Treasury authority and the prime minister's First Lord title

Repeated Treasury obstruction could prompt elected politicians either to break up the department or place it under the prime minister's direct control. Combining the premiership and chancellorship would put the Treasury under the person most immediately concerned with the government's electoral position. A later clarification distinguishes the prime minister's title of First Lord of the Treasury from the chancellor's role in running it. The naval analogy is the difference between the First Lord of the Admiralty as senior political authority and the First Sea Lord's operational leadership. The discussion uses that distinction to explain why a formal title does not by itself settle who directs an institution's daily work.