Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster
Formally, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister, and is answerable to Parliament for the governance of the Duchy. In modern times, however, the involvement of the chancellor in the running of the day-to-day affairs of the Duchy is close to none - the estate is now run by the Vice-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (usually a Civil Servant), and the office of Chancellor is held by a senior politician whose main role is usually quite different. In practical terms, it is a sinecure, allowing the Prime Minister to appoint an additional Minister without Portfolio to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has a ministerial ranking of ninth. The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Originally, the chancellor was the chief officer in the daily management of the Duchy of Lancaster and the County Palatine of Lancaster (a county palatine merged into the Crown in 1399), but that estate is now run by a deputy, leaving the chancellor as a member of the Cabinet with little obligation in regard to the chancellorship. Under the Promissory Oaths Act 1868, the chancellor is required to take the oath of allegiance and the Official Oath. The holder of the sinecure is a minister without portfolio; Sir Oswald Mosley, for example, focused on unemployment after being appointed to the position in 1929 during the second MacDonald ministry. The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is entitled to a salary under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, but section 3 of the Act provides that the salary "shall be reduced by the amount of the salary payable to him otherwise than out of moneys so provided in respect of his office". The Office of the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is part of the Cabinet Office.
The responsibilities of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster are wide reaching and varied after the Prime Minister, he is the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office the current incumbent Sir Edward Craig is responsible for the following oversight of all Cabinet Office policy and appointments, oversight of Cabinet Office work on science, technology, and innovation, oversight of constitutional affairs and advice, chairing and deputy chairing Cabinet committees, managing intergovernmental affairs and maintaining communication between the devolved adminstrations.