Lord of the Treasury
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United Kingdom, there are at least six Lords of the Treasury who serve concurrently. Traditionally, this board (serving as a commission for the Lord High Treasurer) consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the Treasury, and four or more junior lords (to whom this title is usually applied). However, when a Lord High Treasurer was appointed, there was no commission.
Until the 19th century, this commission made most of the economic decisions of Great Britain (England, before the Act of Union 1707). However, starting during the 1800s, these positions became sinecure positions, with the First Lord serving almost invariably as Prime Minister, the Second Lord invariably as Chancellor of the Exchequer (the exchequer being the modern treasury of the United Kingdom), and the junior lords serving as assistant whips in Parliament.
Currently, there are six lords of the treasury:
- Prime Minister and First Lord — The Rt Hon. Tony Blair MP
- Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord — The Rt Hon. Gordon Brown MP
- Chief Secretary to the Treasury — The Rt Hon. Stephen Timms MP
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip — The Rt Hon. Jacqui Smith MP
- Financial Secretary to the Treasury — John Healey MP
- Economic Secretary to the Treasury — Ed Balls MP
[edit] See also
- Secretary to the Treasury
- HM Treasury
- List of British ministries
- List of Lord Treasurers - also provides a list of former lords of the treasury
[edit] References
- 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica (adapted, not copied verbatim)
