Minister for the Cabinet Office#Ministers of State for the Cabinet Office
{{short description|Senior ministerial position in the Government of the United Kingdom}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = {{small|United Kingdom}}
Minister for the Cabinet Office
| insignia = Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
| insigniacaption = Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
| flag =
| flagsize =
| flagcaption =
| image = Nick Thomas Symonds official portrait 7 Jul 2024 (cropped 2).jpg
| incumbent = Nick Thomas-Symonds
| incumbentsince = 8 July 2024
| department = Cabinet Office
| style = The Right Honourable
{{small|(within the UK and Commonwealth)}}
| type = Minister of the Crown
| status = Minister of State
| member_of = {{ubl|Cabinet {{small|(attending)}}|Privy Council}}
| reports_to = {{blist|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office}}
| seat = Westminster
| nominator = Prime Minister
| appointer = The Monarch
| appointer_qualified = {{small|(on the advice of the Prime Minister)}}
| termlength = At His Majesty's pleasure
| salary = £121,326 per annum {{small|(2022)}}{{Cite web |title=Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1124173/2022-12-07-Ministerial-Salaries-22-23-table.pdf |date=15 December 2022}}
(including £86,584 MP salary){{Cite web |title=Pay and expenses for MPs |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/ |access-date=15 December 2022 |website=parliament.uk}}
| website =
}}
The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The position is currently the third highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/chancellor-of-the-duchy-of-lancaster|title = Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – GOV.UK}}
From the second May ministry until mid-2019 when the first Johnson ministry came to power, it functioned as an alternative title to Deputy Prime Minister or First Secretary of State. This practice ended when Dominic Raab was appointed as First Secretary of State on 24 July 2019, by Boris Johnson. Since a reshuffle in February 2022, the role attends Cabinet but not as a full member.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-cabinet-office|title=Minister for the Cabinet Office – GOV.UK}}
The corresponding Shadow Minister is the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office.
Function and status
The Cabinet Office has a primary responsibility to support the work of the Prime Minister and ensure the effective running of government.{{cite web|title=What We Do|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office|department=Cabinet Office|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom}} Within this set-up, the Minister for the Cabinet Office has been seen to have varying responsibilities and stature in the government. The role is a flexible one and has variously been described as one or several of the following under different office-holders (and sometimes conflicting accounts of the status of the same office holder):{{cite web|title=Fourth Report: The Cabinet and the Centre of Government|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldconst/30/3005.htm#a22|publisher=UK Parliament|department=Constitution Committee of the House of Lords|access-date=9 January 2018}}
- Monitoring the co-ordination of the work of government departments
- Chairing or sitting on several Cabinet Committees
- An additional title to indicate special responsibility
- An additional title to indicate seniority
The government describes the minister for the Cabinet Office as being "in overall charge of and responsible for the policy and work of the department, and attends Cabinet".{{cite web|title=Minister for the Cabinet Office|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-cabinet-office|department=Cabinet Office|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom}}
Damian Green held the office in 2017, simultaneously with the office of First Secretary of State. Green chaired numerous Cabinet Committees and filled in for the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions. By virtue of his responsibilities and as First Secretary of State, he was considered the de facto Deputy Prime Minister.{{cite web|last1=Cheung|first1=Aron|title=Cabinet committees show Damian Green is de facto Deputy PM|url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/cabinet-committees-show-damian-green-de-facto-deputy-pm|publisher=Institute for Government|date=27 July 2017}} Upon the appointment of David Lidington in 2018, Lidington retained the responsibilities Green had held, but the title of First Secretary of State remained vacant (as did the office of Deputy Prime Minister, vacant since 2015).
As a result, the office in its 2017–2019 absorbed the responsibilities of a de facto Deputy Prime Minister, without either of the associated titles usually granted to individuals in the British Government (First Secretary of State or Deputy Prime Minister). In 2019, new Prime Minister Boris Johnson ended this arrangement with the appointment of a new First Secretary of State, Dominic Raab, before upgrading his title again to Deputy Prime Minister in 2021.
Current minister and responsibilities
Nick Thomas-Symonds has served as the Minister for the Cabinet Office since 8 July 2024. He also serves as Paymaster General alongside his position.
The most recent responsibilities are:
- Oversight of all Cabinet Office policy and appointments
- Oversight of transition period activity and the United Kingdom's future relations with the EU
- Devolution issues and Strengthening the Union
- Leading cross-government and public sector transformation and efficiency
- Oversight of cross-government work on veterans' issues
- Oversight of Cabinet Office responsibilities on National Security and resilience, and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, including COVID-19
- Supporting the coordination of the cross-government and the devolution aspects of the response to COVID-19
Ministers for the Cabinet Office
Every occupant of the position has simultaneously held a sinecure office, this being Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from Clark to Byrne, Paymaster General from Jowell to Gummer, and First Secretary of State with Green. Oliver Dowden, and all holders since Michael Ellis, including the incumbent Nick Thomas-Symonds, have held the office of Paymaster General, while David Lidington, Michael Gove and Steve Barclay held the role of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
| colspan=3 | Minister
! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Concurrent office ! Party ! colspan=2 | Prime Minister |
|---|
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 2 May 1997 | 27 July 1998 | rowspan=11 | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | rowspan=12 | Labour ! rowspan=9 style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=9 | Blair |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 27 July 1998 | 11 October 1999 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 11 October 1999 | 7 June 2001 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | The Lord Macdonald of Tradeston | 11 June 2001 | 13 June 2003 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 13 June 2003 | 8 September 2004 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 8 September 2004 | 6 May 2005 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 6 May 2005 | 2 November 2005 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | Jim Murphy (acting) | 5 November 2005 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 28 June 2007 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 28 June 2007 | 3 October 2008 ! rowspan=3 style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=3 | Brown |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 3 October 2008 | 5 June 2009 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 5 June 2009 | 11 May 2010 | rowspan=4 | Paymaster General |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 12 May 2010 | 11 May 2015 | rowspan=13 | Conservative ! style="background-color:#DDD" | |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 11 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 ! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 14 July 2016 | 11 June 2017 ! rowspan=3 style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=3 | May |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 11 June 2017 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 24 July 2019 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 24 July 2019 ! rowspan=4 style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=4 | Johnson |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 15 September 2021 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 60px | 15 September 2021 | 8 February 2022 | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Michael Ellis MP crop 2.jpg | 8 February 2022 | 6 September 2022 | rowspan=6 | Paymaster General |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | File:Official portrait of Edward Argar MP crop 2.jpg | 6 September 2022 | 14 October 2022 ! rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=2 | Truss |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | File:Official portrait of Chris Philp MP crop 2.jpg | 14 October 2022 | 25 October 2022 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | File:Official portrait of Jeremy Quin MP crop 2.jpg | 25 October 2022 ! rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=2 | Sunak |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | File:Official portrait of John Glen MP crop 2.jpg | 5 July 2024 |
| style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | File:Official portrait of Nick Thomas-Symonds MP (cropped).jpg | 8 July 2024 | Incumbent ! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Starmer |
Ministers of State at the Cabinet Office
Minister of State for the Cabinet Office
- 1997: Derek Foster
- 1997–1999: Peter Kilfoyle
- 1998–2001: The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
- 1999–2001: Ian McCartney
- 2001: The Baroness Morgan of Huyton
- 2001–2002: Barbara Roche
- 2002–2003: Douglas Alexander
- 2004–2005: David Miliband
Minister Assisting the Deputy Prime Minister
- 2012–2015: David Laws
Minister of State at the Cabinet Office
- 2020–2022: The Lord True
- 2021–2022: Alok Sharma (President for COP26)
- 2021: The Lord Frost (Minister of State for EU Relations)
- 2022–2024: The Baroness Neville-Rolfe
- 2024: Steve Baker (with responsibility for Windsor Framework implementation)
- 2025–present: Douglas Alexander
Notes
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References
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External links
{{Portal|United Kingdom}}
- [https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office/about Cabinet Office]
{{Minister for the Cabinet Office}}
{{Cabinet Office}}
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Category:Cabinet Office (United Kingdom)