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 Normandy Exchequer of Normandy The Exchequer of Normandy ("Échiquier de Normandie") or Exchequer of Rouen ("Échiquier de Rouen") was the exchequer of the Duchy of Normandy. According to the "Dialogue concerning the Exchequer", in the late twelfth century there were competing views as to the origins of the English Exchequer, with some arguing that it was an Anglo-Saxon institution and other that it post-dated the Norman conquest, but none arguing that it originated in Normandy. By the time of the "Dialogue", however, there was an exchequer in Normandy. In 1315 the Norman Barons pressed a new charter, the "Charte aux Normands"