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66-669: 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

132-541: A considerable impression, and, under successive Liberal ministries (1853–1858), he obtained official experience as Secretary to the Board of Control and Vice-President of the Board of Trade . During his time there, he saw the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856 passed – the first nationwide codification of company law in the world. He has been referred to as "the father of modern company law". This status

198-553: A halfpenny a box on Lucifer matches in 1871 (for which he suggested the epigram ex luce lucellum , "out of light a little profit") roused a storm of opposition, and had to be dropped. In 1873 he was transferred to the Home Office , but in 1874 the government resigned. Lowe spoke against the Royal Titles Bill 1876 at East Retford and implied that Queen Victoria had been responsible for the bill's introduction. As

264-492: 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,

330-642: A leading part in the Union debates. In 1835, he won a fellowship at Magdalen , but vacated it on marrying, on 26 March 1836, Georgiana Orred (d. 1884). Lowe was for a few years a successful tutor at Oxford, but in 1838 was disappointed at not being elected to the professorship of Greek at the University of Glasgow . In 1841 Lowe moved to London to read for the Bar, but his eyesight showed signs of serious weakness, and, acting on medical advice, he sailed to Sydney in

396-495: A period between the accession of King James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603 and the unification of Scotland and England in 1707, the two entities were separate kingdoms in personal union through the one monarch who was advised by a separate set of ministers of the Crown for each country. As the English overseas possessions and later British Empire expanded, the colonial governments remained subordinate to

462-573: A result, when the Liberals returned to power in 1880, Victoria made it clear that she would not accept any ministry that included Lowe. Nevertheless, he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Sherbrooke , of Sherbrooke in the County of Surrey (a peerage that would become extinct on his death), against the express wishes of Queen Victoria, but with the backing of William Gladstone. In 1885, he was also further honoured by being created Knight Grand Cross of

528-480: A separate ministry for each realm. Thus, today, no minister of the Crown in any Commonwealth realm can advise the monarch to exercise any powers pertaining to any of the other Dominions. In Spain , during the " Restauración " period (1874–1931) the term Minister of the Crown ( Spanish : Ministro de la Corona ) was used for a person who was in charge of a ministerial department of His Majesty's Government ( Spanish : Gobierno de Su Majestad ). For example, during

594-428: A shameful victory over herself; and oh! that a man would rise in order that he might set forth in words that could not die, the shame, the rage, the scorn, the indignation, and the despair with which this measure is viewed by every cultivated Englishman who is not a slave to the trammels of party, or who is not dazzled by the glare of a temporary and ignoble success! In spite of the fact that his appeals did not prevent

660-451: A vigorous policy, insisting on payment by results , and bringing in the revised code (1862), which embodied this principle and made an examination in "the three R's" the test for grants of public money. He felt then, and still more after the Reform Act of 1867, that "we must educate our masters," and he rather scandalized his old university friends by the stress he laid on physical science as opposed to classical studies. Considerable opposition

726-496: 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

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792-574: 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;

858-490: 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 . Whilst not continuously in use, there can also be appointed a commercial secretary to the Treasury and an exchequer secretary to

924-446: 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 the then-chancellor, Alistair Darling . The chancellor traditionally carries his or her budget speech to

990-556: 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

1056-474: The Crown prerogatives relating to the minister's department or ministry . In Commonwealth realms, the sovereign or viceroy is formally advised by a larger body known as a privy council or executive council , though, in practice, they are advised by a subset of such councils: the collective body of ministers of the Crown called the ministry . The ministry should not be confused with the cabinet, as ministers of

1122-406: 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,

1188-643: 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 the lord chief justice of the King's Bench has acted as interim Chancellor. The last peer to hold the office

1254-478: 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

1320-604: The imperial government at Westminster , and thus the Crown was still ministered to only by the Imperial Privy Council , made up of British ministers of the Crown. When Canada became a Dominion in 1867, however, a separate Canadian Privy Council was established to advise the Canadian governor general on the exercise of the Crown prerogative in Canada, although constitutionally the viceroy remained an agent of

1386-718: 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

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1452-620: 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 a political team of four junior ministers and by permanent civil servants . The most important junior minister

1518-462: The Bill argued a lower property qualification would give the vote to respectable members of the working class. But Lowe thought: the elite of the working classes you are so fond of, are members of trades unions... founded on principles of the most grinding tyranny not so much against masters as against each other... It was only necessary that you should give them the franchise, to make those trades unions

1584-577: The British government at Whitehall . After that date, other colonies of the empire attained Dominion status and similar arrangements were made. Following the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, however, the Dominions became effectively autonomous realms under one sovereign, thus returning the monarch to a position similar to that which existed pre-1707, where he or she was ministered to by

1650-647: The Crown may be outside a cabinet. In the UK , ministers are the MPs and members of the British House of Commons or House of Lords who are in the government. Ministers of the Crown in Commonwealth realms have their roots in early modern England, where monarchs sometimes employed cabinet councils consisting of ministers to advise the monarch and implemented his decisions. The term Minister came into being as

1716-719: The Exchequer Rachel Reeves Foreign Secretary David Lammy Home Secretary Yvette Cooper Minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy . The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure , and advises the sovereign or viceroy on how to exercise

1782-523: 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." Lowe was a rather cut-and-dried economist, who prided himself that during his four years of office he took twelve millions off taxation; but later opinion has hardly accepted his removal of the shilling registration duty on corn (1869) as good statesmanship, and his failures are remembered rather than his successes. His proposed tax of

1848-437: 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 the box, containing the budget speech, to the press before leaving 11 Downing Street for the House of Commons. The original budget box

1914-539: The Lowes and the two Jamieson children sailed to England. Lowe's previous university reputation and connections combined with his colonial experience stood him in good stead; The Times was glad to employ him, and, as one of its ablest leader-writers, he made his influence widely felt. In 1852, he was returned to Parliament for Kidderminster in the Liberal interest. In the House of Commons , his acute reasoning made

1980-572: The Order of the Bath . But from 1875 till his death at Warlingham , Surrey, his health was constantly failing, and by degrees he figured less and less in public life. He became a supporter of the Liberal Unionist party in 1886. During the 1870s the following epitaph was suggested for him by one of the wits of his day: Here lies poor old Robert Lowe; Where he's gone to I don't know; If to

2046-549: 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 the original budget box has been lost. By tradition, the chancellor has been allowed to drink whatever they wish while making

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2112-591: 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, the new box is made of yellow pine, with a brass handle and lock, covered in scarlet leather and embossed with

2178-567: 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

2244-534: 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 chancellor is obliged to be a member of

2310-551: The advance of "democracy", notably in his speech in 1865 on Sir Edward Baines 's Borough Franchise Bill. He was not invited to join the new ministry. Lowe retired into what Bright called the " Cave of Adullam ", and with other Liberals and Whig peers (known collectively as the ' Adullamites ' ) opposed the bill in a series of brilliant speeches, which raised his reputation as an orator to its highest point and helped to cause government's downfall. However, Benjamin Disraeli who led

2376-553: 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,

2442-496: 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

2508-407: 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

2574-424: 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

2640-606: The colony of New South Wales , where he set to work in the law courts. On 7 November 1843 he was nominated by Sir George Gipps , the Governor of New South Wales , to a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Council replacing Robert Jones who had to resign from the Council due to insolvency. Owing to a difference of opinion with Gipps, Lowe resigned from the council on 9 September 1844, but

2706-462: 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

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2772-423: The most dangerous political agencies that could be conceived; because they were in the hands, not of individual members, but of designing men, able to launch them in solid mass against the institutions of the country. Being a man of company law , Robert Lowe saw unions as a threat to the order, which as he drafted, allowed only for social participation through investment of capital, not investment of labour. As it

2838-629: 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

2904-696: The number of foreign firms incorporating in the UK has more than quadrupled. No doubt this is because, according to the World Bank's assessment, it is quicker and cheaper for companies to set up in the UK than in any other EU member state." In 1859, Lowe went to the Education Office as Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education in Lord Palmerston 's ministry; there he pursued

2970-466: 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

3036-630: The passing of the Second Reform Act , Robert Lowe beat Walter Bagehot in the next election to become the first Member of Parliament (MP) for the London University , a new constituency created by the very Act he opposed. In 1868 he accepted office in the Gladstone Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer , an office that he described in the following terms in the House of Commons on 11 April 1870: "The Chancellor of

3102-435: The power and the spirit which portrayed in the face of that noble beast the rage, the disappointment, and the scorn of a perishing nation and of a down-trodden civilization, and I said to myself, "O for an orator, O for an historian, O for a poet, who would do the same thing for us!" We also have had our battle of Chaeronea; we too have had our dishonest victory. That England, that was wont to conquer other nations, has now gained

3168-492: The principal writers for the Atlas newspaper. In 1844, Lowe defended a Royal Navy captain, John Knatchbull , on a charge of murdering a widowed shopkeeper named Ellen Jamieson; he was one of the earliest to raise in a British court the plea of moral insanity (unsuccessfully). Knatchbull was hanged on 13 February 1844. Lowe and his wife adopted Mrs. Jamieson's two orphaned children, Bobby and Polly Jamieson. On 27 January 1850,

3234-519: The realms of peace and love, Farewell to happiness above; If, haply, to some lower level, We can't congratulate the devil. Lowe was delighted with this, and promptly translated it into Latin, as follows: Continentur hac in fossa Humilis Roberti ossa; Si ad coelum evolabit, Pax in coelo non restabit; Sin in inferis jacebit, Diabolum ejus poenitebit. On his death he was buried in Brookwood Cemetery . The Division of Lowe ,

3300-485: The reign of King Alfonso XIII , when Carlos María Cortezo y Prieto de Orche was appointed as "Ministro de Instrucción Pública y Bellas Artes" ( Minister for Public Instruction of Fine Arts ), in the royal decree it was noted that he was a minister of the Crown. Nowadays, the most formal way to address a minister is as "Minister of the Government". Robert Lowe Lowe was born in Bingham , Nottinghamshire, England,

3366-577: The second son of the Reverend Robert Lowe ( rector of St Mary and All Saints, Bingham ). His mother was Ellen, the daughter of the Rev. Reginald Pyndar. Lowe had albinism, and his sight was so weak that initially it was thought he was unfit to be sent to school. In 1822, he went to a school at Southwell , then Latin House, Risley , and in 1825 to Winchester as a commoner. In Lowe's fragment of autobiography he shows an unpleasing picture of

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3432-415: The sovereign's advisors "ministered to", or served, the king. Over time, former ministers and other distinguished persons were retained as peripheral advisers with designated ministers having the direct ear of the king. This led to the creation of the larger Privy Council, with the Cabinet becoming a committee within that body, made up of currently serving ministers, who also were heads of departments. During

3498-501: The subsequent Conservative government proposed his own Reform Bill, which by splitting the parties succeeded to become the Reform Act 1867 . As he said in the third reading of the Bill, Lowe thought any step towards democracy was bad because it engendered "a right existing in the individual as opposed to general expediency… numbers as against wealth and intellect". So the bill contained "the terms of endless agitation". Proponents of

3564-453: 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 was then unmarried and had no children. Dorneywood is the summer residence that

3630-409: The throne. When you get a democratic basis for your institutions, you must remember that you cannot look at that alone, but you must look at it in reference to all your other institutions. When you have once taught the people to entertain the notion of the individual rights of every citizen to share in the Government, and the doctrine of popular supremacy, you impose on yourselves the task of re-modelling

3696-530: 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

3762-523: The under-feeding and other conditions of the school life of the time. The languages of Latin and Greek were the main subjects of study and Lowe records that both were easy for him. Lowe then attended University College, Oxford , and enjoyed the change; there as a pupil of Benjamin Jowett he gained a first class degree in Literae Humaniores and a second class in mathematics, besides taking

3828-625: The way to the Russell – Gladstone reform ministry, which introduced the Reform Bill of 1866. Lowe carried on his former Prime Minister's views, as part of the Canning and Peel Liberal school. Moreover, he had been heavily shocked by his experiences of the comparatively developed union movement in his time in Australia in a less rigid class system. He had already made known his objections to

3894-493: The whole of your institutions, in reference to the principles that you have set up... Lowe concluded his speech with considerable flair. You must take education up the very first question, and you must press it on without delay for the peace of the country. Sir, I was looking to-day at the head of the lion which was sculptured in Greece during her last agony after the battle of Chaeronea , to commemorate that event, and I admired

3960-451: 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 the Treasury they live in the second lord's official residence, No. 11 Downing Street . In 1997,

4026-584: Was again referred to in the presentation by Lord Sainsbury of the second reading leading up to the new United Kingdom Companies Act 2006 : "One hundred and fifty years ago, my predecessor Robert Lowe, later First Viscount Sherbrooke, brought forward the Bill that created the joint stock limited liability company. It was the first nationwide codification of company law in the world, and he has recently been described as "the father of modern company law". Our company law continues to have an excellent record. Since 1997 new incorporations have risen by over 60 per cent and

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4092-557: Was aroused by the new regime at the Education Office, and, in 1864, Lowe was driven to resign by an adverse vote in Parliament with reference to the way in which inspectors' reports were "edited." This was the result of the strong feelings that had been aroused against Lingen 's administration of the Education Office. Lord Palmerston had been a towering opponent to widening democratic participation and his death in October 1865 opened

4158-506: Was elected in April 1845 for Counties of St Vincent and Auckland . Lowe held that seat until 20 June 1848 and was elected for City of Sydney in July 1848, a seat he held until November 1849. Lowe soon made his mark in the political world by his clever speeches, particularly on finance and education; and besides obtaining a large legal practice, he was involved with the founding and was one of

4224-410: 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 was used. The practice is said to have begun in the late 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I 's representative Francis Throckmorton presented

4290-448: 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

4356-409: Was the case that participation in Parliament was also only possible through possession of property , Lowe was fearful that a change in one part of the world he understood would lead to another, ending in unforeseeable chaos. This principle of equality which you have taken to worship, is a very jealous power; she cannot be worshipped by halves, and like the Turk in this respect, she brooks no rival near

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