The chancellor has increasingly used it to launch eye-catching policy initiatives and ditch unpopular policies.
Mr Gettleson once worked for the Howard League for Penal Reform and has helped Mr Lamb develop an eye-catching policy of halving the prison population within a decade.
The eye-catching policy represents a change of position for David Cameron, who ruled it out as an option in October, arguing that there were "more effective ways of tackling this issue than putting a tax on sugar".
The "national living wage", as Osborne branded it, was the most eye-catching policy in Wednesday's budget, softening the blow of £12bn of welfare cuts, which the IFS has warned will hit poorer households hardest.
You get the stocks and shares, you get the weather, you get some politician mouthing off about their latest eye-catching policy and then suddenly you get this little pocket, this little interlude of spirituality.
Ms Yingluck's "one tablet per child" pledge during the campaign was probably her single most vote-catching policy, yet fulfilling it has turned into a national ordeal.A few weeks ago a deal was at last signed with Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development, a Chinese firm, for the provision of 400,000 tablets.
He was also an efficient spin doctor, focusing on eye-catching policy decisions that he took time and trouble to communicate effectively, frequently leaking documents in the name of freedom of information and defending his right to discuss general issues in speeches.
A look at eye-catching policy ideas that are often talked about but never seem to feature in UK general election campaigns.
Another eye-catching policy was establishing the 870 miles (1,400km) of Wales Coast Path which has driven up tourism figures and encouraged more of us to enjoy physical activity, and is seen as a success beyond Wales.
Because I have been told that Labour's leader, Ed Miliband, wants to next month announce an eye-catching policy of cutting maximum university fees for students by a third, from £9,000 to £6,000.
