Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Senior minister in His Majesty's Treasury

United Kingdom
Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government

Incumbent
Darren Jones

since 5 July 2024

His Majesty's Treasury
Style| The Right Honourable
Reports to| Chancellor of the Exchequer
Prime Minister
Nominator| Prime Minister
Appointer| The Monarch
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length| At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation| 8 October 1961
First holder| Henry Brooke
Salary| £121,326 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £86,584 MP salary)[2]
Website| Official Website
This article is part of a series on

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The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is a senior ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom and is the second most senior ministerial office in HM Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The office holder is always a full member or attendee of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The office was created in 1961 to share the burden of representing HM Treasury with the chancellor.[citation needed]

The minister is shadowed by the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury who sits on the Official Opposition frontbench.

## History and responsibilities

[edit]

Between 1961 and 2015, the holder of the office of Chief Secretary to the Treasury was of full cabinet rank. This formally made HM Treasury the only department to have more than one ministerial position of cabinet rank.[3][4]

The office holder is responsible for public expenditure, including spending reviews.[5]

## List of chief secretaries to the treasury

[edit]

Chief Secretary to the Treasury  Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat

Chief secretary  | Term of office  | Party  | Ministry  | Chancellor
|  | Henry Brooke
MP for Hampstead[6] | 9 October
1961  | 13 July
1962  | Conservative | Macmillan
(I & II) |  | Selwyn Lloyd
‍ |  | John Boyd-Carpenter[7]
MP for Kingston-upon-Thames | 13 July
1962  | 16 October
1964  | Conservative |  | Reginald Maudling
| Douglas-Home
|  | Jack Diamond[8]
MP for Gloucester | 20 October
1964  | 19 June
1970  | Labour | Wilson
(I & II) |  | James Callaghan
| Roy Jenkins
|  | Maurice Macmillan[9]
MP for Farnham | 23 June
1970  | 7 April
1972  | Conservative | Heath |  | Iain Macleod
| Anthony Barber
|  | Patrick Jenkin[10]
MP for Wanstead and Woodford | 7 April
1972  | 8 January
1974  | Conservative
|  | Tom Boardman[11]
MP for Leicester South West | 8 January
1974  | 4 March
1974  | Conservative
|  | Joel Barnett[12]
MP for Heywood and Royton | 7 March
1974  | 4 May
1979  | Labour | Wilson
(III & IV) |  | Denis Healey
Callaghan
|  | John Biffen[13]
MP for Oswestry | 5 May
1979  | 5 January
1981  | Conservative | Thatcher I |  | Geoffrey Howe
|  | Leon Brittan[14]
MP for Cleveland and Whitby | 5 January
1981  | 11 June
1983  | Conservative
|  | Peter Rees[15]
MP for Dover | 11 June
1983  | 2 September
1985  | Conservative | Thatcher II |  | Nigel Lawson
|  | John MacGregor[16]
MP for South Norfolk | 2 September
1985  | 13 June
1987  | Conservative
|  | John Major[17]
MP for Huntingdon | 13 June
1987  | 24 July
1989  | Conservative | Thatcher III
|  | Norman Lamont[18]
MP for Kingston-upon-Thames | 24 July
1989  | 28 November
1990  | Conservative |  | John Major
|  | David Mellor[19]
MP for Putney | 28 November
1990  | 10 April
1992  | Conservative | Major I |  | Norman Lamont
|  | Michael Portillo[20]
MP for Enfield Southgate | 10 April
1992  | 20 July
1994  | Conservative | Major II
| Kenneth Clarke
|  | Jonathan Aitken[21]
MP for South Thanet | 20 July
1994  | 5 July
1995  | Conservative
|  | William Waldegrave[22]
MP for Bristol West | 5 July
1995  | 2 May
1997  | Conservative
|  | Alistair Darling[23]
MP for Edinburgh Central | 3 May
1997  | 27 July
1998  | Labour | Blair I |  | Gordon Brown
|  | Stephen Byers[24]
MP for North Tyneside | 27 July
1998  | 23 December
1998  | Labour
|  | Alan Milburn[25]
MP for Darlington | 23 December
1998  | 11 October
1999  | Labour
|  | Andrew Smith[26]
MP for Oxford East | 11 October
1999  | 29 May
2002  | Labour
Blair II
|  | Paul Boateng[27]
MP for Brent South | 29 May
2002  | 6 May
2005  | Labour
|  | Des Browne[28]
MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 6 May
2005  | 5 May
2006 | Labour | Blair III
|  | Stephen Timms[29]
MP for East Ham | 5 May
2006 | 28 June
2007  | Labour
|  | Andy Burnham[30]
MP for Leigh | 28 June
2007  | 24 January
2008  | Labour | Brown |  | Alistair Darling
|  | Yvette Cooper[31]
MP for Pontefract and Castleford | 24 January
2008  | 5 June
2009  | Labour
|  | Liam Byrne[32]
MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill | 5 June
2009  | 11 May
2010  | Labour
|  | David Laws[33]
MP for Yeovil | 12 May
2010  | 29 May
2010  | Liberal Democrat | Cameron–Clegg
(Con.–L.D.) |  | George Osborne
|  | Danny Alexander[34]
MP for Inverness, Nairn,
Badenoch and Strathspey | 29 May
2010  | 8 May
2015  | Liberal Democrat
|  | Greg Hands[35]
MP for Chelsea and Fulham | 11 May
2015  | 14 July
2016  | Conservative | Cameron II
|  | David Gauke[36]
MP for South West Hertfordshire | 14 July
2016  | 11 June
2017  | Conservative | May I |  | Philip Hammond
|  | Liz Truss[37]
MP for South West Norfolk | 11 June
2017  | 24 July
2019  | Conservative | May II
|  | Rishi Sunak[38]
MP for Richmond (Yorks) | 24 July
2019  | 13 February
2020 | Conservative | Johnson I |  | Sajid Javid
​ | Johnson II
|  | Steve Barclay[39]
MP for North East Cambridgeshire | 13 February
2020 | 15 September
2021 | Conservative |  | Rishi Sunak
|  | Simon Clarke[40]
MP for Middlesbrough South
and East Cleveland | 15 September
2021 | 6 September
2022  | Conservative |
| Nadhim Zahawi
|  | Chris Philp[41]
MP for Croydon South | 6 September
2022  | 14 October
2022 | Conservative | Truss |  | Kwasi Kwarteng
|  | Edward Argar[42]
MP for Charnwood | 14 October
2022 | 25 October
2022  | Conservative |  | Jeremy Hunt
|  | John Glen[43]
MP for Salisbury | 25 October
2022  | 13 November
2023 | Conservative | Sunak |
|  | Laura Trott
MP for Sevenoaks | 13 November
2023 | 5 July
2024  | Conservative |
|  | Darren Jones
MP for Bristol North West | 5 July
2024  | Incumbent | Labour | Starmer |  | Rachel Reeves

## See also

[edit]

* Secretary to the Treasury
* Financial Secretary to the Treasury
* Economic Secretary to the Treasury
* Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
* Paymaster General

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
2. ^ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
3. ^ F N Forman; N D J Baldwin (2007), Mastering British Politics (5th ed.), Palgrave Macmillan
4. ^ W H Greenleaf (1983), The British Political Tradition: Volume III, Part One, Much Governed Nation, Routledge
5. ^ "Chief Secretary to the Treasury – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
6. ^ "Mr Henry Brooke". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 6 October 2017.
7. ^ "Mr John Boyd-Carpenter". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 6 October 2017.
8. ^ "Mr Jack Diamond". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 6 October 2017.
9. ^ "Rt Hon Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
10. ^ "Lord Jenkin of Roding". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
11. ^ "Mr Thomas Boardman". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 6 October 2017.
12. ^ "Lord Barnett". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
13. ^ "Rt Hon John Biffen". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
14. ^ "Lord Brittan of Spennithorne". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
15. ^ "Mr Peter Rees". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 6 October 2017.
16. ^ "Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
17. ^ "Rt Hon John Major". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
18. ^ "Lord Lamont of Lerwick". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
19. ^ "Rt Hon David Mellor". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
20. ^ "Rt Hon Michael Portillo". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
21. ^ "Jonathan Aitken". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
22. ^ "Lord Waldegrave of North Hill". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
23. ^ "Lord Darling of Roulanish". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
24. ^ "Mr Stephen Byers". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
25. ^ "Mr Alan Milburn". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
26. ^ "Rt Hon Andrew Smith". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
27. ^ "Lord Boateng". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
28. ^ "Lord Browne of Ladyton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
29. ^ "Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
30. ^ "Rt Hon Andy Burnham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
31. ^ "Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
32. ^ "Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
33. ^ "Rt Hon David Laws". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
34. ^ "Rt Hon Danny Alexander". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
35. ^ "Rt Hon Greg Hands MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
36. ^ "Rt Hon David Gauke MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
37. ^ "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
38. ^ "Rishi Sunak MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
39. ^ "Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
40. ^ "The Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP". gov.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
41. ^ "Chris Philp MP". gov.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
42. ^ "UK treasury minister Philp to be replaced by Edward Argar". Reuters. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
43. ^ "John Glen appointed Chief Secretary to UK Treasury – statement". Reuters. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.>

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