First Lord of the Treasury

United Kingdom First Lord of the Treasury
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Flag of the United Kingdom
Incumbent Sir Keir Starmer since 5 July 2024
Residence	10 Downing Street
Seat	Westminster
Appointer	The King appoints ex officio the prime minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	1126 (as Lord High Treasurer) 1612 (as First Lord of the Commission of the Treasury) 1714 (commission permanent since resignation of the 1st Duke of Shrewsbury)
First holder	Nigel (bishop of Ely) (as Lord High Treasurer) 1st Earl of Northampton (as First Lord of the Commission) 1st Earl of Halifax (when the commission became permanent)
Deputy	Second Lord of the Treasury
Website	Gov.uk

The First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom. Constitutional convention holds that the office of First Lord is held by the Prime Minister. The office is not the United Kingdom's finance minister; this role is instead held by 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. Since 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 said the prime minister "ought to be the person at the head of the finances"—though Pitt also served as chancellor of the exchequer for the entirety of his time as prime minister, so his linkage of the finance portfolio to the premiership was wider than merely proposing the occupation of the first lordship by the prime minister.

Prior to 1841 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. Since 1841, the chancellor 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

Main article: 10 Downing Street

10 Downing Street is the official residence of the first lord of the Treasury, not the office of prime minister. Chequers, a country house in Buckinghamshire, is the official country residence of the prime minister, used as a weekend and holiday home, although the residence has also been used by other senior members of government.

List of first lords (1714–1922)

For earlier lord treasurers and first lords, see List of lord high treasurers of England and Great Britain.

Much of this list overlaps with the list of prime ministers of the United Kingdom, but there are some notable differences, principally concerning Lord Salisbury, who was prime minister but not first lord in 1885–86, 1887–92 and 1895–1902. Those first lords who were simultaneously prime minister are indicated in bold; those who were considered prime minister only during part of their term are indicated in bold italic.

Name		Entered office	Left office	Party
	The Earl of Halifax	13 October 1714	19 May 1715	Whig
	The Earl of Carlisle	23 May 1715	10 October 1715	Whig
	Robert Walpole	10 October 1715	12 April 1717	Whig
	The Earl Stanhope	12 April 1717	21 March 1718	Whig
	The Earl of Sunderland	21 March 1718	3 April 1721	Whig
	Sir Robert Walpole	3 April 1721	11 February 1742	Whig
	The Earl of Wilmington	16 February 1742	2 July 1743	Whig
	Henry Pelham	27 August 1743	10 February 1746	Whig
	The Earl of Bath	10 February 1746	12 February 1746	Whig
	Henry Pelham	12 February 1746	6 March 1754	Whig
	The Duke of Newcastle	16 March 1754	16 November 1756	Whig
	The Duke of Devonshire	16 November 1756	8 June 1757	Whig
	The Earl Waldegrave	8 June 1757	12 June 1757	Whig
	The Duke of Devonshire	12 June 1757	25 June 1757	Whig
	The Duke of Newcastle	2 July 1757	26 May 1762	Whig
	The Earl of Bute	26 May 1762	16 April 1763	Tory
	George Grenville	16 April 1763	13 July 1765	Whig
	The Marquess of Rockingham	13 July 1765	30 July 1766	Whig
	The Duke of Grafton	30 July 1766	28 January 1770	Whig
	Lord North	28 January 1770	22 March 1782	Tory
	The Marquess of Rockingham	27 March 1782	1 July 1782	Whig
	The Earl of Shelburne	4 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig
	The Duke of Portland	2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Whig
	William Pitt the Younger	19 December 1783	14 March 1801	Tory
	Henry Addington	17 March 1801	10 May 1804	Tory
	William Pitt the Younger	10 May 1804	23 January 1806	Tory
	The Lord Grenville	11 February 1806	31 March 1807	Whig
	The Duke of Portland	31 March 1807	4 October 1809	Whig
	Spencer Perceval	4 October 1809	11 May 1812	Tory
	The Earl of Liverpool	9 June 1812	10 April 1827	Tory
	George Canning	10 April 1827	8 August 1827	Tory
	The Viscount Goderich	31 August 1827	22 January 1828	Tory
	The Duke of Wellington	22 January 1828	22 November 1830	Tory
	The Earl Grey	22 November 1830	16 July 1834	Whig
	The Viscount Melbourne	16 July 1834	14 November 1834	Whig
	The Duke of Wellington	14 November 1834	10 December 1834	Tory
	Sir Robert Peel	10 December 1834	8 April 1835	Tory
	The Viscount Melbourne	18 April 1835	30 August 1841	Whig
	Sir Robert Peel	30 August 1841	29 June 1846	Conservative
	Lord John Russell	30 June 1846	23 February 1852	Whig
	The Earl of Derby	23 February 1852	19 December 1852	Conservative
	The Earl of Aberdeen	19 December 1852	6 February 1855	Peelite
	The Viscount Palmerston	6 February 1855	20 February 1858	Liberal
	The Earl of Derby	20 February 1858	12 June 1859	Conservative
	The Viscount Palmerston	12 June 1859	18 October 1865	Liberal
	The Earl Russell	29 October 1865	28 June 1866	Liberal
	The Earl of Derby	28 June 1866	27 February 1868	Conservative
	Benjamin Disraeli	27 February 1868	3 December 1868	Conservative
	William Ewart Gladstone	3 December 1868	20 February 1874	Liberal
	Benjamin Disraeli	20 February 1874	23 April 1880	Conservative
	William Ewart Gladstone	23 April 1880	23 June 1885	Liberal
	The Earl of Iddesleigh	29 June 1885	1 February 1886	Conservative
	William Ewart Gladstone	1 February 1886	25 July 1886	Liberal
	The Marquess of Salisbury	3 August 1886	14 January 1887	Conservative
	William Henry Smith	14 January 1887	6 October 1891	Conservative
	Arthur Balfour	6 October 1891	15 August 1892	Conservative
	William Ewart Gladstone	15 August 1892	5 March 1894	Liberal
	The Earl of Rosebery	5 March 1894	25 June 1895	Liberal
	Arthur Balfour	25 June 1895	5 December 1905	Conservative
	Henry Campbell-Bannerman	5 December 1905	3 April 1908	Liberal
	H. H. Asquith	8 April 1908	5 December 1916	Liberal
	David Lloyd George	6 December 1916	19 October 1922	Liberal

Thereafter the posts of first lord and prime minister have continually been held by the same person (see List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom § 20th century).

See also

The front door of 10 Downing Street, showing the letter-box inscribed with "First Lord of the Treasury"

• Chief Baron of the Exchequer
• List of lords commissioners of the Treasury
• Minister for the Civil Service, by convention also the Prime Minister
• Secretary to the Treasury

References

Sources

• Blick, Andrew; Jones, George (7 June 2010), "The power of the Prime Minister", History & Policy, United Kingdom, retrieved 7 April 2020
• Haydn, Joseph Timothy (1890), The Book of Dignities, London: W. H. Allen and Co., OL 13505280M
• Pryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (23 February 1996), Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-56350-5