osborne's former parliamentary private secretary (PPS) has a portrait of Margaret Thatcher on his wall and is committed to sweeping away obstacles to wealth creation. Mr Javid has promised a drive to abolish red tape, review employment legislation, create 3m apprenticeships, raise the bar in strike ballots and give further impetus to export promotion.

AMBER RUDD, energy secretary: another Osborne PPS, Ms Rudd is expected to prioritise the development of shale gas in Britain, following the chancellor's request last year to ministers to reduce planning delays. "I would love fracking to get going in the UK and I am doing absolutely everything I can to encourage it," Mr Osborne said in 2013. The chancellor's allies say the Tories went quiet on fracking during the election campaign for fear of upsetting the shires but Mr Osborne now wants to "get on with it".

GREG CLARK, local government secretary: Mr Osborne's former city minister is an evangelist for devolution and will be entrusted with pushing through the chancellor's "northern powerhouse" programme. Middlesbrough-born Mr Clark shares Mr Osborne's view that strong civic leadership - in the form of city region mayors - is vital in rebalancing the economy away from London. Mr Osborne explained his vision for devolution to the FT in March: "It needs to be accompanied with governance change so there is an elected mayor of the city that people identify with and hold to account."

GREG HANDS, Treasury chief secretary: yet another former Osborne PPS, Mr Hands will be responsible for balancing the books by 2017/18 through a programme of public spending cuts. At the centre of that online programme is the drive for £12bn of savings to the welfare budget; Mr Osborne sees welfare reform as a key part of his drive to get more people into work and improve economic efficiency.

MATTHEW HANCOCK, cabinet office minister: a former aide to Mr Osborne in opposition, Mr Hancock is now in charge of raising the efficiency of the government machine and cutting costs. The renewed focus on supply side reform was welcomed by Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Treasury committee, who has argued since 2011 that it should be given a higher priority. "The emphasis on improving long-run economic performance - the supply side - is very welcome," Mr Tyrie said. "Understandably in the last parliament it was overshadowed by the size of the deficit."

ROBERT HALFON, deputy chairman: the current MP for Harlow is another former aide to Mr Osborne. Mr Halfon, who is pro-union and in favour of increasing the minimum wage, has been lauded as a consumer rights champion. Mr Halfon has championed jobs and apprenticeships and campaigned for a cut to fuel prices and suspension of hospital parking charges in his constituency.

JO JOHNSON, universities and science minister: a protege of Mr Osborne who wrote the Conservative manifesto. Boris Johnson's younger brother will be in charge of ensuring that innovation and academic excellence is translated into wealth creation.

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