Osborne served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Helen Liddell, the Secretary of State for Scotland, from June 2002 until she stepped down in March 2003 over her opposition to going to war with Iraq. She believed this should not have gone ahead without a second UN resolution. She had previously served as PPS to George Foulkes, Minister of State at the Scotland Office and to his predecessor in that post, Brian Wilson. She has served as Chair of the Scottish Group of Labour MPs and member of the Scottish Executive of the Labour Party. She has served as Chair of the All Party Group on Meningitis. She was a member of the Kerley Committee on the Renewal of Local Democracy, providing a minority report opposing proportional representation.