The parliamentary private secretary to the prime minister is a parliamentary private secretary serving the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of the office is widely viewed as the prime minister's "eyes and ears" on the backbenches, serving as a liaison to the prime minister's parliamentary party. The parliamentary private secretary is also responsible for meeting with members of Parliament when the prime minister is unavailable, and accompanying the prime minister to, and assisting them with preparations for Prime Minister's Questions. They usually sit directly behind the prime minister during question time.

Role The parliamentary private secretary can become a highly powerful and significant role; Bonar Law's parliamentary private secretary, J.C.C. Davidson, acted in effect as his chief of staff. Margaret Thatcher's downfall from the Conservative Party leadership in 1990 is attributed by many to the actions of her parliamentary private secretary, Peter Morrison, in failing to accurately count votes amongst Conservative backbenchers. Some parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister go on to hold higher office; Alec Douglas-Home served as parliamentary private secretary under Neville Chamberlain and later went on to serve as prime minister in his own right.

There can be multiple parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister at a given time. Many prime ministers have used this tactic during their premierships; former prime minister David Cameron only employed one parliamentary private secretary at a time during his tenure in office, but he appointed Sir John Hayes as a minister without portfolio with responsibility for the Parliamentary Conservative Party, a job typically reserved for the parliamentary private secretary.

Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister (1906–present) The following table lists parliamentary private secretaries to successive prime ministers from 1906. NamePortraitTerm of officePolitical partyPrime Minister Hubert Carr-Gomm 1906 1908 Liberal Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Geoffrey Howard 1908 1909 LiberalH. H. AsquithCharles Henry Lyell19081915Liberal H. H. Asquith Sir John Barran, 2nd Baronet 1916 1918 LiberalDavid Lloyd George David Davies 1916 1918 Liberal William Sutherland 1916 1918 Liberal Waldorf Astor 1918 Conservative William Sutherland 1919 1920 Liberal Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt 1920 1922 Conservative J.C.C. Davidson 1922 1923 Conservative Bonar Law Sidney Herbert 1923 1924 Conservative Stanley Baldwin Lauchlin MacNeill Weir 1924 Labour Ramsay MacDonald Sidney Herbert 1924 1927 ConservativeStanley Baldwin Charles Rhys 1927 1929 Conservative Lauchlin MacNeill Weir 1929 1931 LabourRamsay MacDonald Robert Morrison 1929 1931 Labour Frank Markham 1931 1932 National LabourRamsay MacDonald Ralph Glyn 1931 1935 Conservative John Vigers Worthington 1931 1935 National Labour Geoffrey Lloyd1935 ConservativeStanley Baldwin Thomas Dugdale 1935 1937 Conservative Alec Douglas-Home 1937 1940 Conservative Neville Chamberlain Brendan Bracken 1940 1941 ConservativeWinston Churchill George Harvie-Watt 1941 1945 Conservative Geoffrey de Freitas 1945 1946 LabourClement Attlee Arthur Moyle 1946 1951 Labour Christopher Soames 1952 1955 Conservative Winston Churchill Robert Carr April 1955 December 1955 ConservativeAnthony Eden Robert Allan 1955 1956 Conservative Anthony Barber 1957 1959 ConservativeHarold Macmillan Knox Cunningham 1959 1963 Ulster Unionist Francis Pearson November 1963 October 1964 Conservative Alec Douglas-Home Ernest Fernyhough 1964 1967 LabourHarold Wilson Peter Shore 1965 1966 Labour Harold Davies January 1967 June 1970 Labour Eric Varley November 1968 October 1969 Labour Timothy Kitson 1970 1974 Conservative Edward Heath Bill Hamling 1974 1975 LabourHarold Wilson Kenneth Marks April 1975 December 1975 Labour John Tomlinson 1975 1976 Labour Co-op Jack Cunningham 1976 1977 LabourJames Callaghan Roger Stott 1977 1979 Labour Ian Gow 1979 1983 ConservativeMargaret Thatcher Michael Alison 1983 1987 Conservative Archie Hamilton 1987 1988 Conservative Mark Lennox-Boyd 1988 1990 Conservative Peter Morrison 1990 1990 Conservative Graham Bright 1990 1994 ConservativeJohn Major John Devereux Ward 1994 2 May 1997 Conservative Ann Coffey 2 May 1997 1998 LabourTony Blair Bruce Grocott 2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour David Hanson 8 June 2001 6 May 2005 Labour Keith Hill 6 May 2005 27 June 2007 Labour Ian Austin 27 June 2007 4 October 2008 LabourGordon Brown Angela Smith 27 June 2007 28 June 2009 Labour Jon Trickett 4 October 2008 12 May 2010 Labour Anne Snelgrove 8 June 2009 12 May 2010 Labour Desmond Swayne 12 May 2010 4 September 2012 ConservativeDavid Cameron Sam Gyimah 4 September 2012 7 October 2013 ConservativeGavin Williamson7 October 201313 July 2016Conservative David Cameron George Hollingbery 17 July 2016 21 June 2018 ConservativeTheresa May Seema Kennedy 27 June 2017 4 April 2019 ConservativeAndrew Bowie 29 December 2018 24 July 2019 ConservativeAlex Burghart 25 July 2019 17 September 2021 ConservativeBoris Johnson James Heappey 4 August 2019 16 December 2019 Conservative Trudy Harrison 16 December 2019 17 September 2021 Conservative Andrew Griffith 17 September 2021 3 February 2022 Conservative Sarah Dines 17 September 2021 8 July 2022 Conservative Joy Morrissey 8 February 2022 8 July 2022 ConservativeLia Nici 8 February 20228 July 2022ConservativeJames Duddridge 8 February 20228 July 2022ConservativeAlexander Stafford 8 July 20226 September 2022ConservativeSuzanne Webb 6 September 2022 25 October 2022 ConservativeLiz TrussCraig Williams 25 October 2022 25 June 2024 ConservativeRishi Sunak Chris Ward 19 July 2024 6 September 2025 LabourKeir Starmer Liz Twist 17 July 2024 11 September 2025Labour Abena Oppong-Asare 11 September 2025 20 July 2026LabourCatherine Fookes11 September 202520 July 2026LabourJon Pearce11 September 202520 July 2026LabourSir Nic Dakin27 July 2026IncumbentLabourAndy BurnhamDavid Baines27 July 2026IncumbentLabourJo Platt27 July 2026IncumbentLabour Co-op

In popular culture The final instalment of Michael Dobbs's and the BBC's House of Cards trilogy, The Final Cut, includes a character, Claire Carlsen, who serves as Prime Minister Francis Urquhart's parliamentary private secretary, ultimately betraying him by attempting to leak documents about his service in the British Army.

See also Downing Street Chief of Staff Parliamentary Private Secretary Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office Prime Minister's Office Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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