In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century. The number of secretaries was expanded to two by 1714 at the latest. The Treasury ministers together discharge all the former functions of the Lord Treasurer, which are nowadays nominally vested in the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. Of the Commissioners, only the Second Lord of the Treasury, who is also the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is a Treasury minister (the others are the Prime Minister and the government whips).
The Chancellor is the senior Treasury minister, followed by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who also attends Cabinet and has particular responsibilities for public expenditure. In order of seniority, the junior Treasury ministers are: the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, and the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (currently not in use).
One of the present-day secretaries, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, formerly known as the Patronage Secretary, is not a Treasury minister but the government whip in the House of Commons. The office can be seen as a sinecure, allowing the Chief Whip to draw a government salary, attend Cabinet, and use a Downing Street residence.
| Year | Senior Secretary | Junior Secretary |
|---|---|---|
| 11 June 1711 | Thomas Harley | |
| November 1714 | John Taylor | |
| 12 October 1715 | Horatio Walpole | |
| April 1717 | Charles Stanhope | |
| April 1721 | Horatio Walpole | |
| January 1724 | John Scrope | |
| 24 June 1730 | Edward Walpole | |
| 1 June 1739 | Stephen Fox | |
| 30 April 1741 | Henry Legge | |
| 15 July 1742 | Henry Furnese | |
| 30 November 1742 | John Jeffreys | |
| 1 May 1746 | James West | |
| 9 April 1752 | Nicholas Hardinge | |
| 18 November 1756 | Samuel Martin | |
| 5 July 1757 | James West | |
| 9 April 1758 | ||
| 31 May 1758 | Samuel Martin | |
| 29 May 1762 | Jeremiah Dyson | |
| 18 April 1763 | Charles Jenkinson | |
| 24 August 1763 | Thomas Whateley | |
| 30 September 1765 | Charles Lowndes | |
| 18 August 1766 | Thomas Bradshaw | |
| 16 October 1770 | John Robinson | |
| 29 March 1782 | Edward Chamberlain[1] | |
| 6 April 1782 | Richard Burke | |
| 15 July 1782 | George Rose | |
| 5 April 1783 | Richard Brinsley Sheridan | |
| 27 December 1783 | Thomas Steele | |
| 26 February 1791 | Charles Long | |
| 24 March 1801 | John Hiley Addington | |
| 9 April 1801 | Nicholas Vansittart | |
| 8 July 1802 | John Sargent | |
| 21 May 1804 | William Sturges Bourne | |
| 10 February 1806 | John King | |
| 2 September 1806 | William Henry Fremantle | |
| 1 April 1807 | William Huskisson | |
| 5 April 1809 | Charles Arbuthnot | |
| 8 December 1809 | Richard Wharton | |
| 7 January 1814 | Stephen Rumbold Lushington | |
| 7 February 1823 | John Charles Herries | |
| 19 April 1827 | Thomas Frankland Lewis | |
| 28 January 1828 | George Robert Dawson |