Why is the Chancellor’s red box used for the Autumn Budget?

The red box being hauled out often means one thing… tax hikes (Picture: Getty)

Standing in front of No.11 with a red box as cameras flash is a rite of passage for British chancellors delivering their annual Budget statement.

Current Labour Chancellor John Healey is expected to join them today, stepping up to the despatch box to share the economic plans behind Andy Burnham’s ambitions.

Healey is expected to unveil a series of ‘deep reforms’ to the UK’s energy system, and will expand upon the previously announced ‘everyday fixes’ confirmed by the Treasury earlier this week.

Here is everything you need to know about the history of the famous red box, and what to expect from this afternoon’s announcement.

Why is a red box used for the budget?

Rachel Reeves held up the famous red box at last year’s Autumn Budget. (Picture: PA)

The first red box was made for William Gladstone in 1860 when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Red boxes have long been traditionally used by government ministers to move official documents. King Charles also has his own red box filled with daily documents for him to review.

Made of wood, covered in red leather and lined with black silk, the original Chancellor’s box was intended to carry the Budget statement from No.11 Downing Street to the House of Commons.

What role does it play now?

Gladstone was chancellor under three prime ministers, before he became PM himself (Picture: Alamy)

The red box has been used a lot, but not always.

James Callaghan was the first to dispense with the tradition, carrying what was dubbed a ‘vulgar brown valise’ in 1965.

In 1997, Gordon Brown commissioned a new red box to replace the then-tatty original – which had its final outing in 2010 when George Osborne received special dispensation from the National Archive for a single outing.

It is now in the Cabinet War Rooms and has been ‘repaired with balsa wood’, according to the Treasury.

Embarrassing moments with the red box

George Ward Hunt forgot his speech during his one and only Budget (Picture: Alamy)

George Ward Hunt arrived at the Commons in 1869 and opened the box to realise he had left the speech back at base. We don’t know if there’s a connection, but he lasted just six months in the job.

That is longer than Kwasi Kwarteng, of course, who – despite his momentous fiscal statement in 2022 – never actually got the chance to give a Budget, so no red box for him.

His ultra-Conservative tax-cutting mini-budget – the one that crashed the pound, crashed the bond market and almost crashed the UK insurance sector – was delivered from Downing Street to the Commons in a
blue folder.

Kwasi Kwarteng became the second shortest-serving chancellor, and Liz Truss the shortest-serving PM, after their disastrous mini-budget (Picture: Reuters)

Can you get your own ministerial red box?

You can! The ‘iconic’ box is for sale from Foster and Son, a London-based bootmaker that was founded in 1840.

The case is made out of goatskin and has brass fittings and a lock, with a wooden frame and a hand-stitched leather handle.

It is being sold for the grand total of £4,050.

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