Cameron and Osborne 'weak', according to King leak

(SHARECAST) - David Cameron and George Osborne's "lack of experience" was a great concern to Bank of England governor Mervyn King in the run-up to the election, leaked cables reveal.

The fears were expressed by King in a meeting with US ambassador to London, Louis Susman, in February and mentioned in a cable to US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, according to the Wikileaks website.

The Tory duo "had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability", and relied too heavily on a narrow circle of advisers.

"King expressed great concern about Conservative leaders' lack of experience. [He] opined that party leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne have not fully grasped the pressures they will face from different groups when attempting to cut spending," read one of the notes sent to Clinton.

It's a highly embarrassing disclosure for King and will likely strain his relationship with the prime minister and his chancellor, something Labour will no doubt pick up on at PM's Questions today.

He also pressed the then shadow leaders for their plans to tackle the deficit if they ever got into power.

Within the batch of documents, leaked overnight, was one raising concerns about Osborne's delivery and ability to be taken seriously by voters because of his "high-pitched vocal delivery".

The shadow chancellor was stopped from making a statement at the height of the financial crisis in 2008 by party officials worried about the problem.