Joel Barnett
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The Right Honourable The Lord Barnett PC |
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|---|---|
| Chair of the Public Accounts Committee | |
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In office July 1979 – 9 June 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Edward du Cann |
| Succeeded by | Robert Sheldon |
| Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |
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In office 4 May 1979 – 14 July 1979 |
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| Leader | James Callaghan |
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |
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In office 5 March 1974 – 4 May 1979 |
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| Prime Minister |
Harold Wilson James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | Tom Boardman |
| Succeeded by | John Biffen |
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Member of Parliament for Heywood and Royton |
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In office 15 October 1964 – 9 June 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Tony Leavey |
| Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 October 1923 |
| Died | 1 November 2014 (aged 91) Manchester |
| Political party | Labour |
Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett, PC (14 October 1923 – 1 November 2014) was a Labour Party politician. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the late 1970s, he devised the Barnett Formula that allocates public spending in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Barnett was born in Manchester, the son of a tailor, and was educated at Manchester Central High School. He worked as an accountant. He was elected a councillor on Prestwich Borough Council 1956-1959 and was treasurer of Manchester Fabian Society. Barnett stood in Runcorn in 1959 without success. He was elected Member of Parliament for Heywood and Royton in 1964. He was a member of the Public Accounts Committee from January 1966.
Barnett served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1974 to 1979, gaining a seat in the cabinet from 1977 onwards, and was Denis Healey's right-hand man in the Callaghan Government. During this time he oversaw the devising of what is known as the Barnett Formula by which public spending is apportioned between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. He subsequently joked about the strange and unexpected form of immortality that was accorded to him by "having his own formula". Following the Scotland Act 1998 and devolution, he argued that the Formula was unfair to the devolved regions and should be abandoned or revised. He reiterated this view in 2014 shortly before the Scottish independence referendum, calling the Formula unsustainable and saying it had become an embarrassment.
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