United Kingdom Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Simon Hart since 25 October 2022
HM Treasury
Style	Chief Whip (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Member of	Cabinet (attending) Privy Council
Reports to	Prime Minister
Residence	12 Downing Street (official)
Seat	Westminster
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Inaugural holder	Sir Philip Warwick
Formation	1660
Salary	£121,326 per annum (2022)[1] (including £86,584 MP salary)[2]
Website	HM Treasury

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the official title of the most senior whip of the governing party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Today, any official links between the Treasury and this office are nominal and the title of the office can be seen as a sinecure that allows the incumbent to draw a Government salary, attend Cabinet, and use a Downing Street residence, traditionally 12 Downing Street.

The position is currently hold by Simon Hart from October 2022.^[3]

History

The position of Secretary to the Treasury was created in 1660. Until 1711, there was only one Secretary to the Treasury; however, in that year, a second position was created to help deal with the increasing workload. This new position was known as the junior secretary to the Treasury, and the existing post as the senior secretary to the Treasury. Initially, when the position of Senior Secretary to the Treasury became vacant (except as the result of an election causing a change of government), the junior secretary was usually automatically promoted to the senior role. Over time, however, the roles of the Senior and Junior Secretaries began to diverge, the Senior Secretary post being used as a sinecure post for the chief whip, with no formal responsibilities to the Treasury. The junior secretary post remained a substantive position working in the Treasury. As such, the senior secretary became known as the parliamentary secretary to the Treasury while the junior secretary became known as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and the 'automatic' promotion from Junior to Senior ceased. While the exact date on which this change occurred is disputed, it is agreed that the distinction was complete by 1830.^[4] In the mid-nineteenth century, the parliamentary secretary to the Treasury was referred to as the patronage secretary to the Treasury.^[5]

Parliamentary Secretaries to the Treasury, 1830–present

19th century

• Edward Ellice 1830–1832
• Charles Wood 1832–1834
• Sir George Clerk, Bt 1834–1835
• Hon. Edward Stanley 1835–1841
• Denis Le Marchant 1841
• Sir Thomas Fremantle, Baronet 1841–1844
• John Young 1844–1846
• Henry Tufnell 1846–1850
• William Goodenough Hayter 1850–1852
• William Forbes Mackenzie 1852
• William Goodenough Hayter 1853–1858
• Sir William Jolliffe, Baronet 1858–1859
• Henry Brand 1859–1866

Thomas Edward Taylor, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1866 to 1868

• Thomas Edward Taylor 1866–1868
• Gerard Noel 1868
• George Glyn 1868–1873
• Arthur Wellesley Peel 1873–1874
• Sir William Hart Dyke, Bt 1874–1880
• Lord Richard Grosvenor 1880–1885
• Aretas Akers-Douglas 1885–1886
• Arnold Morley 1886
• Aretas Akers-Douglas 1886–1892
• Edward Marjoribanks 1892–1894
• Thomas Edward Ellis 1894–1895
• Sir William Walrond, Baronet 1895–1902

References