Chancellor of the Exchequer of its interest rates. The chancellor also has oversight of public spending across Government departments. The holder of the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer is "ex officio" Second Lord of the Treasury as a member of the commission exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer. As the Second Lord, his official residence is 11 Downing Street in London, next door to the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury (a title that has for many years been held by the prime minister), who resides in 10 Downing Street. While in the past both houses were private residences,
First Lord of the Treasury 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"" (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 of the Treasury 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