George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor and rising Conservative star, squared up to his heavyweight counterpart Gordon Brown in the Commons for the first time today. Helen Rumbelow, Political Correspondent for The Times, had a ringside seat.

"At first, when Osborne rose to speak, Gordon Brown was studiously avoiding his gaze but as he began to gain in confidence you saw Mr Brown start to flicker with some interest and study his notes.

"Labour MPs were interrupting Mr Osborne all the way through to try to knock him off-balance - I think he had to give way at least eight times - but he dealt with these intrusions very well.

"One new MP got up and asked a very patsy new Labour question and Osborne turned on him, saying that he shouldn't accept planted questions from the Labour whips ... because they aren't very good. It was a great comeback and got him a few laughs.

"Alex Salmond, of the SNP, then intervened and said he had read a profile of Obsorne in The Times today. He made reference to the fact that the Shadow Chancellor had gone into politics after meeting George Bridges [a rising star of the Conservative Central Office] in a pub. He went on to say: 'Isn't that an abject lesson in the dangers that lurk for young people in the city's drinking dens?'

"Osborne was confident enough to take it in his stride.

"His main gibe was to continuously hammer home the divisions between the Brownites and Blairites on the Labour benches. It was initially quite funny, but after a while it began to wear a little thin. He had clearly worked on a few one-liners but he needs to become more inventive with these off-the-cuff comebacks.

"It was a humorous speech and he certainly didn't disgrace himself, but he didn't land any real blows. When he sat back down you weren't left with any real lasting impression.

"He could have picked more detailed topics to really hammer away at - say the housing market or the trouble on the High Street - but instead he kept banging on about Gordon being the 'roadblock to reform' - which doesn't really mean anything to most people. There was a sense that he was somehow lacking the human touch.

"As the Chancellor stood up the first thing he said, and it was quite a fair comment, was that you didn't get much of a sense of the Tory economic policy either.

"And when Mr Brown started speaking you noticed the real difference between the two of them. The Chancellor has this booming, deep voice whereas Mr Osborne is quite high-pitched and rattled through his speech at a rate of knots. There were times when he sounded like Popeye.

"Mr Brown's tactic, on the other hand, is to use boredom as a battering ram. His speech was far less entertaining and as a spectator you are constantly fighting mental numbness. When he starts a sentence with 'let me examine this point in detail', I think everyone's heart begins to sink.

"But even the Chancellor had prepared a couple of lines to keep us entertained. He started out by saying that in future years there are a whole host of people who will be able to tell their grandchildren that they were once the 'future Tory leader.'

"He went on to say that, while it's still early days, it may be time for the Tory leadership race to skip yet another generation - a gibe at Michael Howard's decision to promote young pups like Osborne over the more senior Tory MPs.

"Then he went booming into the central part of the speech and we were back to classic Gordon Brown.

"Things livened up towards the end when, referring to Osborne's family trade, he said that the opinion on the Tory benches was so divided, adding: 'Even the heir to a distinguished wallpaper empire cannot paper over these cracks.'

"Mr Brown has such a formidable reputation that for Mr Osborne merely to acquit himself he will be viewed as having done well. He certainly did that and it was a passable start.

"In terms of actual policy announcements, there was nothing at all - this was purely spectator sport.

"But if Mr Osborne wants to make a real dent in the mighty Chancellor he's going to have to start taking lessons from the old master - and do something about his voice."

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