How the seven Conservative Chancellors since 2010 will be remembered
As polling day, and a widely-predicted Labour landslide, draws closer, the Conservatives’ 14 years in government seems ever more likely to come to an end.
Labour’s campaign has often revolved around this figure, with their campaign handing out pillows bearing the text: “Don’t wake up to five more years of the Tories.”
“After 14 years of chaos and decline, the Conservatives have left Britain in a worse state,” Labour says.
But what have these 14 years actually looked like, and who have been its key decision makers?
Second to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor plays a huge role in government, dictating the fiscal policy of the country, which can have massive impacts on taxpayers and businesses.
Here’s CityAM’s guide to each of the seven Tory chancellors since 2010 and how their policies will be remembered by political history.
George Osborne – 2010-16
Osborne entered No 9 Downing Street in May 2010 when David Cameron’s Conservative Party brought an end to the New Labour government.
Following the 2008 financial crisis the UK had been plunged into its worst recession since World War II, and Osborne sought to remedy this through a policy of “austerity”: cutting public spending and raising some taxes to reduce government deficit.
The negative reception of austerity has defined Osborne’s legacy, with the policy having been linked to worsened inequality and poverty. In 2019, the Institute for Public Policy Research claimed that austerity was to blame for 130,000 excess deaths since 2012.
Other studies have claimed that Osborne harmed business, too. A report by the New Economics Foundation claimed that austerity caused the UK economy to shrink by £100bn before 2019.
The Chancellor stuck to the policy, though, and saw steady, if slow, growth and falling unemployment during his tenure.
Though some pundits had predicted Osborne would eye a move to No 10 after his role as Chancellor, his disagreements with Cameron’s successor, Theresa May, are well documented.
In 2018, Osborne refused to clarify whether he had said that he would not rest until Prime Minister Theresa May was “chopped up in bags in my freezer”.
Philip Hammond – 2016-19
As Theresa May’s Chancellor, Hammond, who backed Remain in the EU referendum, often came under criticism for his attitude towards Brexit negotiations.
Hammond had committed to the result of the referendum, but said in 2017 that the UK would not leave the single market.
Later that year, senior Tory MPs pushed for May to sack Hammond after he said that Brexit would deliver only “very modest” changes to the UK’s relationship with the EU.
Also in 2017, Hammond was accused of being out of touch with reality when, appearing on the Andrew Marr Show, he said: “Where are all these unemployed people? There are no unemployed people.”
In summer of 2019, Hammond resigned before his Prime Minister had formally stepped down, telling her that her successor “must be free to choose” their own Chancellor.
Sajid Javid – 2019-20
Javid, a former City banker, was appointed as Boris Johnson’s first Chancellor following the 2019 Tory leadership contest.
Javid backed Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament and leave the EU in September of that year, having told the Telegraph that he was ready to accept a no-deal Brexit.
During his short-lived tenure in No 9, Javid committed to government spending, pledging to borrow £20bn a year. He promised, however, that his spending ambitions were not similar to Labour’s, who planned to “saddle the country with debt”.
Though the Conservatives had previously committed to spending below two per cent of GDP on infrastructure, Javid hiked this figure to three per cent, provoking Lib Dem accusations of “political interference”.
Javid resigned in February 2020 during a cabinet reshuffle, following a disagreement with Dominic Cummings, who dismissed a treasury aide without telling the Chancellor.
Rishi Sunak – 2020-22
The current PM became Boris Johnson’s second Chancellor as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, and became a key figure in the government’s response to the virus.
Sunak handed out £330bn of emergency support for businesses, and supported over 11 million workers through the furlough scheme.
His ‘eat out to help out’ scheme, however, came under some criticism after government scientists claimed they were not consulted about the initiative, which was “highly likely” to have spiked Covid deaths.
Sunak was hit with a fixed penalty notice during the Partygate police enquiries, and his involvement in the scandal has been brought up multiple times by voters during the PM’s election campaign.
As rising cost of living hit UK households, Sunak implemented a £5bn energy windfall tax to fund a £15bn support package, which included breaks on household energy bills.
In July 2022, Sunak resigned, alongside then-health secretary Sajid Javid, during the scandal surrounding Chris Pincher after Johnson was found to have been aware of sexual harassment allegations against the deputy chief whip before promoting him to the role.
Nadhim Zahawi – 2022
Zahawi never truly took up his role as Chancellor. The former education secretary was made Sunak’s replacement on July 5, before announcing his candidacy in the Tory leadership election on July 9.
The newly-promoted Chancellor called for Johnson’s resignation on the morning of July 7, having backed his PM just days before. Johnson resigned at 12:30pm that day.
As he campaigned for the Tory leadership, Zahawi pledged to cut taxes and boost defence spending, but failed to hit the threshold of MP backings and was eliminated from the race, later endorsing Liz Truss.
Kwasi Kwarteng – 2022
Having endorsed her leadership bid, Kwasi Kwarteng became Liz Truss’ Chancellor in September 2022.
He shortly announced a “fiscal event,” which he did not allow the Office for Budget Responsibility to scrutinise, which cut the lowest rate of income tax and abolished the highest, reversed an increase in national insurance, and scrapped the limit on bankers’ bonuses.
While Kwarteng admitted that the “mini-budget” head led to “some turbulence,” the media hailed an “economic crisis” as the pound tumbled to its lowest-ever value against the US dollar.
Kwarteng was sacked by Liz Truss after just 38 days in post, with Truss resigning soon after. Following her resignation, Kwarteng claimed that he urged the ex-PM to “slow down” her economic plans.
Jeremy Hunt – 2022 – present
Hunt was appointed as Chancellor in the last few days of Liz Truss’ government, and continued in the role under Sunak after declining to take part in what would have been his third Tory leadership bid.
Shortly before Sunak’s government was formed, the media hailed Hunt as the country’s de facto leader, with the Economist dubbing him “the most powerful person in Britain”.
Hunt’s 2022 autumn statement saw the Chancellor retract most of Kwarteng and Truss’ planned economic reforms. Despite this, Hunt has said that Truss’ policies were a “good thing to aim for,” though Sunak has distanced himself from the ex-PM’s economic ideals.
Hunt’s 2023 spring budget included a freeze on fuel duty and 30 hours of free childcare per working household. In July last year, Hunt promised business leaders that his “Mansion House reforms” would generate £75b of investment for high growth British businesses.
On the campaign trail, Hunt has pledged further tax cuts and taken aim at Rachel Reeves, his opposite number, for failing to fully cost Labour’s spending plans.