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
Chancellor of the Exchequer Treasury" is not a minister but the senior civil servant in the Treasury. The chancellor is obliged to be a member of the Privy Council, and thus is styled the Right Honourable (Rt. Hon.). Because the House of Lords is excluded from Finance Bills under the Parliament Acts, the office has since the early 20th century been effectively limited to members of the House of Commons. The chancellor holds the formerly independent office of Master of the Mint as a subsidiary office. The Chancellor's official residence, since 1828, is No. 11 Downing Street. In 1997, the then First and Second