George Osborne pulled a whole family of rabbits out of his hat during the Emergency Budget.
In doing so this most political of Chancellors will be regarded as having made a serious pitch to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister.
The surprises included a pledge to spend two per cent of the UK's income on defence and a new national living wage.
Alongside them he announced cuts that many Tories will see as nothing less than the stripping back of New Labour's vision of a welfare state.
These include on tax credits, which Conservative have long hated, arguing that they made workers more dependent on the state.
Among the announcements was also a glimpse of the arguments Mr Osborne will make to his party when they effectively choose the next inhabitant of Downing Street.
Mr Cameron announced earlier this year that he intends to stand down before the next General Election, leading many observers to believe the party could have to replace him one by as early as 2018.
As expected, Mr Osborne emphasised in the Conservative attempt to rebrand itself as the workers' party, a mantle many Tory MPs feel Labour has claimed for too long.
Interestingly, he also attempted to change the narrative that the Liberal Democrats had reined in the worst excesses of the 'nasty' Tory party.
Treasury insiders said that Mr Osborne had been considering a living wage since 2013.
However, he had felt the move would have to be combined with welfare cuts - to incentivise this work, they said.
The implication was that such a move would have been blocked by the Lib Dems.
But perhaps most importantly for Mr Osborne's future, he also appears to have outflanked one of his main opponents for the top job.
Just hours before the Budget, Boris Johnson, the flamboyant mayor of London also tipped to be a future Conservative leader, had been on the radio talking about a living wage.
Mr Johnson, a fan of the policy, had argued that it should not made compulsory across the UK.
Such a move would be bad for business, he said.
Within hours Mr Osborne had announced a new compulsory national rate.
And as he did so hundreds of Tory backbenchers behind him let out a huge cheer, punching the air and pointing and jeering at the Labour benches opposite.
Many had already been to their feet to celebrate the unexpected defence commitment.
Three years after the disastrous 'omnishambles' Budget, the Chancellor sat down a hero in the eyes of many Tory MPs.
Your move, Boris.
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