1. Joel Barnett was born in Manchester, the son of Jewish tailor Louis and wife Ettie, and was educated at Badkindt Hebrew School and Manchester Central High School.
10 Facts About Joel Barnett
1. 2.
Joel Barnett was elected member of parliament for Heywood and Royton in 1964.
3.
Joel Barnett was a member of the Public Accounts Committee from January 1966.
4.
Joel 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.
5.
Joel Barnett subsequently joked about the strange and unexpected form of immortality that was accorded to him by "having his own formula".
6.
Joel Barnett reiterated this view in 2014 shortly before the Scottish independence referendum, calling the Formula unsustainable and saying it had become an embarrassment.
7.
Joel Barnett held the Chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee from 1979 to 1983.
8.
Joel Barnett published a memoir Inside the Treasury in 1982, describing his experience as chief secretary.
9.
Joel Barnett served on select committees in the House of Lords including the European Union Committee, the Economic Affairs Committee and the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.
10.
Joel Barnett was appointed vice-chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC by Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986 and held the post until 1993, during which period he partook in the private meeting when Chairman Marmaduke Hussey told Director-General Alasdair Milne he would have to leave the BBC.