The news from the Association of Taxation Technicians this week was the identities of its next president, deputy president and vice president.

I was puzzled. Deputy and vice? Aren't they the same thing?

Wanting answers, I called the number at the foot of the ATT press release, which due to a typographical error turned out to be digits for the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Luckily, the CIOT's executive hierarchy is the same as the ATT's and an explanation was duly gleaned.

It turns out that the vice president is deputy to the deputy president.

It's not unknown for both the president and his second-in-command to be indisposed - 'the demands on diaries are quite incredible', said the CIOT - and so the vice president often represents the organisation at functions.

When the president steps down, his deputy takes over - but should he be unavailable for whatever reason, his deputy, the vice president, becomes the gov'nor.

Still with me?

To draw an analogy with the White House's hierarchy of succession, the deputy president here is the equivalent to the USA's vice president, and the CIOT's vice president is like the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Currently, then, Rob Ellerby is George W. Bush, Nick Goulding is Dick Cheney, and Andrew Hubbard is... er... Nancy Pelosi.

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