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 usually 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.
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 and value for money.
List of chief secretaries to the treasury
+Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chief secretary Term of office Party Ministry Chancellor Henry Brooke 9 October1961 13 July1962 Conservative Macmillan Selwyn Lloyd John Boyd-Carpenter 13 July1962 16 October1964 Conservative Reginald Maudling Douglas-Home Jack Diamond 20 October1964 19 June1970 Labour Wilson James Callaghan Roy Jenkins Maurice Macmillan 23 June1970 7 April1972 Conservative Heath Iain Macleod Anthony Barber Patrick Jenkin 7 April19728 January1974 Conservative Tom Boardman 8 January1974 4 March1974 Conservative Joel Barnett 7 March1974 4 May1979 Labour Wilson Denis Healey Callaghan John Biffen 5 May1979 5 January1981 Conservative Thatcher I Geoffrey Howe Leon Brittan 5 January1981 11 June1983 Conservative Peter Rees 11 June1983 2 September1985 Conservative Thatcher II Nigel Lawson John MacGregor 2 September1985 13 June1987 Conservative John Major 13 June1987 24 July1989 Conservative Thatcher III Norman Lamont 24 July1989 28 November1990 Conservative John Major David Mellor 28 November1990 10 April1992 Conservative Major I Norman Lamont Michael Portillo 10 April1992 20 July1994 Conservative Major II Kenneth Clarke Jonathan Aitken 20 July1994 5 July1995 Conservative William Waldegrave 5 July1995 2 May1997 Conservative Alistair Darling 3 May1997 27 July1998 Labour Blair I Gordon Brown Stephen Byers 27 July1998 23 December1998 Labour Alan Milburn 23 December1998 11 October1999 Labour Andrew Smith 11 October1999 29 May2002 Labour Blair II Paul Boateng 29 May2002 6 May2005 Labour Des Browne 6 May2005 5 May2006 Labour Blair III Stephen Timms 5 May2006 28 June2007 Labour Andy Burnham 28 June2007 24 January2008 Labour Brown Alistair Darling Yvette Cooper 24 January2008 5 June2009 Labour Liam Byrne 5 June2009 11 May2010 Labour David Laws 12 May2010 29 May2010 Liberal Democrat Cameron–Clegg George Osborne Danny Alexander 29 May2010 8 May2015 Liberal Democrat Greg Hands 11 May2015 14 July2016 Conservative Cameron II David Gauke 14 July2016 11 June2017 Conservative May I Philip Hammond Liz Truss 11 June2017 24 July2019 Conservative May II Rishi Sunak 24 July2019 13 February2020 Conservative Johnson I Sajid Javid Johnson II Steve Barclay 13 February2020 15 September2021 Conservative Rishi Sunak Simon Clarke 15 September2021 6 September2022 Conservative Nadhim Zahawi Chris Philp 6 September2022 14 October2022 Conservative Truss Kwasi Kwarteng Edward Argar 14 October2022 25 October2022 Conservative Jeremy Hunt John Glen> 25 October2022 13 November2023 Conservative Sunak Laura Trott13 November20235 July2024Conservative Darren Jones 5 July2024 1 September2025 Labour Starmer Rachel Reeves James Murray 1 September2025 14 May2026 Labour Lucy Rigby 14 May2026 20 July2026 Labour Emma Reynolds 20 July2026 Incumbent Labour Burnham John Healey
See also Secretary to the Treasury Financial Secretary to the Treasury Economic Secretary to the Treasury Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Paymaster General
References