Editing Chancellor of the Exchequer (section)

==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 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 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 1832]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gordon Brown: Chancellor of the Exchequer |url=http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Gordon_Brown_-_Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer/id/1434949 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102215246/http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Gordon_Brown_-_Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer/id/1434949 |archive-date=2 November 2012 |access-date=2 May 2010 |website=Encyclopedia II |publisher=Experiencefestival.com }}</ref> This has strengthened a pre-existing trend towards the chancellor occupying a clear second position among government ministers, elevated above their traditional peers, the [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|foreign secretary]] and [[home secretary]].

One part of the chancellor's key roles involves the framing of the annual year [[government budget|budget]]. As of 2017, the first is the [[Budget of the United Kingdom|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 the old [[Julian calendar|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 United Kingdom budget|2007]], [[2008 United Kingdom budget|2008]], [[2012 United Kingdom budget|2012]] and [[2016 United Kingdom budget|2016 budget]]s were all delivered on a Wednesday, summarised in a speech to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|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.<ref>Ben Pimlott, ''Hugh Dalton'' (1985) pp 524–48.</ref>

===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. 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 (United Kingdom)|Monetary Policy Committee]] – the so-called 'external' members. They also have 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 May 1997 |title=Monetary Policy &#124; Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) &#124; Framework |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/framework.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508103201/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/framework.htm |archive-date=8 May 2010 |access-date=2 May 2010 |publisher=Bank of England }}</ref> 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.

===Ministerial arrangements===
At [[HM Treasury]] the chancellor is supported by a political team of four junior ministers and by permanent [[Civil Service (United Kingdom)|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|financial secretary to the Treasury]] and the [[Economic Secretary to the Treasury|economic secretary to the Treasury]]. Whilst not continuously in use, there can also be appointed a [[Commercial Secretary to the Treasury|commercial secretary to the Treasury]] and an [[Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury|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|parliamentary secretary to the Treasury]] is the Government [[Chief Whip]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]; the [[Permanent Secretary to the Treasury|permanent secretary to the Treasury]] is not a [[minister (government)|minister]] but the senior civil servant in the Treasury.

The chancellor is obliged to be a member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]], and thus is [[style (manner of address)|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|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Owen |first=James |date=19 December 2012 |title=Sir Isaac Newton – did you know? |url=http://blog.royalmint.com/sir-isaac-newton-did-you-know-this-about-him/ |access-date=6 June 2017 |publisher=The Royal Mint |archive-date=1 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601112601/http://blog.royalmint.com/sir-isaac-newton-did-you-know-this-about-him/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>