Consols (originally short for consolidated annuities, but subsequently taken to mean consolidated stock) were government debt issues in the form of perpetual bonds , redeemable at the option of the government. The first British consols were issued by the Bank of England in 1751. They have now been fully redeemed.
41-520: The United States government issued consols from 1877 to 1930, which have likewise been redeemed. In 1752 the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister Sir Henry Pelham converted all outstanding issues of redeemable government stock into one bond, Consolidated 3.5% Annuities, in order to reduce the coupon (interest rate) paid on the government debt. In 1757, the annual interest rate on
82-493: A large personal power base in the party. Perhaps as a result, Tony Blair chose to keep him in the same position 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 has strengthened a pre-existing trend towards the chancellor occupying a clear second position among government ministers, elevated above their traditional peers,
123-511: 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
164-440: Is his duty to distribute as fairly as he can." The chancellor has considerable control over other departments as it is the Treasury that sets Departmental Expenditure Limits. The amount of power this gives to an individual chancellor depends on their personal forcefulness, their status within their party and their relationship with the prime minister. Gordon Brown , who became chancellor when Labour came into Government in 1997, had
205-517: Is now always second lord of the Treasury as one of at least six lords commissioners of the Treasury , responsible for executing the office of the Treasurer of the Exchequer – the others are the prime minister and Commons government whips. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was common for the prime minister also to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer if he sat in the Commons;
246-556: The Bank of England was granted independent control of its interest rates. Since 1718, all chancellors of the exchequer, except at times the lord chief justice as interim holders, have been members of the House of Commons , with Lord Stanhope being the last chancellor from the House of Lords . The office holder works alongside the other Treasury ministers and the permanent secretary to
287-407: The House of Commons . The budget is a state secret until the chancellor reveals it in the speech given to Parliament. Hugh Dalton , on his way to giving the budget speech in 1947, inadvertently blurted out key details to a newspaper reporter, and they appeared in print before he made his speech. Dalton was forced to resign. Although the Bank of England is responsible for setting interest rates,
328-504: The Luddites ; but his most brilliant appearance was as one of the counsel for Queen Caroline . His speech before the House of Lords was very powerful, and some competent judges even considered it not inferior to Brougham's. It contained one or two daring passages, which made the King his bitter enemy, and retarded his legal promotion. Unfortunately he made a notable gaffe when he compared
369-457: The Whig opposition. In the following year, he was returned for Nottingham , which seat he represented until 1826 and again from 1830 until his elevation to the bench in 1832. His liberal principles had caused his exclusion from office till in 1822 he was appointed Common Serjeant of London by the corporation of London . In 1830 he was made Attorney General under Lord Grey's administration and
410-478: The foreign secretary and home secretary . One part of the chancellor's key roles involves the framing of the annual year budget . As of 2017, the first is the Autumn Budget , also known as Budget Day which forecasts government spending in the next financial year and also announces new financial measures. The second is a Spring Statement , also known as a "mini-Budget". Britain's tax year has retained
451-567: The lord chief justice of the King's Bench has acted as interim Chancellor. The last peer to hold the office was Henry Booth, 2nd Baron Delamer (created Earl of Warrington shortly after leaving office) from 9 April 1689 to 18 March 1690. The chancellor holds the formerly independent office of Master of the Mint as a subsidiary office. The chancellor of the Exchequer has no official London residence as such but since 1828 in their role as Second Lord of
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#1732790237154492-669: The 1990s) have also worn it when attending the Trial of the Pyx as Master of the Mint. According to George Osborne, the robe (dating from Gladstone's time in office, and worn by the likes of Lloyd George and Churchill ) 'went missing' during Gordon Brown's time as chancellor. Although the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland had been united by the Acts of Union 1800 , the Exchequers of
533-540: The Act, the interest rate of the stock was reduced to 2 1 ⁄ 2 % in 1903, and the stock given a first redemption date of 5 April 1923, after which point the stock could be redeemed at par value by Act of Parliament . In 1927 Chancellor Winston Churchill issued a new government stock, 4% consols, as a partial refinancing of the National War Bonds issued in 1917 during World War I . On 31 October 2014
574-509: 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 officially used. At HM Treasury the chancellor is supported by
615-780: The Exchequer Rachel Reeves Foreign Secretary David Lammy Home Secretary Yvette Cooper Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman, PC (23 July 1779 – 26 September 1854) was an English lawyer, judge and politician. He served as Lord Chief Justice between 1832 and 1850. Denman was born in London , the son of Dr Thomas Denman . In his fourth year, he attended Palgrave Academy in Suffolk, where his education
656-752: The Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer , often abbreviated to chancellor , is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom , and head of Treasury . As one of the four Great Offices of State , the chancellor is a high-ranking member of the British Cabinet . Responsible for all economic and financial matters, the role is equivalent to that of a finance minister in other countries. The chancellor
697-552: The Queen to the Biblical woman taken in adultery, who was told to "go away and sin no more". This suggested that her counsel had no belief in the Queen's innocence, and produced the mocking satire: "Most Gracious Queen, we thee implore To go away and sin no more Or if that effort be too great To go away at any rate". At the general election of 1818 he was returned Member of Parliament for Wareham , and at once took his seat with
738-607: The Treasury is not a minister but the senior civil servant in the Treasury. 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 financial matters by tradition confirmed by the Parliament Acts , the office is effectively limited to members of the House of Commons; apart from the occasions when
779-568: The Treasury . The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow chancellor of the Exchequer , and the chancellor is also scrutinised by the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson and the Treasury Select Committee . The current chancellor is Rachel Reeves . The holder of the office of chancellor of the exchequer is ex officio second lord of the Treasury as a member of the commission exercising
820-555: The Treasury . Whilst not continuously in use, there can also be appointed a commercial secretary to the Treasury and an exchequer 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
861-470: The Treasury they live in the second lord's official residence, No. 11 Downing Street . In 1997, the then first and second Lords, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown respectively, swapped apartments, as the chancellor's larger apartment in No. 11 better accommodated Blair's substantial family (besides himself and his wife, he had three children under 18 upon taking office, and a fourth was born in 2000); meanwhile, Brown
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#1732790237154902-993: The UK Government announced that it would redeem the 4% consols in full in early 2015. It did so on 1 February 2015, and redeemed the 3 1 ⁄ 2 % and 3% bonds between March and May of that year. The final 2 3 ⁄ 4 % and 2 1 ⁄ 2 % bonds were redeemed on 5 July 2015. Section 124 of the Finance Act 2015 made the legal provisions for the ending of the consol. Given their long history, references to consols can be found in many places, including Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen , David Copperfield by Charles Dickens , The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams , Howards End by E. M. Forster , Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray , The Tuppenny Millionaire by P G Wodehouse , Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham and The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy . Chancellor of
943-554: The ancient office of treasurer of the exchequer . As second lord, her official residence is 11 Downing Street in London, next door to the residence of the first lord of the Treasury (a title that has for many years been 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 an apartment made from attic rooms previously resided in by servants. Since 1827,
984-401: The box, containing the budget speech, to the press before leaving 11 Downing Street for the House of Commons. The original budget box was first used by William Ewart Gladstone in 1853 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 despatch box of varying design and specification
1025-407: The chancellor also plays an important part in the monetary policy structure. They set 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. They also have a high level of influence over the appointment of
1066-424: The chancellor has always simultaneously held the office of second lord of the Treasury when that person has not also been the prime minister. 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
1107-517: The last Chancellor who was simultaneously prime minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer was Stanley Baldwin in 1923. Formerly, in cases when the chancellorship was vacant, the lord chief justice of the King's Bench would act as chancellor pro tempore . The last lord chief justice to serve in this way was Lord Denman in 1834. The chancellor is the third-oldest major state office in English and British history, and in recent times has come to be
1148-685: The most powerful office in British politics after the prime minister. It originally carried responsibility for the Exchequer , the medieval English institution for the collection and auditing of royal revenues. The earliest surviving records which are the results of the exchequer's audit date from 1129 to 1130 under King Henry I and show continuity from previous years. The chancellor has oversight of fiscal policy , therefore of taxation and public spending across government departments . It previously controlled monetary policy as well until 1997, when
1189-533: The new box is made of yellow pine, with a brass handle and lock, covered in scarlet leather and embossed with the Royal cypher and crest and the chancellor's title. In his first Budget , in March 2008, Alistair Darling reverted to using the original budget box and his successor, George Osborne, continued this tradition for his first budget, before announcing that it would be retired due to its fragile condition. The key to
1230-519: The old Julian end of year: 24 March (Old Style) / 5 April (New Style, i.e. Gregorian). From 1993, the Budget was in spring, preceded by an annual autumn statement. This was then called Pre-Budget Report . The Autumn Statement usually took place in November or December. The 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 , 2008 , 2012 and 2016 budgets were all delivered on a Wednesday, summarised in a speech to
1271-683: The original budget box has been lost. By tradition, the chancellor has been allowed to drink whatever they wish while making the annual budget speech to Parliament. This includes alcohol, which is otherwise banned under parliamentary rules. Previous chancellors have opted for whisky ( Kenneth Clarke ), gin and tonic ( Geoffrey Howe ), brandy and water ( Benjamin Disraeli and John Major ), spritzer ( Nigel Lawson ) and sherry and beaten egg ( William Gladstone ). The chancellors after Clarke, Philip Hammond , George Osborne , Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown , opted for water. In fact Darling drank what
Consol (bond) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-561: The stock was reduced to 3%, leaving the stock as consolidated 3% annuities. The coupon rate remained at 3% until 1888. In 1888, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Joachim Goschen , converted the consolidated 3% annuities, along with reduced 3% annuities (issued in 1752) and new 3% annuities (1855), into a new bond, 2 3 ⁄ 4 % consolidated stock, under the National Debt (Conversion) Act 1888 ( Goschen's Conversion ). Under
1353-411: The then-chancellor, Alistair Darling . The chancellor traditionally carries his or her budget speech to the House of Commons in a particular red despatch box . The so-called ‘Budget Box’ is identical to the cases used by all other government ministers (known as ministerial boxes or "despatch boxes") to transport their official papers, but is better known because the chancellor traditionally displays
1394-586: The trial in the House of Lords of the Earl of Cardigan for attempted murder. In O'Connell v the Queen , in 1844, he led the majority of the Lords in quashing the conviction for sedition of Daniel O'Connell . This is a tribute to his integrity since O'Connell was regarded with aversion by the British ruling class; but Denman, as he made clear, could not accept that he had received a fair trial. In 1850 he resigned from his chief justiceship and retired into private life. He
1435-532: The two Kingdoms were not consolidated until 1817 under the Consolidated Fund Act 1816 ( 56 Geo. 3 . c. 98). For the holders of the Irish office before this date, see Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland . Chancellorship Chancellorship Chancellorship Chancellorship Chancellorship Chancellorship Prime Minister Keir Starmer Chancellor of
1476-521: Was knighted on 24 November that year. Two years later he was made Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench and was sworn of the Privy Council two days later. In 1834, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Denman , of Dovedale, in the County of Derby . As a judge he is best remembered for his decision in the important privilege case of Stockdale v. Hansard (9 Ad. & El. I.; II Ad. & El. 253). In 1841 he presided, as Lord High Steward , over
1517-645: Was a Governor of the Charter House , and a Vice-President of the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy . He also strove with great energy, both as a writer and as a judge, to effect the abolition of the slave trade . Lord Denman married Theodosia Anne, daughter of Reverend Richard Vevers, in 1804. His Derbyshire seat was Middleton Hall, Stoney Middleton . He died at Stoke Albany, Northamptonshire aged 75, and
1558-526: Was named "Standard Water" in reference to, and support of, the London Evening Standard newspaper's campaign to have plain tap water available in restaurants at no charge to customers. The chancellor, as Master of the Mint , has a robe of office, similar to that of the lord chancellor (as seen in several of the portraits depicted below). In recent times, it has only regularly been worn at coronations , but some chancellors (at least until
1599-420: Was supervised by Anna Laetitia Barbauld and her husband. He continued to Eton and St John's College, Cambridge , where he graduated in 1800. In 1806 he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn , and at once entered upon practice. His success was rapid, and in a few years he attained a position at the bar second only to that of Henry Brougham and James Scarlett . He distinguished himself by his defence of
1640-419: Was then unmarried and had no children. Dorneywood is the summer residence that is traditionally made available to the chancellor, though it is the prime minister who ultimately decides who may use it. Gordon Brown , on becoming chancellor in 1997, refused to use it and the house, which is set in 215 acres (87 ha) of parkland, was allocated to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott . In 2007, it reverted to
1681-574: 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 . 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,