Editing Chancellor of the Exchequer (section)

===Fiscal policy===
The chancellor has considerable control over other departments as it is the Treasury that sets Departmental Expenditure Limits. The amount of power this gives to an individual chancellor depends on their personal forcefulness, their status within their party and their relationship with the prime minister. [[Gordon Brown]], who became chancellor when Labour came into Government in 1997, had a large personal power base in the party. Perhaps as a result, [[Tony Blair]] chose to keep him in the same position throughout his ten years as prime minister; making Brown an unusually dominant figure and the longest-serving chancellor since the [[Reform Act 1832]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gordon Brown: Chancellor of the Exchequer |url=http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Gordon_Brown_-_Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer/id/1434949 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102215246/http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Gordon_Brown_-_Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer/id/1434949 |archive-date=2 November 2012 |access-date=2 May 2010 |website=Encyclopedia II |publisher=Experiencefestival.com }}</ref> This has strengthened a pre-existing trend towards the chancellor occupying a clear second position among government ministers, elevated above their traditional peers, the [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|foreign secretary]] and [[home secretary]].

One part of the chancellor's key roles involves the framing of the annual year [[government budget|budget]]. As of 2017, the first is the [[Budget of the United Kingdom|Autumn Budget]], also known as [[Budget Day]] which forecasts government spending in the next financial year and also announces new financial measures. The second is a [[Spring Statement]], also known as a "mini-Budget". Britain's [[tax year]] has retained the old [[Julian calendar|Julian]] end of year: 24 March (Old Style) / 5 April (New Style, i.e. Gregorian). From 1993, the Budget was in spring, preceded by an annual autumn statement. This was then called [[Pre-Budget Report]]. The Autumn Statement usually took place in November or December. The 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, [[2007 United Kingdom budget|2007]], [[2008 United Kingdom budget|2008]], [[2012 United Kingdom budget|2012]] and [[2016 United Kingdom budget|2016 budget]]s were all delivered on a Wednesday, summarised in a speech to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].

The budget is a state secret until the chancellor reveals it in the speech given to Parliament. [[Hugh Dalton]], on his way to giving the budget speech in 1947, inadvertently blurted out key details to a newspaper reporter, and they appeared in print before he made his speech. Dalton was forced to resign.<ref>Ben Pimlott, ''Hugh Dalton'' (1985) pp 524–48.</ref>