The Chancellor's Office

The Chancellor

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the Government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling public spending.

Responsibilities:

The Chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget statement which usually takes place in November. (This Budget is taking place on July 2 because of change of government.) The Prime Minister may hold the formal title of "First Lord of the Treasury", but it is the Chancellor who is the most senior political figure at the Treasury.

The Chancellor at Work

Accomodation:

The current Chancellor, Gordon Brown, seems to be unbothered by the trappings of office. The traditional residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer is No 11 Downing Street but Gordon Brown has moved into the flat in No 10 so the Prime Minister's family can use the more spacious suite in No 11.

The Chancellor is also entitled to the use of Dorneywood, a Queen Anne house in Buckinghamshire, though he said before the election that he did not want to use it and has yet to visit.

In times when the Prime Minister has no need or desire to occupy Chequers (as with, for example, Bonar Law and Harold Macmillan) the Chancellor can make use of it.

Job Established:

The office of Chancellor is an ancient one. At first it was only one of a number of financial positions in government. Denis Healey mentions in his memoirs a "Richard, Son of Nigel", who was Treasurer of England and Bishop of London in about 1170 and who wrote a latin dialogue about how to do this job:

'Non enim in ratiociniis sed in multipliibus iudiciis excellens scaccarii scientia consistit', which translates as:

'for the highest skill at the Exchequer does not lie in calculations, but in judgements of all kinds' .

The first Chancellor was appointed during the reign of Henry II in the twelfth century. By the eighteenth century the old 'Treasury Board' had declined in importance and the annual Budget became a significant feature in parliament from about the 1730s. For most of the period since the 1960s the post of Chancellor has been generally acknowledged as the most politically significant job in the Cabinet after that of Prime Minister.

Economic policy is a matter in which the Prime Minister and the Chancellor need to work closely together. Symbolically there is a passage between the two houses - and the more free the traffic in this corridor, Hugh Dalton once supposed, the happier the government.

In the early part of the century the children of Lloyd George (Chancellor) and Asquith (Prime Minister) happily played togther for example. But sometimes the door between the two offices of state has been more often closed than open.

Things cannot have been easy when the two fell out. Back in the twenties and thirties, Ramsay MacDonald and his Chancellor, Phillip Snowden, could barely stand one another.

But the most spectacular recent example of these potential tensions arose towards the end of Nigel Lawson's Chancellorship - over the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and the role of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's economic adviser, Sir Alan Walters. These difficulties led to the resignations of both Mr Lawson and Sir Alan. A little over a year later, Mrs Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister.

Indeed, so important and high profile is the post that the holder often endures the closest inspection of his personal demeanour. Kenneth Clarke's suede shoes and Garrick Club tie became famous.

Tenure:

Nigel Lawson once told the BBC that:

"I'm not interested in the record books. How long I'm there is a matter partly for the Prime Minister and partly for me. And it will be resolved in the fullness of time'.

And so it was. However the Prime Minister has, as with all government appoointments, the final political prerogative to appoint or sack a minister. No doubt one of the things they will bear in mind is the length a Chancellor has served in what is, normally, a highly stressful job.

Harold Wilson was said to have judged that no Chancellor should serve for more than two-and-a-half years, but many occupants of Number 11 have exceeded that. The longest serving Chancellor this century was David Lloyd-George who served under herbert Asquith from 1908 to 1915, followed by Nigel Lawson (1983-89) and Neville Chamberlain (1931-37).

Last-But-One Rung on the Greasy Pole?

Chancellors who have gone on to 'move next door' directly this century were: Stanley Baldwin (in 1923), Chamberlain (1937), Harold Macmillan (1957) and John Major (1990). Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Jim Callaghan were also prime ministers who enjoyed a spell at the Treasury before going to No 10.

Healey Raises his Profile

However, others found their careers held back by this particular office. In the 1950s Hugh Gaitskell went on to become leader of his party, but Denis Healey might have had a better showing in the Labour leadership elections in 1976 and 1980 had he not been in such a high-profile job during a difficult period. This might have been the price he paid for, as he later put it, "doing the dirty work under socialism".

Roy Jenkins on BBC's Panorama programme

Others who might have expected to move to Number 10 but instead had to do with the sobriquet 'Best Prime Minister We Never Had' include RA Butler and Roy Jenkins.

Having occupied a high office of state it is difficult for prime ministers to offer and, indeed, for some former Chancellors to accept, another post in the Cabinet in a reshuffle. Sir Geoffrey Howe was happy to accept the Foreign Office, whilst Lloyd George was given the most important jobs during the First World War - Minister of Munitions before he went to become premier.

RA Butler

RA Butler was given a whole raft of titles after he ceased to be Chancellor in 1955. Norman Lamont, however felt unable to accept the offer to become Secretary of State for the Environment when he left the government in 1993 and was replaced by Kenneth Clarke.

Chancellor - later Speaker - Selwyn Lloyd

But some Chancellors have enjoyed comebacks after appearing to fall by the wayside. Following very different paths, Hugh Dalton, Peter Thorneycroft and Selwyn Lloyd all eventually returned to the Cabinet and Lloyd went on to become a respected Speaker of the House of Commons.

Chancellors who simply resigned or retired to the backbenches or full-time active politics altogether include Derick Heathcoat Amory, Anthony Barber and Nigel Lawson.