Anthony Barber

Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber, Baron Barber, (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. 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. Provided by Wikipedia