Chancellor of the Exchequer to parliament. This includes alcohol, which is otherwise banned under parliamentary rules. Previous chancellors have opted for whisky (Kenneth Clarke), gin and tonic (Geoffrey Howe), brandy and water (Benjamin Disraeli and John Major), spritzer (Nigel Lawson) and sherry and beaten egg (William Gladstone). The recent chancellors, George Osborne, Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown, opted for water. In fact Darling drank what was named "Standard Water" in reference to, and support of, the London "Evening Standard" newspaper's campaign to have plain tap water available in restaurants at no charge to customers. The chancellor has a robe of office, similar to that
Exchequer of Pleas the same Act of Parliament, and the Court of Requests became invalid after the Privy Seal was invalidated by the outcome of the English Civil War, as it was dependent on the Seal for its authority. After the War ended there were only two equity courts remaining, the Exchequer and Court of Chancery, the latter publicly reviled for its slow pace and because it was led by the Lord Chancellor, a political figure who had been intimately involved in the conflict. As a result, the Exchequer increased in importance as a court, although it is not known whether its active