The new Evening Standard editor has somehow limboed under the ridiculously low bar that was the public’s expectations of him.

Is it possible to feel betrayed by George Osborne?

Even before his sharp downfall as a politician and rebirth as a journalist, he never did come across as any kind of caring, communitarian public servant.

Chancellor George Osborne was the shock absorber of David Cameron’s government. He’d paint himself as the visionary behind any controversial piece of legislation introduced and basically be unpopular so the ex-Prime Minister didn’t have to.

Not being a particularly likeable bloke, it was a job he was very good at.

The other task George Osborne took on was that of totally destroying the public’s expectations of what government can do for them. If Tony Blair came to power with a theme tune of ‘Things Can Only Get Better’, George Osborne’s mantra was more like ‘Things can only get worse… be grateful if they don’t’.

And faced with the alternative of a hapless, Ed Miliband-led Labour party, the British people agreed, and Osborne took the credit for a stunning Conservative election victory.

But having heard the same message in the Scottish referendum and the general election, the country finally grew tired of it in the EU referendum and couldn’t have been happier to wipe that smirk off his face. The infamous hardhats being consigned to the dustbin of history were an added bonus.

After being booted out of the cabinet by new Prime Minister Theresa May, Osborne did something surprisingly noble, choosing to remain as MP for Tatton and fight to save whatever he could of his economic agenda.

Taking up a £650,000 per year part-time job at investment firm BlackRock was less noble, although pretty much par for the course for an ex-Chancellor.

But then on Friday, he became editor of the Evening Standard.

On his ability to work four days a week at the paper and perform his duties as an MP, he said: “This paper is edited primarily in the morning, parliament votes primarily in the afternoon.”

For a new editor to boast about how little time they will be dedicating to the paper that just appointed them would normally be considered a joke, but George Osborne will evidently be more of a figurehead editor. That is, one suspects, all boss Evgeny Lebedev wanted anyway.

However, it appears that the paper will still see far more dedication from Osborne than his constituents will.

Here’s what else he had to say.

“I will speak for London and Londoners through this paper, as its editor. And we will judge whatever the government does, whatever the mayor does, against that simple test. Is it good for London or isn’t it?”

Now that’s very nice George, but you are supposed to be representing the people of Tatton, almost 200 miles away, rather than a city that never voted for you.

The conflict of interest is obvious.

George Osborne is taking his constituents for a ride and he doesn’t even seem to care.

But it is this amorality that just might save what is left of his political career.

If, as George Osborne spectacularly failed to do, a former minister managed to give the impression that they were a dedicated public servant, they would certainly have to resign if they then went and took six high-paying jobs simultaneously

But the former Chancellor is not that type of MP. Osborne is not one of the good guys. He is an unashamed careerist and that’s why he will get away with it all.

The public simply do not expect better from him.