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 seven lords of the treasury:
- Prime Minister and First Lord — The Rt Hon. Gordon Brown MP
- Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord — The Rt Hon. Alistair Darling MP
- Junior Lords — Alan Campbell MP, Stephen McCabe MP, Frank Roy MP, Claire Ward MP, Dave Watts 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)
