First Lord of the Treasury that office; in this case, the Second Lord of the Treasury usually served as Chancellor. As of 1841, 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. 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, and not of the 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
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom powerful than the American presidents, as the Prime Minister is part of the legislature, and unlike presidents, can directly initiate legislation. Thus, Dowding argues that adding to these powers, makes the Prime Minister less like presidents, and that what Britain is witnessing is not presidentialisation but, increase in powers overtime, can be best explained as "Prime Ministerialisation" of British politics. Regarding the thesis, Dowding writes: "The presidentialisation of the Prime Minister thesis should be expunged from political science vocabulary, to the extent that the forces identified by those who pursue the thesis exist, they do not make the British Prime