Parliamentary under-secretary of state
Political offices in the UK government |
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List of political offices |
The parliamentary under-secretary of state (or just parliamentary secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State)[1] is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister of State, which is itself junior to a Secretary of State.[2]
Background
[edit]The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 provides that at any one time there can be no more than 83 paid ministers (not counting the Lord Chancellor, up to 3 law officers, and up to 22 whips). Of these, no more than 50 ministers can be paid the salary of a minister senior to a Parliamentary Secretary. Thus, if 50 senior ministers are appointed, the maximum number of paid Parliamentary Secretaries is 33.[3][4]
The limit on the number of unpaid Parliamentary Secretaries is given by the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, ensuring that no more than 95 government ministers of any kind can sit in the House of Commons at any one time; there is no upper bound to the number of unpaid ministers sitting in the House of Lords.[4][5][6]
The position should not be confused with the Permanent Secretary, which is the most senior civil servant in a government department (also known as the Permanent Under-Secretary of State), nor with a Parliamentary Private Secretary (an MP serving as an assistant to a minister entitled to directly relevant expenses but no further pay).[2][7]
Of his tenure as an under-secretary in Macmillan's 1957–1963 Conservative government from the Lords, the Duke of Devonshire noted: "No one who hasn't been a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State has any conception of how unimportant a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is".[8]
Current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State
[edit]There are 44 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, six of which are unpaid.
The current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State are:[9]
- HM Treasury
- Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (see Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs)
- Home Office (see Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department)
- Ministry of Justice
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State[10]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State[11]
- Ministry of Defence
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
- Department for Business and Trade
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Services, Small Business and Exports (joint with UK Export Finance)
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Legislation[15]
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Department for Education
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Equalities (Race and Ethnicity)[16]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities (LGBT+)[17]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Early Education[18]
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water and Flooding[19]
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords Minister)[20]
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Department for Transport
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
- Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
- Office of the Secretary of State for Wales
- Northern Ireland Office
- UK Export Finance
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Services, Small Business and Exports (joint with Department for International Trade)
Historic Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State
[edit]- Department for Exiting the European Union
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Technology
- Foreign affairs and Defence
- Under-Secretary of State for Air
- Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
- Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
- Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
- Under-Secretary of State for India
- Under-Secretary of State for War
- Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
- Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Brazier, Rodney (1997). Ministers of the Crown. Clarendon Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-19-825988-3.
- ^ a b Cabinet Office (October 2011). "Cabinet Manual" (PDF) (1st ed.). HM Government. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975, c.27". Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- ^ a b Maer, Lucinda; Kelly, Richard (10 August 2017). "Limitations on the number of Ministers" (PDF). Briefing Paper (3378). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
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(help) - ^ "House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, c.24". Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- ^ Maer, Lucinda (4 September 2017). "Ministers in the House of Lords" (PDF). Briefing Paper (5226). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
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(help) - ^ "Parliamentary Private Secretaries - Glossary page". UK Parliament website. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ Ziegler, Philip (8 January 2015) [3 January 2008]. "Cavendish, Andrew Robert Buxton, eleventh duke of Devonshire (1920–2004), landowner". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93731. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Ministers - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Climate)- GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Energy)- GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Energy Consumers)- GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Legislation) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Water and Flooding) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Homelessness and Democracy) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Local Growth and Building Safety) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Faith and Communities) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Local Transport) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Future Roads) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Future Roads) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2021.