Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office[1] in the Government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster.[2]

Not to be confused with Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Arms of the Duchy of Lancaster
Flag of the Duchy of Lancaster
Incumbent Michael Gove since 24 July 2019 (2019-07-24)
Government of the United Kingdom Cabinet Office Duchy of Lancaster
Style	The Right Honourable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Reports to	The Sovereign • Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Nominator	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Appointer	The Sovereign on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Sir Henry de Haydock
Formation	1361
Website	www.duchyoflancaster.co.uk

Formally, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister,[3][4] and is answerable to Parliament for the governance of the Duchy.[5] In modern times, however, the involvement of the Chancellor in the running of the day-to-day affairs of the Duchy is slight, and the office is held by a senior politician whose main role is usually quite different. In practical terms, it is a sinecure, allowing the Prime Minister to appoint an additional minister without portfolio to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

Michael Gove was appointed to the post on 24 July 2019, and the role was endowed with responsibility for advising the Prime Minister on policy development and implementation, particularly around Brexit.[6]

History

Originally, the Chancellor was the chief officer in the daily management of the Duchy of Lancaster and the County Palatine of Lancaster (a county palatine merged into the Crown in 1399), but that estate is now run by a deputy, leaving the Chancellor as a member of the Cabinet with little obligation in regard to the Chancellorship. The position has often been given to a junior Cabinet minister with responsibilities in a particular area of policy for which there is no department with an appropriate portfolio.

In 1491 the office of Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster was created. The position is now held by a judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, who sits in the north west of England, and is no longer appointed to that position as legal officer of the Duchy.

Modern times

In recent times the Chancellor's duties (administrative, financial, and legal) have been said to occupy an average of one day a week. Under the Promissory Oaths Act 1868, the Chancellor is required to take the oath of allegiance and the Official Oath.[7] The holder of the sinecure is a minister without portfolio; Oswald Mosley, for example, focused on unemployment after being appointed to the position in 1929 during the second MacDonald ministry.[8]

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is entitled to a salary under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, but section 3 of the Act provides that the salary "shall be reduced by the amount of the salary payable to him otherwise than out of moneys so provided in respect of his office".[9] The Office of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is part of the Cabinet Office.[10]

From 1997 until 2009, the holder of the title also served as the Minister for the Cabinet Office. This applied in the case of Alan Milburn, who was given the title by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2004 and at the same time rejoined the Cabinet. However, in the reshuffle of 5 June 2009, the Chancellorship went to the Leader of the House of Lords, the Baroness Royall. In David Cameron's first cabinet, the Chancellorship remained with the Leader of the House of Lords until 2014.

Prior to Mr Gove the position was most recently held by David Lidington following a Cabinet reshuffle on 8 January 2018. The holder of the post prior to him was Patrick McLoughlin who was given the post following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister. Before this the holder of the post was Oliver Letwin, who was appointed in July 2014 when he was also Minister for Government Policy (2010–2015); following the 2015 general election, he was also given overall responsibility for the Cabinet Office and made a full member of the Cabinet.

Michael Gove, as Chancellor, has been given responsibility over the Cabinet Office, but didn't initially hold the ministerial position of Minister for the Cabinet Office (which is on no statutory footing), though he was later granted that title in the 2020 Cabinet reshuffle.

Responsibilities

In addition to administering the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Chancellor is also a member of the cabinet and advises the Prime Minister on the development and implementation of government policy.[11] In addition, the Chancellor is presently responsible for:

• Chairing and deputy chairing Cabinet committees
• Implementing government business
• Overseeing committees and implementation taskforces, devolution consequences of the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, and constitutional affairs
• Providing oversight to all Cabinet Office policies[11]

See also

• List of Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
• Minister without portfolio
• County Palatine of Lancaster

Notes

1. House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 c. 24, Schedule 2
2. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster - Glossary page - UK Parliament Archived 6 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Parliament.uk (21 April 2010). Retrieved 30 September 2011.
3. FAQs, duchyoflancaster.co.uk. Archived 2009-09-01 on the Internet Archive.
4. The Government, Prime Minister and Cabinet: Directgov - Government, citizens and rights Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Direct.gov.uk. Retrieved on 30 September 2011.
5. Vernon Bogdanor. The Monarchy and the Constitution. p. 188.. (Citing House of Commons Debates 17 November 1987 col 11, Standing Committee G.)
6. "Prime Minister Boris Johnson: Who's in his cabinet?". BBC. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
7. Promissory Oaths Act 1868 section 5 and Schedule
8. Gunther, John (1940). Inside Europe. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 363–364.
9. Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 sections 1 & 3 and Schedule 1
10. Appropriation Act 2010 Schedule 2 Part 2
11. "Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.