Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

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The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is in the gift of the Leader of the Opposition but is informal. The Shadow Chancellor has no constitutional role.

The name for the position has a mixed history. It is used to designate the lead economic spokesman for the Opposition, although some Shadow Cabinets have not used the term (the Thatcher Shadow Cabinet, for example)(see The Conservative Party Campaign Guide 1979). As a consequence of this and of the rise of the Liberal Democrats (who now claim the title themselves) the term is used interchangeably with 'Economic Spokesman' for both parties.

This confusion has been a source of humour for the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who has played the two off against one another in Parliament.

I, too, have a great deal of time for the shadow Chancellor who resides in Twickenham, rather than the shadow Chancellor for the Conservative party.[1]

The current Shadow Chancellor is George Osborne MP. However, Vince Cable also claims the title for the Liberal Democrats, a trend started under his predecessor, Matthew Taylor.

[edit] List of Shadow Chancellors of the Exchequer

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party
	Oliver Stanley		27 July 1945	10 December 1950	Conservative
	Rab Butler		10 December 1950	26 October 1951	Conservative
	Hugh Gaitskell		26 October 1951	14 December 1955	Labour
	Harold Wilson		14 December 1955	2 November 1961	Labour
	James Callaghan		2 November 1961	15 October 1964	Labour
	Reginald Maudling		15 October 1964	27 July 1965	Conservative
	Edward Heath		27 July 1965	11 November 1965	Conservative
	Iain Macleod		11 November 1965	20 June 1970	Conservative
	Roy Jenkins		20 June 1970	19 April 1972	Labour
	Denis Healey		19 April 1972	28 February 1974	Labour
	Robert Carr		28 February 1974	11 February 1975	Conservative
	Geoffrey Howe		11 February 1975	4 May 1979	Conservative
	Denis Healey		4 May 1979	4 November 1980	Labour
	Peter Shore		4 November 1980	9 June 1983	Labour
	Roy Hattersley		9 June 1983	11 June 1987	Labour
	John Smith		11 June 1987	18 July 1992	Labour
	Gordon Brown		18 July 1992	2 May 1997	Labour
	Kenneth Clarke		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative
	Peter Lilley		11 June 1997	2 June 1998	Conservative
	Francis Maude		2 June 1998	1 February 2000	Conservative
	Michael Portillo		1 February 2000	18 September 2001	Conservative
	Michael Howard		18 September 2001	6 November 2003	Conservative
	Oliver Letwin		6 November 2003	5 May 2005	Conservative
	George Osborne		5 May 2005	present	Conservative