Upon taking office, the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was tasked with appointing his cabinet – in which he reaffirmed Liz Truss’ Treasury SecretaryJeremy Hunt.
Mr Hunt is responsible for the state treasury and is will present its fall statement today (November 17). who could see both tax increases and austerity, in what the Chancellor has described as “decisions of dazzling difficulty.”
While that’s no small feat at the best of times, it’s a particularly challenging course given the recent economic woes and the rising living costs are battering Britons’ bank accounts.
What exactly does the chancellor’s job entail?
What does the Minister of Finance do?
The Chancellor of the Exchequer – often shortened to just “Chancellor” – is a senior government position.
In short, the government website explains that the Chancellor is “responsible for generating revenue through taxes or loans and for controlling government spending.
“He has overall responsibility for the work of the Treasury.”
Key priorities include setting the annual budget, managing tax increases and decreases, and setting inflation targets.
Chancellors are also leading the Treasury’s response to crises such as the cost of living and Covid-19, something we saw with Mr Hunt’s predecessor Mr Sunak do quite a bit.
In addition to the budget, Mr. Sunak has the leave arrangementthat was designed to prevent millions of job losses during the lockdown – as well as the ‘Eat out to help out’ regulation.
Recently we saw Mr. Kwarteng deliver one stamp duty holidaypromise a range of income tax reduction for April 2023 (which were later reversed), and confirm a two-year freeze on the rising energy price ceiling (which now ends in April 2023).
Mr Kwarteng also spoke about the establishment of ‘low tax investment zones’ in parts of Englandincluding the Tees Valley, Derbyshire and Essex, among others elsewhere in the UK.
Mr Hunt will set out the government’s new budget priorities in the forthcoming autumn statement.
The Chancellor also holds the title of Second Lord of the Treasury – a ministerial role – with the First Lord of the Treasury being the Prime Minister.
Who else has been chancellor?
Many other famous politicians have played the role of chancellor in the pastwith some former chancellors becoming prime minister.
In the 20th century, Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, Hugh Gaitskell, Harold Macmillan, James Callaghan, John Major and Kenneth Clarke were just some of the notable politicians to hold the job.
Since 1997, Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, George Osborne, Philip Hammond, Sajid Javid, Rishi Sunak, Nadhim Zahawi and Kwasi Kwarteng have played Mr Hunt.
LAKE : Who is Chancellor Jeremy Hunt? Age, family and occupational background
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