Chancellor Of The Exchequer
Roles and responsibilities
A previous Chancellor, Robert Lowe, described the office in the following terms in the House of Commons, on 11 April 1870: “The Chancellor of the Exchequer is a man whose duties make him more or less of a taxing machine. He is entrusted with a certain amount of misery which it is his duty to distribute as fairly as he can.”
Fiscal policy
The Chancellor has considerable control over other departments as it is the Treasury which sets departmental expenditure limits. The amount of power this gives to an individual Chancellor depends on his personal forcefulness, his status with his party and his relationship with the Prime Minister. Gordon Brown, who became Chancellor when Labour came into Government in 1997, had a large personal power base in the party. Perhaps as a result, Tony Blair chose to keep him in his job throughout his ten years as Prime Minister; making Brown an unusually dominant figure and the longest serving Chancellor since the Reform Act of 1832. This situation has strengthened a pre-existing trend towards the Chancellorship moving into a clear second among government offices, elevated above its traditional peers, the Foreign Secretaryship and Home Secretaryship.
One part of the Chancellor’s key roles involves the framing of the annual Budget, which is summarised in a speech to the House of Commons. Traditionally the budget speech was delivered on Budget Day, a Tuesday (although not always) in March, as Britain’s tax year follows the Julian Calendar. From 1993, the Budget was preceded by an annual ‘Autumn Statement’, now called the Pre-Budget Report, which forecasts government spending in the next year and usually takes place in November or December. This preview of the next year’s Budget is also referred to as the “mini-Budget”. The 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Budgets were all delivered on a Wednesday.
Monetary policy
Although the Bank of England is responsible for setting interest rates, the Chancellor also plays an important part in the monetary policy structure. He sets the inflation target which the Bank must set interest rates to meet. Under the Bank of England Act 1998 the Chancellor has the power of appointment of four out of nine members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee – the so-called ‘external’ members. He also has a high level of influence over the appointment of the Bank’s Governor and Deputy Governors, and has the right of consultation over the appointment of the two remaining MPC members from within the Bank. The Act also provides that the Government has the power to give instructions to the Bank on interest rates for a limited period in extreme circumstances. This power has never been used.
Ministerial arrangements
At HM Treasury the Chancellor is supported by a political team of four junior ministers and by permanent civil servants. The most important junior minister is the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, a member of the Cabinet, to whom the negotiations with other government departments on the details of government spending are delegated, followed by the Paymaster General, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. Two other officials are given the title of a Secretary to the Treasury, although neither is a government minister in the Treasury: the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons; the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is not a minister but the senior civil servant in the Treasury.
The holder of the office of Chancellor is ex-officio Second Lord of the Treasury. As Second Lord, his official residence is Number 11 Downing Street in London, next door to the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury (a post usually, though not always, held by the Prime Minister), who resides in 10 Downing Street. While in the past both houses were private residences, today they serve as interlinked offices, with the occupant living in a small apartment made from attic rooms previously resided in by servants.
The Chancellor is obliged to be a member of the Privy Council, and thus is styled the Right Honourable (Rt. Hon.). Because the House of Lords is excluded from Finance bills, the office is effectively limited to members of the House of Commons.
Accoutrements of office
Official residence
The Chancellor’s official residence is No. 11 Downing Street. In 1997, the then First and Second Lords, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown respectively, swapped apartments, as the Chancellor’s apartment in No. 11 was bigger and thus better suited to the needs of Blair (who had children) than Brown who was at that stage unmarried. So although No. 11 was still officially Brown’s residence, he actually resided in the apartment in the attic of No. 10, and Blair although officially residing in No. 10 actually lived in the attic apartment of No. 11.
Budget box
The Chancellor traditionally carries his Budget speech to the House of Commons in a particular red briefcase. The Chancellor’s red briefcase is identical to the briefcases used by all other government ministers (known as ministerial boxes or “red boxes”) to transport their official papers but is better known because the Chancellor traditionally displays the briefcase, containing the Budget speech, to the press in the morning before delivering the speech.
The original Budget briefcase was first used by William Ewart Gladstone in 1860 and continued in use until 1965 when James Callaghan was the first Chancellor to break with tradition when he used a newer box. Prior to Gladstone, a generic red briefcase of varying design and specification was used. The practice is said to have begun in the late 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I’s representative Francis Throckmorton presented the Spanish Ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza, with a specially constructed red briefcase filled with black puddings.[citation needed]
In July 1997, Gordon Brown became the second Chancellor to use a new box for the Budget. Made by industrial trainees at Babcock Rosyth Defence Ltd ship and submarine dockyard in Fife, the new box is made of yellow pine, with a brass handle and lock, covered in scarlet leather and embossed with the Royal initials and crest and the Chancellor’s title.
In March 2008, Alistair Darling reverted to using the original budget briefcase.
Chancellors of the Exchequer of England, 1316-1327
Name
Took office
Left office
Hervey de Stanton
1316
1327
Chancellors of the Exchequer of England, c. 1558-1708
John Fortescue of Salden, Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I and King James I of England for 14 years
Name
Portrait
Took office
Left office
Sir John Baker
c. 1558
c. 1559
Sir Richard Sackville
c. 1559
1566
Sir Walter Mildmay
1566
1589
Sir John Fortescue
1589
1603
The Earl of Dunbar
1603
1606
Sir Julius Caesar
1606
1614
Sir Fulke Greville
1614
1621
Sir Richard Weston
1621
1628
The Lord Barrett of Newburgh
1628
1629
The Lord Cottington
1629
1642
Sir John Colepeper
1642
1643
Sir Edward Hyde
19 July 1642
1646
The Lord Ashley
13 May 1661
22 November 1672
Sir John Duncombe
22 November 1672
2 May 1676
Sir John Ernle
2 May 1676
9 April 1689
The Lord Delamere
9 April 1689
18 March 1690
Richard Hampden
18 March 1690
10 May 1694
Charles Montagu
10 May 1694
2 June 1699
John Smith
2 June 1699
27 March 1701
Hon. Henry Boyle
27 March 1701
22 April 1708
Chancellors of the Exchequer of Great Britain, 1708-1817
Robert Walpole, de facto first Prime Minister who also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for more than 22 years. In this picture Walpole is wearing the Chancellor’s robe of office.
William Pitt the Younger, Chancellor of the Exchequer for 19 years and 9 months, all but 9 months as Prime Minister simultaneously, and who introduced Britain’s first income tax to pay for the Napoleonic Wars.
Name
Portrait
Took office
Left office
Political party
Prime Minister
Sir John Smith
22 April 1708
11 August 1710
Whig
Robert Harley
11 August 1710
4 June 1711
Tory
Robert Benson
4 June 1711
21 August 1713
Tory
Sir William Wyndham, Bt
21 August 1713
13 October 1714
Tory
Sir Richard Onslow, Bt
13 October 1714
12 October 1715
Whig
Robert Walpole
12 October 1715
15 April 1717
Whig
The Viscount Stanhope
15 April 1717
20 March 1718
Whig
John Aislabie
20 March 1718
23 January 1721
Whig
Sir John Pratt
(interim)
2 February 1721
3 April 1721
Whig
Sir Robert Walpole
3 April 1721
12 February 1742
Whig
Sir Robert Walpole
Samuel Sandys
12 February 1742
12 December 1743
Whig
The Earl of Wilmington
Henry Pelham
12 December 1743
8 March 1754
Whig
Henry Pelham
Sir William Lee
(interim)
8 March 1754
6 April 1754
Whig
The Duke of Newcastle
Henry Bilson Legge
6 April 1754
25 November 1755
Whig
Sir George Lyttelton, Bt
25 November 1755
16 November 1756
Whig
Henry Bilson Legge
16 November 1756
13 April 1757
Whig
The Duke of Devonshire
The Lord Mansfield
(interim)
13 April 1757
2 July 1757
Whig
The Duke of Newcastle
Henry Bilson Legge
2 July 1757
19 March 1761
Whig
The Viscount Barrington
19 March 1761
29 May 1762
Whig
Sir Francis Dashwood, Bt
29 May 1762
16 April 1763
Tory
The Earl of Bute
George Grenville
16 April 1763
16 July 1765
Whig
George Grenville
William Dowdeswell
16 July 1765
2 August 1766
Whig
The Marquess of Rockingham
Hon. Charles Townshend
2 August 1766
4 September 1767 (died)
Whig
The Earl of Chatham
Lord North
11 September 1767
27 March 1782
Tory
The Duke of Grafton
Lord North
Lord John Cavendish
27 March 1782
10 July 1782
Whig
The Marquess of Rockingham
William Pitt the Younger
10 July 1782
31 March 1783
Whig
The Earl of Shelburne
Lord John Cavendish
2 April 1783
19 December 1783
Whig
(Fox-North Coalition)
The Duke of Portland
William Pitt the Younger
19 December 1783
14 March 1801
Tory
William Pitt the Younger
Henry Addington
14 March 1801
10 May 1804
Tory
Henry Addington
William Pitt the Younger
10 May 1804
23 January 1806 (died)
Tory
William Pitt the Younger
Lord Henry Petty
5 February 1806
26 March 1807
Whig
(Ministry of All the Talents)
Lord Grenville
Spencer Perceval
26 March 1807
12 May 1812 (died)
Tory
The Duke of Portland
Spencer Perceval
Nicholas Vansittart
12 May 1812
12 July 1817
Tory
Lord Liverpool
Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, 1817-1902
Although the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland had been united by the Act of Union 1800 (39 & 40 Geo. III c. 67), the Exchequers of the two Kingdoms were not consolidated until 1817 under 56 Geo. III c. 98. For the holders of the Irish office before this date, see Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Name
Portrait
Took office
Left office
Political party
Prime Minister
Nicholas Vansittart
12 July 1817
31 January 1823
Tory
Lord Liverpool
Frederick John Robinson
31 January 1823
20 April 1827
Tory
George Canning
20 April 1827
8 August 1827 (died)
Tory
George Canning
The Lord Tenterden
(interim)
8 August 1827
3 September 1827
Tory
The Viscount Goderich
John Charles Herries
3 September 1827
26 January 1828
Tory
Henry Goulburn
26 January 1828
22 November 1830
Tory
The Duke of Wellington
Viscount Althorp
22 November 1830
14 November 1834
Whig
The Earl Grey
The Viscount Melbourne
The Lord Denman
14 November 1834
15 December 1834
Whig
(Conservative Provisional Government)
The Duke of Wellington
Sir Robert Peel, Bt
15 December 1834
8 April 1835
Conservative
Sir Robert Peel, Bt
Thomas Spring Rice
18 April 1835
26 August 1839
Whig
The Viscount Melbourne
Francis Baring
26 August 1839
30 August 1841
Whig
Henry Goulburn
3 September 1841
27 June 1846
Conservative
Sir Robert Peel, Bt
Sir Charles Wood, Bt
6 July 1846
21 February 1852
Whig
Lord John Russell
Benjamin Disraeli
27 February 1852
17 December 1852
Conservative
The Earl of Derby
William Ewart Gladstone
28 December 1852
28 February 1855
Peelite
(Coalition)
The Earl of Aberdeen
Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt
28 February 1855
21 February 1858
Whig
The Viscount Palmerston
Benjamin Disraeli
26 February 1858
11 June 1859
Conservative
The Earl of Derby
William Ewart Gladstone
18 June 1859
26 June 1866
Liberal
The Viscount Palmerston
The Earl Russell
Benjamin Disraeli
6 July 1866
29 February 1868
Conservative
The Earl of Derby
George Ward Hunt
29 February 1868
1 December 1868
Conservative
Benjamin Disraeli
Robert Lowe
9 December 1868
11 August 1873
Liberal
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
11 August 1873
17 February 1874
Liberal
Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt
21 February 1874
21 April 1880
Conservative
Benjamin Disraeli
William Ewart Gladstone
28 April 1880
16 December 1882
Liberal
William Ewart Gladstone
Hugh Childers
16 December 1882
9 June 1885
Liberal
Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt
24 June 1885
28 January 1886
Conservative
The Marquess of Salisbury
Sir William Vernon Harcourt
6 February 1886
20 July 1886
Liberal
William Ewart Gladstone
Lord Randolph Churchill
3 August 1886
22 December 1886
Conservative
The Marquess of Salisbury
George Goschen
14 January 1887
11 August 1892
Liberal Unionist
Sir William Vernon Harcourt
18 August 1892
21 June 1895
Liberal
William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt
29 June 1895
11 August 1902
Conservative
The Marquess of Salisbury
Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, 1902 to date
Name
Portrait
Took office
Left office
Political party
Prime Minister
Charles Ritchie
11 August 1902
9 October 1903
Conservative
Arthur Balfour
Austen Chamberlain
9 October 1903
4 December 1905
Liberal Unionist
H. H. Asquith
10 December 1905
12 April 1908
Liberal
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
David Lloyd George
12 April 1908
25 May 1915
Liberal
Herbert Henry Asquith
Reginald McKenna
25 May 1915
10 December 1916
Liberal
(Coalition)
Andrew Bonar Law
10 December 1916
10 January 1919
Conservative
(Coalition)
David Lloyd George
Austen Chamberlain
10 January 1919
1 April 1921
Sir Robert Horne
1 April 1921
19 October 1922
Stanley Baldwin
27 October 1922
27 August 1923
Conservative
Andrew Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Neville Chamberlain
27 August 1923
22 January 1924
Conservative
Stanley Baldwin
Philip Snowden
22 January 1924
3 November 1924
Labour
Ramsay MacDonald
Winston Churchill
6 November 1924
4 June 1929
Conservative
Stanley Baldwin
Philip Snowden
7 June 1929
24 August 1931
Labour
Ramsay MacDonald
24 August 1931
5 November 1931
National Labour
(National Government)
Neville Chamberlain
5 November 1931
28 May 1937
Conservative
(National Government)
Ramsay MacDonald
Stanley Baldwin
Sir John Simon
28 May 1937
12 May 1940
Liberal National
(National Government;
War Government)
Neville Chamberlain
Sir Kingsley Wood
12 May 1940
21 September 1943 (died)
Conservative
(Coalition)
Winston Churchill
Sir John Anderson
24 September 1943
26 July 1945
National Independent
(Coalition)
Hugh Dalton
27 July 1945
13 November 1947
Labour
Clement Attlee
Sir Stafford Cripps
13 November 1947
19 October 1950
Labour
Hugh Gaitskell
19 October 1950
26 October 1951
Labour
R. A. Butler
26 October 1951
20 December 1955
Conservative
Sir Winston Churchill
Harold Macmillan
20 December 1955
13 January 1957
Conservative
Sir Anthony Eden
Peter Thorneycroft
13 January 1957
6 January 1958
Conservative
Harold Macmillan
Derick Heathcoat-Amory
6 January 1958
27 July 1960
Conservative
Selwyn Lloyd
27 July 1960
13 July 1962
Conservative
Reginald Maudling
13 July 1962
16 October 1964
Conservative
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
James Callaghan
16 October 1964
30 November 1967
Labour
Harold Wilson
Roy Jenkins
30 November 1967
19 June 1970
Labour
Iain Macleod
20 June 1970
20 July 1970 (died)
Conservative
Edward Heath
Anthony Barber
25 July 1970
28 February 1974
Conservative
Denis Healey
1 March 1974
4 May 1979
Labour
Harold Wilson
James Callaghan
Sir Geoffrey Howe
4 May 1979
11 June 1983
Conservative
Margaret Thatcher
Nigel Lawson
11 June 1983
26 October 1989
Conservative
John Major
26 October 1989
28 November 1990
Conservative
Norman Lamont
28 November 1990
27 May 1993
Conservative
John Major
Kenneth Clarke
27 May 1993
2 May 1997
Conservative
Gordon Brown
2 May 1997
27 June 2007
Labour
Tony Blair
Alistair Darling
28 June 2007
incumbent
Labour
Gordon Brown
See also
List of Lord High Treasurers
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Notes and references
^ Joseph Haydn, Horace Ockerby (ed.): The Book of Dignities, 3rd edition, Part III (Political and Official), p. 164. W.H. Allen & Co., London 1894, reprinted by Firecrest Publishing Ltd, Bath, 1969
^ http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Gordon_Brown_-_Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer/id/1434949
^ http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/framework.htm
^ a b c d e f g h Also served as Prime Minister for some or all of their Chancellorship.
^ a b c d e f Died in office.
^ Joseph Haydn, Horace Ockerby (ed.): The Book of Dignities, 3rd edition, Part X (Ireland), p. 562. W.H. Allen & Co., London 1894, reprinted by Firecrest Publishing Ltd, Bath, 1969
v d e
Chancellors of the Exchequer
of England
Giffard Stanton Catesby Berners Baker Mildmay Fortescue Dunbar Caesar Brooke Portland Barrett Cottington Colepeper Clarendon Shaftesbury Duncombe Ernle Warrington Hampden Halifax Smith Carleton
of Great Britain
Carleton Smith Oxford/Mortimer Bingley Wyndham Onslow Walpole Stanhope Aislabie Pratt Walpole Sandys Pelham Lee Bilson-Legge Lyttelton Bilson-Legge Mansfield Bilson-Legge Barrington le Despencer Grenville Dowdeswell Townshend North Cavendish Pitt Cavendish Pitt Sidmouth Pitt Lansdowne Perceval Bexley
of the
United Kingdom
Bexley Goderich Canning Tenterden Herries Goulburn Spencer Denman Peel Monteagle Northbrook Goulburn Halifax Disraeli Gladstone Lewis Disraeli Gladstone Disraeli Hunt Sherbrooke Gladstone Iddesleigh Gladstone Childers St Aldwyn Harcourt R Churchill Goschen Harcourt St Aldwyn Ritchie A Chamberlain Asquith Lloyd George McKenna Bonar Law A Chamberlain Horne Baldwin N Chamberlain Snowden W Churchill Snowden N Chamberlain Simon K Wood Waverley Dalton Cripps Gaitskell Butler Macmillan Thorneycroft Amory Lloyd Maudling Callaghan Jenkins Macleod Barber Healey Howe Lawson Major Lamont Clarke Brown Darling
v d e
Great Offices of State of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister
Gordon Brown
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Alistair Darling
Foreign Secretary
David Miliband
Home Secretary
Alan Johnson
v d e
Her Majesty’s Treasury
Headquarters: 1, Horse Guards Road
Ministers
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury Chief Secretary to the Treasury Financial Secretary to the Treasury Economic Secretary to the Treasury Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
Executive agencies
Buying Solutions (part of the Office of Government Commerce) National Savings and Investments Royal Mint UK Debt Management Office
v d e
Economy of the United Kingdom
By topic
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England
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Northern Ireland
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Scotland
Aberdeen Edinburgh
Wales
Cardiff Swansea
Categories: HM Treasury | Chancellors of the Exchequer | Economy of the United Kingdom | Exchequer offices | Lists of government ministers of the United Kingdom | Ceremonial officers in the United Kingdom | Finance ministries | Current ministerial offices in the United KingdomHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from January 2008 | Articles that include images for deletion
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