Chief Secretary to the Treasury explained

Post:	Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Insignia:	Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg
Insigniacaption:	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent:	Darren Jones
Incumbentsince:	5 July 2024
Department:	His Majesty's Treasury
Style:	The Right Honourable
Reports To:	Chancellor of the Exchequer Prime Minister
Nominator:	Prime Minister
Appointer:	The Monarch
Termlength:	At His Majesty's pleasure
First:	Henry Brooke
Formation:	8 October 1961
Salary:	£121,326 per annum ^[1] (including £86,584 MP salary)^[2]

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is a 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 was created in 1961 to share the burden of representing HM Treasury with the chancellor.

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

History and responsibilities

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.

The office holder is responsible for public expenditure, including spending reviews.^[3]

List of chief secretaries to the Treasury

Chief secretary			Term of office		Party	Ministry	Chancellor
		Henry Brooke ^[4]	9 October 1961	13 July 1962	Conservative	Macmillan		Selwyn Lloyd
		John Boyd-Carpenter^[5]	13 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative		Reginald Maudling
								Douglas-Home
		Jack Diamond^[6]	20 October 1964	19 June 1970	Labour	Wilson		James Callaghan
						Roy Jenkins
		Maurice Macmillan^[7]	23 June 1970	7 April 1972	Conservative	Heath		Iain Macleod
						Anthony Barber
		Patrick Jenkin^[8]	7 April 1972		8 January 1974		Conservative
		Tom Boardman^[9]	8 January 1974	4 March 1974	Conservative
		Joel Barnett^[10]	7 March 1974	4 May 1979	Labour		Wilson		Denis Healey
						Callaghan
		John Biffen^[11]	5 May 1979	5 January 1981	Conservative	Thatcher I		Geoffrey Howe
		Leon Brittan^[12]	5 January 1981	11 June 1983	Conservative
		Peter Rees^[13]	11 June 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative	Thatcher II		Nigel Lawson
		John MacGregor^[14]	2 September 1985	13 June 1987	Conservative
		John Major^[15]	13 June 1987	24 July 1989	Conservative	Thatcher III
		Norman Lamont^[16]	24 July 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative		John Major
		David Mellor^[17]	28 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative		Major I		Norman Lamont
		Michael Portillo^[18]	10 April 1992	20 July 1994	Conservative	Major II
						Kenneth Clarke
		Jonathan Aitken^[19]	20 July 1994	5 July 1995	Conservative
		William Waldegrave^[20]	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative
		Alistair Darling^[21]	3 May 1997	27 July 1998	Labour	Blair I		Gordon Brown
		Stephen Byers^[22]	27 July 1998	23 December 1998	Labour
		Alan Milburn^[23]	23 December 1998	11 October 1999	Labour
		Andrew Smith^[24]	11 October 1999	29 May 2002	Labour
Blair II
		Paul Boateng^[25]	29 May 2002	6 May 2005	Labour
		Des Browne^[26]	6 May 2005	5 May 2006	Labour	Blair III
		Stephen Timms^[27]	5 May 2006	28 June 2007	Labour
		Andy Burnham^[28]	28 June 2007	24 January 2008	Labour	Brown		Alistair Darling
		Yvette Cooper^[29]	24 January 2008	5 June 2009	Labour
		Liam Byrne^[30]	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
		David Laws^[31]	12 May 2010	29 May 2010	Liberal Democrat	Cameron–Clegg		George Osborne
		Danny Alexander^[32]	29 May 2010	8 May 2015	Liberal Democrat
		Greg Hands^[33]	11 May 2015	14 July 2016	Conservative		Cameron II
		David Gauke^[34]	14 July 2016	11 June 2017	Conservative		May I		Philip Hammond
		Liz Truss^[35]	11 June 2017	24 July 2019	Conservative		May II
		Rishi Sunak^[36]	24 July 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative		Johnson I		Sajid Javid
						Johnson II
		Steve Barclay^[37]	13 February 2020	15 September 2021	Conservative		Rishi Sunak
		Simon Clarke^[38]	15 September 2021	6 September 2022	Conservative
						Nadhim Zahawi
		Chris Philp^[39]	6 September 2022	14 October 2022	Conservative	Truss		Kwasi Kwarteng
		Edward Argar^[40]	14 October 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative		Jeremy Hunt
		John Glen^[41]	25 October 2022	13 November 2023	Conservative	Sunak
		Laura Trott	13 November 2023	5 July 2024	Conservative
		Darren Jones	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour	Starmer		Rachel Reeves

See also

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23 . 15 December 2022.
2. Web site: Pay and expenses for MPs . 15 December 2022 . parliament.uk.
3. Web site: Chief Secretary to the Treasury – GOV.UK . 2024-05-07 . www.gov.uk . en.
4. Web site: Mr Henry Brooke . . 6 October 2017.
5. Web site: Mr John Boyd-Carpenter . . 6 October 2017.
6. Web site: Mr Jack Diamond . . 6 October 2017.
7. Web site: Rt Hon Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden . UK Parliament . 6 October 2017.
8. Web site: Lord Jenkin of Roding . UK Parliament . 6 October 2017.
9. Web site: Mr Thomas Boardman . . 6 October 2017.
10. Web site: Lord Barnett . UK Parliament . 6 October 2017.
11. Web site: Rt Hon John Biffen . UK Parliament . 6 October 2017.
12. Web site: Lord Brittan of Spennithorne . UK Parliament . 6 October 2017.
13. Web site: Mr Peter Rees . . 6 October 2017.
14. Web site: Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
15. Web site: Rt Hon John Major . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
16. Web site: Lord Lamont of Lerwick . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
17. Web site: Rt Hon David Mellor . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
18. Web site: Rt Hon Michael Portillo . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
19. Web site: Jonathan Aitken . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
20. Web site: Lord Waldegrave of North Hill . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
21. Web site: Lord Darling of Roulanish . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
22. Web site: Mr Stephen Byers . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
23. Web site: Mr Alan Milburn . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
24. Web site: Rt Hon Andrew Smith . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
25. Web site: Lord Boateng . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
26. Web site: Lord Browne of Ladyton . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
27. Web site: Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
28. Web site: Rt Hon Andy Burnham . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
29. Web site: Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
30. Web site: Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
31. Web site: Rt Hon David Laws . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
32. Web site: Rt Hon Danny Alexander . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
33. Web site: Rt Hon Greg Hands MP . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
34. Web site: Rt Hon David Gauke MP . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
35. Web site: Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP . UK Parliament . 5 October 2017.
36. Web site: Rishi Sunak MP . UK Parliament . 25 July 2019.
37. Web site: Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP . UK Parliament . 13 February 2020.
38. Web site: The Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP . 26 September 2022 . gov.uk.
39. Web site: Chris Philp MP . gov.uk . 26 September 2022.
40. Web site: UK treasury minister Philp to be replaced by Edward Argar . . 14 October 2022 . 14 October 2022.
41. Web site: John Glen appointed Chief Secretary to UK Treasury – statement . . 25 October 2022 . 25 October 2022. >