Chancellors of the Exchequer through history

Rachel Reeves is making history as the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer to deliver a budget on Wednesday (30 October).

Ever since William Gladstone in the 1860s, the Chancellor of the Exchequer appears outside 11 Downing Street on budget day brandishing a red briefcase containing the chancellor’s annual plans.

Equivalent to the finance minister in other countries, it’s the chancellor’s responsibility to ensure the government can collect enough income to cover its spending plans. And, ideally, to make sure everyone in the land is taxed fairly.

Reeves is the first woman in a long line of male chancellors that stretches all the way back to 1066. The first ever ‘treasurer’ is believed to have served under William the Conquer during the Norman conquest.