Chancellor of Germany (1949–present) German chancellor until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 while the Archbishop of Cologne was Chancellor of Italy and the Archbishop of Trier of Burgundy. These three Archbishops were also Prince-electors of the empire. Already in medieval times the chancellor had political power like Willigis of Mainz (Archchancellor 975–1011, regent for Otto III 991–994) or Rainald von Dassel (chancellor 1156–1162 and 1166–1167) under Frederick I. The modern office of chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became chancellor of the Confederation (official German title: "Bundeskanzler") in 1867. After unification of Germany
Chancellor of the Exchequer Prescott. It reverted to the chancellor in 2007, then Alistair Darling. The chancellor traditionally carries his Budget speech to the House of Commons in a particular red Despatch Box. The Chancellor's red briefcase is identical to the briefcases used by all other government ministers (known as ministerial boxes or "Despatch Boxes") to transport their official papers but is better known because the chancellor traditionally displays the briefcase, containing the Budget speech, to the press in the morning before delivering the speech. The original Budget briefcase was first used by William Ewart Gladstone in 1853 and continued in use until 1965