Chancellor’s red box is not as unique as we thought

FOR MORE than 150 years the battered red dispatch box held aloft by Chancellors on Budget day had been considered the only one of its kind.

The box was long thought to have been a one-off, made in 1860 especially for then chancellor William Gladstone. It remained in use until it was finally retired in 2010 amid fears that it was simply falling apart through old age.

But it has now emerged that the famous budget box may not have been the only one made for the occupant of Number 11 Downing Street after all.

can reveal that a duplicate of the original box has now surfaced. The box, which is being auctioned by Christie’s for £2,500, is