Chancellors often enjoy a Budget for the chance it gives them to show off. They enjoy wrong-footing their opponents with a dramatic and unexpected announcement right at the end of their speech — the much-anticipated rabbit pulled from the hat.
But Philip Hammond is not a political showman. He must be the only Chancellor in living memory to have played down his first Budget, telling colleagues with big ideas to come back to him this autumn.
This lack of showmanship should not be mistaken for an absence of serious intent. He is unique among recent chancellors for two reasons: he has no ambition to move one door along to No. 10 Downing Street, and he can be confident of a long stint in the job. Indeed, he is pretty much unsackable — and his opening joke about getting fired suggested that he thinks as much. As Theresa May attempts to navigate her way through Brexit, her Chancellor plays an important role in reassuring the City, the markets and Tory Remainers that all will be done sensibly. If he walked out, saying it was impossible to do Brexit well, the pound would have more than a bad day on the foreign exchange market.
Gordon Brown’s tenure at the Treasury was defined by his desire to move next door. Every Budget was an attempt to show Labour MPs that he could do the top job better than the then incumbent. The key to understanding his speeches was to look for the sleight of hand that let him magic that rabbit from the hat. The apogee of this came in his final Budget. I have never heard the House of Commons cheer louder than when Brown announced he was cutting the basic rate of tax by 2p.
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