Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 8 May 2007.
Andrew Robathan
Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Commons)
2:30,
8 May 2007
Is the Minister aware that, as part of the electoral fiasco in Scotland last week, some people with second homes in Scotland who applied to register as voters were turned down? Given that all Ministers of the Crown are deemed to have their primary residence in London, will the Minister tell the House whether he, the Chancellor of the exchequer and other Scottish Ministers were able to register and vote in Scotland? If so, why are politicians treated better than ordinary people?
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
