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Chancellor of the Exchequer

In the UK, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the government minister responsible for financial matters. Historically these included monetary policy as well as fiscal policy, but this ended when the Bank of England was granted independence in 1997. The Chancellor (in consultation with the Prime Minister) frames the annual "Budget" and delivers it as a speech to Parliament (typically on a Tuesday in mid-March)

The Chancellor's department is the Treasury where she/he is supported by a political team of four junior ministers and by permanent Civil Servants. The most important junior minister is the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to whom the negotiations with other government departments on the details of government spending are delegated.

The official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer is 11 Downing Street, London - next door to the Prime Minister, due to his secondary role as Second Lord of the Treasury. However when Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997, he swapped residences with his Chancellor, Gordon Brown, because Number 11 is the larger residence (Blair had a family and Brown was at that time a bachelor).

List of Holders of the Office since 1559:



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