Philip Snowden: The First Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer

Product Information

Really? “Yeah!” she says with a nervous giggle. Why did she go into politics, then? “Yeah, I know!” Now the laugh is more raucous. “A bit late now!” The son of a senior officer in the Royal Navy, Hunt was born in Kennington and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 2005 and was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Disabled People and later as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Hunt served in the coalition government as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2012, where he led the drive for local TV, resulting in Ofcom awarding local TV broadcasting licences in respect of several cities and towns. Hunt also oversaw the 2012 London Olympics, which received widespread acclaim. His previous business interests mean that he is one of the UK's richest politicians. [1] [2] [3] [4] 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 the ancient office of treasurer of the Exchequer. [8] As second lord, his 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. George Osborne gives evidence on Budget to the Treasury Select Committee". ITV.COM . Retrieved 25 April 2022. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne gives evidence to the Treasury Select Committee.

The chancellor traditionally carries his budget speech to 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.. By this point, Britain had got its first Labour government since she was three months old, when Margaret Thatcher came to power. Blair’s mantra of “Education, education, education” resonated with her. “All of my childhood was under a Conservative government. I was excited by the youth, the vibrancy, the hope that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown offered.” Brown was her hero. “In my first year at university, my college friends bought me a framed picture of Gordon Brown and put it on my desk.” I ask what she has learned from Brown. “For me, his greatest achievements were Bank of England independence, because it gave stability, and the minimum wage, because it lifted people out of poverty.” Long Life: Presiding Genius, Nigel Nicolson, 15 August 1992, The Spectator, Retrieved 28 November 2015 ] His views on nuclear weapons conflicted with the unilateral nuclear disarmament policy of the Labour Party. After the 1987 general election, he retired from the Shadow Cabinet, and in 1992 stood down after 40 years as a Leeds MP. In that year he received a life peerage as Baron Healey, of Riddlesden in the County of West Yorkshire. [47] Healey was regarded by some – especially in the Labour Party – as "the best Prime Minister we never had". [48] He was a founding member of the Bilderberg Group. [49] He was interviewed on his role as a co-founder of the Bilderberg Group by Jon Ronson for the book Them: Adventures with Extremists. [50] [51]Brady, Robert A. (1950). Crisis in Britain: Plans and Achievements of the Labour Government. University of California Press. , detailed coverage of nationalisation, welfare state and planning I tell her that the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, recently told me that prospective Labour leaders invariably move to the left to win over the membership and then dart to the right to try to win over the country. She laughs and moves on. “Well, Keir asked me when he appointed me shadow chancellor how much it would cost to nationalise all these different companies. I said it would cost tens of billions of pounds. He asked me what impact that would have on bills. I said none: you’d still be buying gas and electricity on global markets. He said: ‘What about if we tax them more?’ I said: ‘Yeah, we could raise a lot of money and use it to help people pay their bills.’ Keir is a pragmatic politician who is driven by what’s the best thing we can do for ordinary working people who are paying these higher bills.” Traditionally the Shadow Chancellor has though received extra support to cover the additional office expenses and travel that go with the role. How often does the Shadow Chancellor become Chancellor?

He left the service with the rank of Major. He declined an offer to remain in the army, with the rank of Lieutenant colonel, as part of the team researching the history of the Italian campaign under Colonel David Hunt. He also decided against taking up a senior scholarship at Balliol, which might have led to an academic career. [13] Political career [ edit ] Early career [ edit ] Healey was satirised in the ITV series Spitting Image, his caricature mainly focusing on his famous eyebrows, with the real Healey appearing in the twelfth episode of the programme's first series in 1984 briefly noting the show was late covering that year's European elections. [77] The iconic eyebrows were similarly parodied in the 1977 serial The Sun Makers from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which the antagonist known as the Collector is distinguished by having similarly bushy eyebrows to Healey. Jefferys, Kevin (2002). Labour Forces: From Ernie Bevin to Gordon Brown. I.B.Tauris. p.45. ISBN 9781860647437. Hookham, Mark (3 December 2008). "Denis Healey: 'The best Prime Minister we never had' ". Yorkshire Evening Post. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008 . Retrieved 26 April 2010.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 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 the House of Commons. Owen, James (19 December 2012). "Sir Isaac Newton – did you know?". The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 1 June 2017 . Retrieved 6 June 2017. Richards, Steve (2021). The Prime Ministers We Never Had; Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn. London: Atlantic Books. pp.100–101. ISBN 978-1-83895-241-9. Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2012 to 2018 [a] and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Surrey since 2005.

In the last 50 years, only 4 out of the last 18 Shadow Chancellors (and excluding those ex Chancellors continuing immediately after an election) have actually gone on to become Chancellor of the Exchequer (Geoffrey Howe, Denis Healey, Gordon Brown, and George Osborne). Rachel Reeves in the Joseph Cheaney & Sons shoe factory in Desborough, Northamptonshire. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Parkhouse, Geoffrey (15 June 1979). "Shore steps up as Owen is demoted". The Glasgow Herald . Retrieved 8 January 2019. The recent chancellors, Philip Hammond, George Osborne, Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown, [20] opted for water. In fact Darling drank what 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. [21] Robe of office [ edit ]In September 2010, The Observer reported that it "raised eyebrows" when Hunt's former parliamentary assistant, Naomi Gummer, was given a job within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on a fixed-term civil service contract after Hunt had proposed departmental cuts of 35–50 per cent. The head of the Public and Commercial Services Union questioned Hunt's motives saying, "Political independence of the civil service is a fundamental part of our democracy and we would be deeply concerned if this was being put at risk by nepotism and privilege." Gummer is the daughter of a Conservative life peer, Lord Chadlington, who was a director of Hotcourses between 2000 and 2004. [34] Kaufman, Gerald (13 March 2000). "Debates for 13 Mar 2000 (pt 20)". Hansard. London, England, UK: House of Commons . Retrieved 31 January 2009. 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 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 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. Rachel Reeves holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from New College, Oxford. Her husband, Nicholas Joicey, was formerly a speech writer to Gordon Brown, when he was the actual Chancellor of the Exchequer. In April 2018, The Daily Telegraph reveale

Ronson, Jon (10 March 2001). "Who pulls the strings? (part 3)". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 4 July 2009. Healey is credited with popularising in the UK a proverb which became known as Healey's First law of holes. [74] [75] This is a minor adaptation of a saying often attributed to Will Rogers. As we are about to start the interview, the hall door bursts open and in walk her father’s cousin Stuart and his wife, Janet, with family photos and tales of yore. “Oh, hello!” Reeves says, apparently surprised by the stage-managed entrance.

Reeves replaced Anneliese Dodds, who held the position during the first twelve months of Keir Starmer’s leadership. Ms Dodds has now taken on responsibility for the labour policy review. Reeves is the second ever woman Shadow Chancellor. Dodds was the first. Woodward, Nicholas. The management of the British economy, 1945–2001 (Manchester University Press, 2004).