I had the closest thing I have ever had to an out-of-body experience lying in bed one morning. I turned on the ’Today’ programme and item four on the news was: ’The shadow chancellor has ruled himself out of the leadership.’ I lay there thinking that’s interesting, then I realised it was me.

Osborne describes a moment of media-induced dislocation: hearing a news bulletin about “the shadow chancellor” in the third person, he initially processes it as political gossip about someone else, only to realize the report is about him. The anecdote highlights how modern political identity can be mediated—politicians encounter themselves as public constructs shaped by broadcasters and anonymous “sources.” His “out-of-body” phrasing underscores the surreal loss of agency that comes with being the subject of speculation, especially around leadership ambitions. It also conveys the speed with which narratives harden into “facts” once aired, forcing the individual to react to a version of themselves already circulating publicly.