Chancellor of the Exchequer his duty to distribute as fairly as he can." The chancellor has considerable control over other departments as it is the Treasury which sets Departmental Expenditure Limits. The amount of power this gives to an individual chancellor depends on his personal forcefulness, his status within his party and his 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
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury post was taken by Conservative MP David Gauke. In May 2015, Conservative MP Damian Hinds assumed the office. From 15 June 2017 to January 2018, Andrew Jones served as the Exchequer Secretary to HM Treasury. On 9 January 2018, Robert Jenrick was appointed to the post. "HM Treasury" Responsibility for procurement policy and the former Office of Government Commerce was transferred to the Cabinet Office in 2011. Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in the British Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,