Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the ancient title held by the British cabinet minister whose responsibilities are akin to the posts of Minister for Finance or Secretary of the Treasury in other jurisdictions. The third oldest major state office in English and United Kingdom history, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, (often simply called The Chancellor) is the cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. Historically the Exchequer included monetary policy as well as fiscal policy, but this ended when the Bank of England was granted independence from government in 1997. The office should not be confused with that of the Lord High Chancellor or the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The position of Chancellor of the Exchequer is considered one of the four great offices of state. Due to the House of Lords being excluded from the Finance bills, the Chancellor is effectively limited to being a member of the House of Commons.

List of Holders of the Office since 1559

Several Chancellors were also Prime Minister for some or all of their Chancellorship. These are indicated by a *.

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• Sir John Baker (unknown)
• Sir Walter Mildmay (1559–1589)
• John Fortescue (1589–1603)
• George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar (1603–1606)
• Sir Julius Caesar (1606–1614)
• Sir Fulke Greville (1614–1621)
• Sir Richard Weston (1621–1628)
• Edward Barrett, 1st Lord Barrett of Newburgh (1628–1629)
• Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington (1629–1642)
• Sir John Culpepper (1642–1643)
• Sir Edward Hyde (July 19, 1642 - 1646)
• Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (May 13, 1661 - November 22, 1672)
• Sir John Duncombe (November 22, 1672 - May 2, 1676)
• Sir John Ernle (May 2, 1676 - April 9, 1689)
• Henry Booth, 2nd Baron Delamere (April 9, 1689 - March 18, 1690)
• Richard Hampden (March 18, 1690 - May 10, 1694)
• Charles Montagu (May 10, 1694 - June 2, 1699)
• John Smith (June 2, 1699 - March 27, 1701)
• Henry Boyle (March 27, 1701 - April 22, 1708)
• John Smith (April 22, 1708 - August 11, 1710)
• Robert Harley (August 11, 1710 - June 4, 1711)
• Robert Benson (June 4, 1711 - August 21, 1713)
• Sir William Wyndham (August 21, 1713 - October 13, 1714)
• Sir Richard Onslow (October 13, 1714 - October 12, 1715)
• Robert Walpole (October 12, 1715 - April 15, 1717)
• James Stanhope, 1st Viscount Stanhope (April 15, 1717 - March 20, 1718)
• John Aislabie (March 20, 1718 - January 23, 1721) (resigned)
• Sir John Pratt (February 2, 1721 - April 3, 1721)
• Sir Robert Walpole (April 3, 1721 - February 12, 1742)*
• Samuel Sandys (February 12, 1742 - December 12, 1743)
• Henry Pelham (December 12, 1743 - March 8, 1754)*
• Sir William Lee (March 8, 1754 - April 6, 1754)
• Henry Bilson Legge (April 6, 1754 - November 25, 1755)
• Sir George Lyttelton (November 25, 1755 - November 16, 1756)
• Henry Bilson Legge (November 16, 1756 - April 13, 1757)
• William Murray, 1st Baron Mansfield (April 13, 1757 - July 2, 1757)
• Henry Bilson Legge (July 2, 1757 - March 19, 1761)
• William Wildman Barrington-Shute, 2nd Viscount Barrington (March 19, 1761 - May 29, 1762)
• Sir Francis Dashwood (May 29, 1762 - April 16, 1763)
• George Grenville (April 16, 1763 - July 16, 1765)*
• William Dowdeswell (July 16, 1765 - August 2, 1766)
• Charles Townshend (August 2, 1766 - September 4, 1767) (died in office)
• Frederick North, Lord North (September 11, 1767 - March 27, 1782)* (From 1770) (resigned)
• Lord John Cavendish (March 27, 1782 - July 10, 1782)
• William Pitt (July 10, 1782 - March 31, 1783) (resigned)
• Lord John Cavendish (April 2, 1783 - December 19, 1783)
• William Pitt (December 19, 1783 - March 14, 1801)*
• Henry Addington (March 14, 1801 - May 10, 1804)*
• William Pitt (May 10, 1804 - January 23, 1806)* (died in office)
• Lord Henry Petty (February 5, 1806 - March 26, 1807)
• Spencer Perceval (March 26, 1807 - May 12, 1812)* (From 1809) (assassinated)
• Nicholas Vansittart (May 12, 1812 - January 31, 1823)
• Frederick John Robinson (January 31, 1823 - April 20, 1827)
• George Canning (April 20, 1827 - August 8, 1827)* (died in office)
• Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden (August 8, 1827 - September 3, 1827)
• John Charles Herries (September 3, 1827 - January 26, 1828)
• Henry Goulburn (January 26, 1828 - November 22, 1830)
• John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp (November 22, 1830 - November 14, 1834)
• Lord Denman served as Chancellor pro tem (November 15 1834 - December 15 1834)
• Sir Robert Peel (December 2, 1834 - April 8, 1835)*
• Thomas Spring Rice (April 18, 1835 - August 26, 1839)
• Sir Francis Thornhill Baring (August 26, 1839 - August 30, 1841)
• Henry Goulburn (September 3, 1841 - June 27, 1846)
• Sir Charles Wood (July 6, 1846 - February 21, 1852)
• Benjamin Disraeli (February 27, 1852 - December 17, 1852)
• William Ewart Gladstone (December 28, 1852 - February 28, 1855)
• Sir George Cornewall Lewis (February 28, 1855 - February 21, 1858)
• Benjamin Disraeli (February 26, 1858 - June 11, 1859)
• William Ewart Gladstone (June 18, 1859 - June 26, 1866)
• Benjamin Disraeli (July 6, 1866 - February 29, 1868)
• George Ward Hunt (February 29, 1868 - December 1, 1868)
• Robert Lowe (December 9, 1868 - August 11, 1873)
• William Ewart Gladstone (August 11, 1873 - February 17, 1874)*
• Sir Stafford Henry Northcote (February 21, 1874 - April 21, 1880)
• William Ewart Gladstone (April 28, 1880 - December 16, 1882)*
• Hugh Childers (December 16, 1882 - June 9, 1885)
• Sir Michael Hicks Beach (June 24, 1885 - January 28, 1886)
• Sir William Vernon Harcourt (February 6, 1886 - July 20, 1886)
• Lord Randolph Churchill (August 3, 1886 - December 22, 1886) (resigned)
• George Joachim Goschen (January 14, 1887 - August 11, 1892)
• Sir William Vernon Harcourt (August 18, 1892 - June 21, 1895)
• Sir Michael Hicks Beach (June 29, 1895 - August 11, 1902)
• Charles Thomson Ritchie (August 11, 1902 - October 9, 1903)
• Austen Chamberlain (October 9, 1903 - December 4, 1905)
• Herbert Henry Asquith (December 10, 1905 - April 12, 1908)
• David Lloyd George (April 12, 1908 - May 25, 1915)
• Reginald McKenna (May 25, 1915 - December 10, 1916)
• Andrew Bonar Law (December 10, 1916 - January 10, 1919)
• Austen Chamberlain (January 10, 1919 - April 1, 1921)
• Sir Robert Stevenson Horne (April 1, 1921 - October 19, 1922)
• Stanley Baldwin (October 27, 1922 - August 27, 1923)* (From May 22, 1923)
• Neville Chamberlain (August 27, 1923 - January 22, 1924)
• Philip Snowden (January 22, 1924 - November 3, 1924)
• Winston Churchill (November 6, 1924 - June 4, 1929)
• Philip Snowden (June 7, 1929 - November 5, 1931)
• Neville Chamberlain (November 5, 1931 - May 28, 1937)
• Sir John Allsebrooke Simon (May 28, 1937 - May 12, 1940)
• Sir Kingsley Wood (May 12, 1940 - September 24, 1943)
• Sir John Anderson (September 24, 1943 - July 26, 1945)
• Hugh Dalton (July 27, 1945 - November 13, 1947) (resigned)
• Sir Stafford Cripps (November 13, 1947 - October 19, 1950)
• Hugh Gaitskell (October 19, 1950 - October 26, 1951)
• Rab Butler (October 28, 1951 - December 20, 1955)
• Harold Macmillan (December 20, 1955 - January 13, 1957)
• Peter Thorneycroft (January 13, 1957 - January 6, 1958) (resigned)
• Derick Heathcoat-Amory (January 6, 1958 - July 27, 1960)
• Selwyn Lloyd (July 27, 1960 - July 13, 1962)
• Reginald Maudling (July 13, 1962 - October 16, 1964)
• James Callaghan (October 16, 1964 - November 30, 1967)
• Roy Jenkins (November 30, 1967 - June 19, 1970)
• Iain Macleod (June 20, 1970 - July 20, 1970) (died in office)
• Anthony Barber (July 25, 1970 - March 4, 1974)
• Denis Healey (March 5, 1974 - May 4, 1979)
• Sir Geoffrey Howe (May 5, 1979 - June 11, 1983)
• Nigel Lawson (June 11, 1983 - October 26, 1989) (resigned)
• John Major (October 26, 1989 - November 28, 1990)
• Norman Lamont (November 28, 1990 - May 27, 1993)
• Kenneth Clarke (May 27, 1993 - May 2, 1997)
• Gordon Brown (May 2, 1997 -)