Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury

{{Short description|Formal title of UK governing party chief whip}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox Political post

| flag =

| flagcaption =

| post = {{small|United Kingdom}}
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Whip of the House of Commons

| body =

| nativename =

| insignia = Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg

| insigniacaption = Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government

| department = HM Treasury

| image = Alan Campbell Official Cabinet Portrait, July 2024 (cropped) 2.png

| alt =

| incumbent = Alan Campbell

| incumbentsince = 5 July 2024

| style = {{ubl|Chief Whip
{{small|(informal)}}|The Right Honourable
{{small|(within the UK and Commonwealth)}}}}

| appointer = The Monarch

| appointer_qualified = {{small|(on the advice of the Prime Minister)}}

| reports_to = Prime Minister

| termlength =

| inaugural = Sir Philip Warwick

| type = Minister of the Crown

| seat = Westminster

| member_of = {{ubl|Cabinet {{small|(attending)}}|Privy Council}}

| formation = 1660

| last =

| abolished =

| succession =

| deputy =

| residence = 12 Downing Street {{small|(official)}}

| 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 = [http://www.gov.uk/hm-treasury/ HM Treasury]

| imagecaption = Official cabinet portrait, 2024

}}

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the official title of the most senior whip of the governing party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Today, any official links between the Treasury and this office are nominal and the title of the office can be seen as a sinecure that allows the incumbent to draw a Government salary, attend Cabinet, and use a Downing Street residence, traditionally 12 Downing Street.

The position is currently held by Alan Campbell since July 2024.

History

The position of Secretary to the Treasury was created in 1660. Until 1711, there was only one Secretary to the Treasury; however, in that year, a second position was created to help deal with the increasing workload. This new position was known as the junior secretary to the Treasury, and the existing post as the senior secretary to the Treasury. Initially, when the position of Senior Secretary to the Treasury became vacant (except as the result of an election causing a change of government), the junior secretary was usually automatically promoted to the senior role. Over time, however, the roles of the Senior and Junior Secretaries began to diverge, the Senior Secretary post being used as a sinecure post for the chief whip, with no formal responsibilities to the Treasury. The junior secretary post remained a substantive position working in the Treasury. As such, the senior secretary became known as the parliamentary secretary to the Treasury while the junior secretary became known as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and the 'automatic' promotion from Junior to Senior ceased. While the exact date on which this change occurred is disputed, it is agreed that the distinction was complete by 1830.{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol1/pp29-31 |title=Secretaries 1660-1870 |publisher=British History Online |access-date=9 October 2016}} In the mid-nineteenth century, the parliamentary secretary to the Treasury was referred to as the patronage secretary to the Treasury.{{cite book|last1=Colin|first1=Thain|last2=Wright|first2=Maurice|title=The Treasury and Whitehall: The Planning and Control of Public Expenditure, 1976–1993|publisher=Clarendon Press|place=Oxford|year=1995|page=87|isbn=0-19-827784-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nLjvoc2fZq0C&pg=PA87}}

Parliamentary Secretaries to the Treasury, 1830–present

=19th century=

Image:Taylor dublin UniMag1875.JPG, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1866 to 1868]]

=20th century=

=21st century=

Colour key (for political parties):

{{Legend2 | {{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|Conservative|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{Legend2 | {{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|Labour|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan=3 | Secretary

! colspan=2 | Term of office

! Political party

! colspan=2 | Prime Minister

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Hilary Armstrong

| 8 June 2001

| 5 May 2006

| rowspan=4 | Labour

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Tony Blair

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Jacqui Smith

| 5 May 2006

| 28 June 2007

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Tony Blair

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Geoff Hoon

| 28 June 2007

| 3 October 2008

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Gordon Brown
{{small|(Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Nick Brown

| 3 October 2008

| 11 May 2010

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Gordon Brown
{{small|(Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Patrick McLoughlin

| 12 May 2010

| 4 September 2012

| rowspan=11 | Conservative

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| David Cameron

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Andrew Mitchell

| 4 September 2012

| 19 October 2012

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| David Cameron

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Sir George Young, Bt. CH

| 19 October 2012

| 15 July 2014

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| David Cameron

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Michael Gove

| 15 July 2014

| 9 May 2015

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| David Cameron

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Mark Harper

| 9 May 2015

| 14 July 2016

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| David Cameron
{{small|(Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Gavin Williamson

| 14 July 2016

| 2 November 2017

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Theresa May
{{small|(I Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Julian Smith

| 2 November 2017

| 24 July 2019

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Theresa May
{{small|(II Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Mark Spencer

| 24 July 2019

| 8 February 2022

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan=2 | Boris Johnson
{{small|(Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Chris Heaton-Harris

| 8 February 2022

| 6 September 2022

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Wendy Morton

| 6 September 2022

| 25 October 2022

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Liz Truss
{{small|(Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Simon Hart

| 25 October 2022

| 5 July 2024

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Rishi Sunak
{{small|(Ministry)}}

style="height:1em"

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| 75px

| Alan Campbell

| 5 July 2024

| Incumbent

| Labour

| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Keir Starmer
{{small|(Ministry)}}

References