Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer used interchangeably with "economic spokesperson" by the Liberal Democrats as well as the main opposition party. This was a source of humour for one time Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who in 2005 played the two off against one another in Parliament, saying, "I, too, have a great deal of time for the shadow Chancellor who resides in Twickenham [<nowiki></nowiki>Vince Cable<nowiki></nowiki>], rather than the shadow Chancellor for the Conservative Party." The position of Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer is currently held by John McDonnell. Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary
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