George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, will meet President Bush in the White House today in a significant boost to the Conservatives’ international credibility and a thawing in their frosty relations with Washington.

Mr Bush invited Mr Osborne to join him at an event on tackling malaria across the developing world after he had his first meeting with Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, at the White House a few weeks ago.

Mr Osborne is the first senior Conservative politician to meet Mr Bush since before the last election, when Michael Howard, the then leader, angered the US administration by distancing himself from the Iraq war. His successor David Cameron has also kept his distance from the unpopular Bush Administration, and has not visited Washington since becoming leader.

The Conservatives claim that today’s meeting is a coup for the party, saying that it is extremely rare for an Opposition politician to be invited to meet the President.

They also claim that it is humiliating for Mr Brown, whose meeting was reportedly not by invitation but fortuitous, after Mr Bush “happened to be available” while Mr Brown was visiting someone else in the building.

Mr Bush wants to talk to Mr Osborne about the Conservatives’ recent announcement that they would pledge £500 million a year to help to wipe out malaria, matching a spending promise made by Washington.

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