Wigs, woolsacks and power: the odd job of lord chancellor.

(From Agence France Presse)

With origins shrouded in the fog of time, the position of lord chancellor is as old as the monarchy in Britain, where tradition and ceremony never count for little.

But in modern times it had become a tangle of judicial, political and parliamentary roles that seemed ill-suited for a 21st century Western democracy.

Prime Minister Tony Blair signaled his intention to do away with the job when he reshuffled his cabinet on Thursday and named Lord Charles Falconer, a long-time friend, as Britain's first secretary for constitutional affairs.

The first one to hold the job of lord chancellor -- there have been 258 …