First Lord of the Treasury

First Lord of the Treasury of the United Kingdom
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Incumbent Theresa May since 13 July 2016
Style	The Right Honourable
Residence	10 Downing Street
Appointer	Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as sovereign
Term length	No statutory limit; by established convention, the position is held by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who is by further convention the leader of the party victorious in the general election, which is required at least every five years.
Inaugural holder	Nigel (Lord High Treasurer) Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton (initial First Lord of the Commission) The Earl of Halifax (Commission became permanent)
Formation	1126 (Lord High Treasurer) 1612 (First Lord of the Commission of the Treasury) 1714 (Commission has been permanent since the resignation of the Duke of Shrewsbury)
Website	http://www.number10.gov.uk

The First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the commission exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is now always also the Prime Minister. This office is not equivalent to the usual position of the "Treasurer" in other governments; the closer equivalent of a Treasurer in the United Kingdom is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is the Second Lord of the Treasury.

Lords of the Treasury

As of the beginning of the 17th century, the running of the Treasury was frequently entrusted to a commission, rather than to a single individual. As of 1714, it has permanently been in commission. The commissioners have always since that date been referred to as Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and adopted ordinal numbers to describe their seniority. Eventually in the middle of the same century, the First Lord of the Treasury came to be seen as the natural head of the overall ministry running the country, and, as of the time of Robert Walpole (Whig), began to be known, unofficially, as the Prime Minister. The term Prime Minister was initially, but decreasingly, used as a term of derogation: it was first used officially in a royal warrant only in 1905. William Pitt the Younger once opined that the Prime Minister "ought to be the person at the head of the finances."

Prior to 1827 the First Lord of the Treasury also held the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer unless he was a peer and thus barred from that office; in this case, the Second Lord of the Treasury usually served as Chancellor. As of 1827, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has always been Second Lord of the Treasury when he was not also Prime Minister. By convention, the other Lords Commissioners of the Treasury are also Government Whips in the House of Commons.

Official residence

10 Downing Street in Whitehall is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, headquarters of Her Majesty's Government, and a prominent symbol of the office of Prime Minister.

10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, and not of the Prime Minister. The only official prime ministerial residence is Chequers, a country house in Buckinghamshire used as a weekend and holiday home. As all modern prime ministers have simultaneously been First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street has come to be identified closely with the prime minister.

List of First Lords of the Treasury, 1714–1905

Much of this list overlaps with the list of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, but there are some notable differences, principally concerning the Marquess of Salisbury, who was Prime Minister but not First Lord 1885–86, 1887–92 and 1895–1902. Those First Lords who were simultaneously Prime Minister are indicated by the use of bold typeface; those First Lords who were considered Prime Minister only during part of their term are indicated by the use of bold italic typeface. For earlier Lord Treasurers and First Lords, see List of Lord Treasurers.

Name		Entered office	Left office	Political party
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Earl of Halifax	13 October 1714	19 May 1715	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Earl of Carlisle	23 May 1715	10 October 1715	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	Robert Walpole	10 October 1715	12 April 1717	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Earl Stanhope	12 April 1717	21 March 1718	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Earl of Sunderland	21 March 1718	4 April 1721	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	Sir Robert Walpole	4 April 1721	11 February 1742	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Earl of Wilmington	16 February 1742	2 July 1743	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	Henry Pelham	27 August 1743	6 March 1754	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Duke of Newcastle	16 March 1754	16 November 1756	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Duke of Devonshire	16 November 1756	8 June 1757	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave	8 June 1757	12 June 1757	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Duke of Devonshire	12 June 1757	25 June 1757	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Duke of Newcastle	2 July 1757	26 May 1762	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Bute	26 May 1762	16 April 1763	Tory
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	George Grenville	16 April 1763	13 July 1765	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Rockingham	13 July 1765	30 July 1766	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Duke of Grafton	30 July 1766	28 January 1770	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Lord North	28 January 1770	22 March 1782	Tory
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Rockingham	27 March 1782	1 July 1782	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Earl of Shelburne	4 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Duke of Portland	2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Pitt the Younger	19 December 1783	14 March 1801	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Addington	17 March 1801	10 May 1804	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Pitt the Younger	10 May 1804	23 January 1806	Tory
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Lord Grenville	11 February 1806	31 March 1807	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Duke of Portland	31 March 1807	4 October 1809	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Spencer Perceval	4 October 1809	11 May 1812	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Liverpool	9 June 1812	10 April 1827	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Canning	10 April 1827	8 August 1827	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Goderich	31 August 1827	22 January 1828	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Wellington	22 January 1828	22 November 1830	Tory
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Earl Grey	22 November 1830	16 July 1834	Whig
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Viscount Melbourne	16 July 1834	14 November 1834	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Wellington	14 November 1834	10 December 1834	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Robert Peel	10 December 1834	8 April 1835	Tory
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	The Viscount Melbourne	18 April 1835	30 August 1841	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Robert Peel	30 August 1841	29 June 1846	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:British Whig Party/meta/color" |	Lord John Russell	30 June 1846	23 February 1852	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Derby	23 February 1852	19 December 1852	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Peelite/meta/color" |	The Earl of Aberdeen	19 December 1852	6 February 1855	Peelite
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Palmerston	6 February 1855	20 February 1858	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Derby	20 February 1858	12 June 1859	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Palmerston	12 June 1859	18 October 1865	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl Russell	29 October 1865	28 June 1866	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Derby	28 June 1866	27 February 1868	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Benjamin Disraeli	27 February 1868	3 December 1868	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Ewart Gladstone	3 December 1868	20 February 1874	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Benjamin Disraeli (from 1876 as The Earl of Beaconsfield)	20 February 1874	23 April 1880	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Ewart Gladstone	23 April 1880	23 June 1885	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Iddesleigh	29 June 1885	1 February 1886	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Ewart Gladstone	1 February 1886	25 July 1886	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Salisbury	3 August 1886	14 January 1887	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Henry Smith	14 January 1887	6 October 1891	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Arthur Balfour	6 October 1891	15 August 1892	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Ewart Gladstone	15 August 1892	5 March 1894	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Rosebery	5 March 1894	25 June 1895	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Arthur Balfour	25 June 1895	5 December 1905	Conservative

Thereafter the posts of First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister have always been held by the same person; see the list of 20th century UK Prime Ministers.

See also

• List of Commissioners of the Treasury
• Secretary to the Treasury
• Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer

References

• E.B. Fryde, D.E. Greenway, S. Porter, and I. Roy, ed. Handbook of British Chronology, 3rd Edition
• Haydn, Joseph Timothy. The Book of Dignities (1894)

External links

• HM Government First Lord of the Treasury