The Hardest Job in Government: Lessons From Five UK Chancellors
Those who’ve held the role reveal why Britain’s top economic job is thankless — from Black Wednesday to Covid bailouts — and why it matters more than ever.
Illustration: Jon Han for Bloomberg
Who would want a job where every decision angers someone, the resources never match the demands and crises always arrive faster than solutions? Running a country’s finances is exactly that kind of role. In the UK, the challenges include anemic growth, relentless spending pressure and, after Covid-19, almost bare coffers.
To understand what it takes to do the hardest job in government, I spoke with five people who’ve done it. In researching a new book, Can You Run the Economy? (Penguin, Sept. 18), I talked with Norman Lamont, Philip Hammond, Kwasi Kwarteng, Jeremy Hunt and Rachel Reeves: four Tories and the current Labour chancellor. Each has held the reins of the UK economy. This is what they told me.