Whisky, rum and milk or gin - Chancellors used to drink alcohol during the budget, but Reeves won't

The last few years in UK politics would have made even the most infrequent of drinkers reach for a glass of something strong, but did you know that one MP is allowed to drink on the job? From Ken Clarke to John Major and Nigel Lawson have all enjoyed an alcoholic tipple while announcing their budget. This is contrary to parliamentary rules, which bans alcohol in the chamber, but traditionally the chancellor has been allowed to drink whatever they wish while making the annual budget speech to Parliament, including alcohol. They are the only MP allowed to do so in the House of Commons.

According to the UK Parliament website, previous Chancellors have chosen whisky (Glenfarclas for Kenneth Clarke), gin and tonic (Geoffrey Howe), brandy and water (Benjamin Disraeli), sherry and beaten egg (Gladstone) and spritzer (Nigel Lawson). Hugh Dalton drank rum and milk while Winston Churchill drank brandy.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is preparing to deliver her first budget. | Getty Images

But since Gordon Brown, who chose to drink mineral water (as did Alistair Darling, George Osborne and Rishi Sunak), no chancellor has drunk alcohol during a budget speech, a trend which will be continued by Rachel Reeves as she sets our Labour’s budget on Wednesday 30 October. In 2022 chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that, despite speaking for a long time and, despite the difficulty of the package he would be announcing, he “sadly will not be drinking any whisky as I do so.”

Dates for this tradition starting aren’t well known, but it is thought that given how long budget statements can be (the longest being over four hours), the chancellor has been allowed a drink. How, when and why this became an alcoholic drink is unknown. Given the trend towards drinking water during the budget, it’s a tradition that may have fallen out of favour.