EMQs: How much power do chancellors have?
Political Currency
Persephonica
4.1 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How many times did Gordon Brown save Tony Blair from a calamitous decision? Ed Balls and George Osborne recount the times chancellors stepped in to save their PM from disaster. Does George wish he'd done it a bit more with David Cameron?
And why does the Opposition leader respond to the budget and not the shadow chancellor? Ed and George try to work it out, but are not quite sure themselves - please write in! They also delve into the minimum wage rise from the budget, and signal pressing issues Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves must tackle down the line.
Finally, the pair share their dream jobs - other than Prime Minister, of course - with Ed’s being a suitably political answer and George’s being typically wide-ranging from his previous roles.
We love hearing from you, so please don’t forget to send all your EMQs to questions@politicalcurrency and make sure to include a voice note of your question.
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Credits:
Research: Sam Burton
Production: Caillin McDaid and Paige Reynolds
Video Editor: Maha Al-Badrawi
Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Chancellor of the Exchequer. |
| 0:02.1 | Getting a lesson from the Shadow Chancellor |
| 0:03.9 | in how to balance the books, |
| 0:05.0 | it's like getting a lesson from Dracula |
| 0:06.4 | and how to look after a blood pack. |
| 0:08.6 | Ed Balls. |
| 0:09.9 | As steady as she goes, budget. |
| 0:13.0 | What kind of ship does he think he's on, the Titanic? |
| 0:15.8 | Themary Celeste. |
| 0:16.8 | Welcome to EMQs from Political Currency. |
| 0:20.1 | With Ed Balls and George Osborne. |
| 0:25.9 | Welcome to ex-minister's questions, EMQs. |
| 0:30.0 | We are recording this the day after the budget. |
| 0:33.2 | And later today, you and I are going to a fundraiser for the charity Sarkoma UK, which is in |
| 0:44.1 | memory of Chris Martin, who was a treasury official who we both work with. He ended up being |
| 0:48.1 | the principal private secretary in Downing Street, David Cameron. He very tragically died 10 years |
| 0:52.9 | ago. And this is, I think you've been |
| 0:54.6 | the compere of this event for many years. It's actually the first time I'm going. It's basically |
| 0:59.8 | a gathering of the kind of Westminster and Whitehall great and good for a dinner that Chris's |
| 1:05.4 | widow Zoe has so brilliantly organized where everyone has a good time and raises money for Chris's charity. |
| 1:12.8 | And basically it's a kind of quiz, isn't it? |
| 1:15.6 | It's a sort of political quiz, isn't it? |
... |
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