The Lord Barber | |
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![]() Barber in the 1970s | |
Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
In office 25 July 1970 – 4 March 1974 | |
Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Chief Secretary | |
Preceded by | Iain Macleod |
Succeeded by | Denis Healey |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
In office 20 June 1970 – 25 July 1970 | |
Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | George Thomson |
Succeeded by | Geoffrey Rippon |
Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
In office 10 January 1967 – 20 June 1970 | |
Leader | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Edward du Cann |
Succeeded by | Peter Thomas |
Minister of Health | |
In office 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964 | |
Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home |
Preceded by | Enoch Powell |
Succeeded by | Kenneth Robinson |
Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |
In office 16 July 1962 – 20 October 1963 | |
Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Edward Boyle |
Succeeded by | Alan Green |
Economic Secretary to the Treasury | |
In office 22 October 1959 – 16 July 1962 | |
Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Frederick Erroll |
Succeeded by | Edward du Cann |
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister | |
In office 10 January 1957 – 22 October 1959 | |
Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
Preceded by | Robert Allan |
Succeeded by | Knox Cunningham |
Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale | |
In office 4 February 1965 – 20 September 1974 | |
Preceded by | Frederick Erroll |
Succeeded by | Fergus Montgomery |
Member of Parliament for Doncaster | |
In office 25 October 1951 – 25 September 1964 | |
Preceded by | Ray Gunter |
Succeeded by | Harold Walker |
Personal details | |
Born | Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber 4 July 1920 Kingston upon Hull, England |
Died | 16 December 2005 Suffolk, England | (aged 85)
Political party | Conservative |
Spouses | Jean Asquith
(m. 1950; died 1983)Rosemary Youens (m. 1989) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Noel Barber (brother) |
Alma mater | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch/service | |
Years of service | 1939−1945 |
Rank | |
Unit | |
Battles/wars | Second World War (POW) |
Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber, Baron Barber, TD, PC, DL (4 July 1920 – 16 December 2005) was a British Conservative politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1970 to 1974.
After serving in both the Territorial Army and the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Barber studied at Oxford and became a barrister. Elected as MP for Doncaster in 1951, Barber served in government under Harold Macmillan as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Financial Secretary to the Treasury, before being appointed Minister of Health by Alec Douglas-Home in 1963. After losing his seat in 1964, he won the 1965 by-election in Altrincham and Sale and returned to Parliament.
Barber was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer by Edward Heath in 1970, and oversaw a major liberalisation of the banking system, replaced purchase tax and Selective Employment Tax with Value Added Tax, and also relaxed exchange controls. During his term the economy suffered due to stagflation and industrial unrest, including a miners strike which led to the Three-Day Week. In 1972 he delivered a budget which was designed to return the Conservatives to power in an election expected in 1974 or 1975. This budget led to a brief period of growth known as "The Barber Boom," followed by a wage-price spiral and high inflation, culminating in the 1976 sterling crisis.[1] He was forced to introduce anti-inflation measures, along with a Price Commission and a Pay Board. After the Conservatives lost the first general election of 1974, he did not stand in the second election of that year.