Sir Alan Budd: profile

Sir Alan Budd has advised chancellors, reviewed gambling laws and headed the inquiry into whether former home secretary David Blunkett misused his position to help his ex-lover's nanny with a passport problem – but he maintains that his role as chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility is "the most exciting challenge of my professional life". Budd, 72, studied economics at the London School of Economics and Cambridge, and held academic roles in Britain and the US before becoming senior economic adviser to the Treasury between 1970 and 1974. In the 1980s he was professor of economics at the London Business School, before becoming chief economic adviser to the Treasury between 1991 and 1997. Budd was at chancellor Norman Lamont's side when the UK was bundled out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. When Gordon Brown moved into No 11 in 1997 Budd became a founder member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, later heading the inquiry into the gambling industry which led to the liberalisation of gaming laws. He also reviewed the BBC's business coverage and his inquiry into Blunkett led to the home secretary's resignation.