Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer ( Chancellor off the Exchequer ) is in the government of the the United Kingdom the minister in charge for finances and the treasure.

The Chancelier , as it more simply is called, manages the public finance and plays a part similar to that of the Minister for Finance in other countries. This function is one of the four most important loads of the state, and at the present time the chancellor is regarded as the number two of the British government, after the Prime Minister.

One of the principal duties of the Chancellor is to establish the budget, which is presented in front of the House of Commons.

History

Historically, it is about the third ministry created in England with the Middle Ages with for mission of controlling the income of the tax. Until a still recent date, the chancellor was responsible for the monetary policy and tax. But in 1997 the Banque of England was seen authorized to fix interest rate independently and controls from now on the monetary policy. The chancellor also controls the distribution of the budgetary funds between the various ministries.

One should not confuse the Chancellor of the Exchequer with the Lord Chancelier, the Chancelier of the duchy of Lancaster (minister without portfolio), the Chancelier of high the court (magistrate), or the Lord Chief Baron of the chess-board, legal function which does not exist any more.

The current chancellor is Alistair Darling

Chronological list of the Ministers of Finance

1st period (before 1708): chancellors of England

Sir John Baker
Sir Walter Mildmay 1559-1589
John Fortescue 1589-1603
George Home, 1st Earl off Dunbar (1605) 1603-1606
Sir Julius Caesar 1606-1614
Sir Fulke Greville 1614-1621
Sir Richard Weston 1621-1628
Edward Barrett, 1st Lord Barrett off Newburgh 1628-1629
Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington 1629-1642
Sir John Culpepper 1642-1643
Sir Edward Hyde (1642 - 1646)
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl off Shaftesbury (1661 - 1672)
Sir John Duncombe (1672 - 1676)
Sir John Ernle (1676 - 1689)
Henry Booth, 2nd Baron Delamere (1689 - 1690)
Richard Hampden (1690 - 1694)
Charles Montagu (1694 - 1699)
John Smith (1699 - 1701)
Henry Boyle (1701 - 1708)

2nd period (1708-1801): Chancellors of Great Britain

John Smith (1708 - 1710)
Robert Harley (1710 - 1711)
Robert Benson (1711 - 1713)
Sir William Wyndham (1713 - 1714)
Sir Richard Onslow (1714 - 1715)
Robert Walpole (1715 - 1717) *
James Stanhope, 1st count Stanhope (1717 - 1718)
John Aislabie (1718 - 1721)
Sir John Pratt (February 2,1721 - 1721)
Sir Robert Walpole (1721 - 1742) *
Samuel Sandys (1742 - 1743)
Henry Pelham (1743 - 1754) *
Sir William Lee (1754 - 1754)
Henry Bilson Legge (1754 - 1755)
Sir George Lyttelton (1755 - 1756)
Henry Bilson Legge (1756 - 1757)
William Murray, 1st Baron Mansfield (1757 - 1757)
Henry Bilson Legge (1757 - 1761)
William Wildman Barrington-Shute, 2nd Viscount Barrington (1761 - 1762)
Sir Francis Dashwood (1762 - 1763)
George Grenville (1763 - 1765) *
William Dowdeswell (1765 - 1766)
Charles Townshend (1766 - 1767)
Frederick North, Lord North (1767 - 1782) *
Lord John Cavendish (March 27,1782 - July 10,1782)
William Pitt the Young person (1782 - 1783)
Lord John Cavendish (1783 - 1783)
William Pitt the Young person (1783 - 1801) *

3rd period (since 1801): Chancellors of the United Kingdom

Henry Addington (1801 - 1804) *
William Pitt the Young person (1804 - 1806) *
Lord Henry Petty (1806 - 1807)
Spencer Perceval (1807 - 1812) *
Nicholas Vansittart (1812 - 1823)
Frederick John Robinson (1823 - 1827)
George Canning (1827 - 1827) *
Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden (1827 - 1827)
John Charles Herries (1827 - 1828)
Henry Goulburn (1828 - 1830)
John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp (1830 - 1834)
Lord Denman (1834 - 1834)
Sir Robert Peel (1834 - 1835) *
Thomas Spring Rice (1835 - 1839)
Sir Francis Thornhill Baring (1839 - 1841)
Henry Goulburn (1841 - 1846)
Sir Charles Wood (1846 - 1852)
Benjamin Disraeli (1852 - 1852) *
William Ewart Gladstone (1852 - 1855)
Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1855 - 1858)
Benjamin Disraeli (1858 - 1859)
William Ewart Gladstone (1859 - 1866)
Benjamin Disraeli (1866 - 1868)
George Ward Hunt (1868 - 1868)
Robert Lowe (1868 - 1873)
William Ewart Gladstone (1873 - 1874) *
Sir Stafford Henry Northcote (1874 - 1880)
William Ewart Gladstone (1880 - 1882) *
Hugh Childers (1882 - 1885)
Sir Michael Hicks Beach (1885 - 1886)
Sir William Vernon Harcourt (1886 - 1886)
Lord Randolph Churchill (1886 - 1886)
George Joachim Goschen (1887 - 1892)
Sir William Vernon Harcourt (1892 - 1895)
Sir Michael Hicks Beach (1895 - 1902)
Charles Thomson Ritchie (1902 - 1903)
Austen Chamberlain (1903 - 1905)
Herbert Henry Asquith (1905 - 1908)
David Lloyd George (1908 - 1915)
Reginald McKenna (1915 - 1916)
Andrew Bonar Law (1916 - 1919)
Austen Chamberlain (1919 - 1921)
Sir Robert Stevenson Horne (1921 - 1922)
Stanley Baldwin (1922 - 1923) *
Neville Chamberlain (1923 - 1924)
Philip Snowden (1924 - 1924)
Winston Churchill (1924 - 1929) *
Philip Snowden (1929 - 1931)
Neville Chamberlain (1931 - 1937) *
Sir John Allsebrooke Simon (1937 - 1940)
Sir Kingsley Wood (1940 - 1943)
Sir John Anderson (1943 - 1945)
Hugh Dalton (1945 - 1947)
Sir Stafford Cripps (1947 - 1950)
Hugh Gaitskell (1950 - 1951)
Rab Butler (1951 - 1955)
Harold Macmillan (1955 - 1957) *
Peter Thorneycroft (1957 - 1958)
Derick Heathcoat-Amory (1958 - 1960)
Selwyn Lloyd (1960 - 1962)
Reginald Maudling (1962 - 1964)
James Callaghan (1964 - 1967) *
Roy Jenkins (1967 - 1970)
Iain Macleod (1970 - 1970)
Anthony Barber (1970 - 1974)
Denis Healey (1974 - 1979)
Sir Geoffrey Howe (1979 - 1983)
Nigel Lawson (1983 - 1989)
Sir John Major (1989 - 1990) *
Norman Lamont (1990 - 1993)
Kenneth Clarke (1993 - 1997)
Gordon Brown (1997 - 2007) *
Alistair Darling (2007 -)

NB: those which are marked with * were also Prime Ministers.

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