Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

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]

Political offices in the UK government
Arms of the British Government
Arms of the British Government
List of political offices
This article is about a UK government office. For similar positions in other countries, see Parliamentary secretary. For the US government office, see United States Under Secretary of State.
Not to be confused with Permanent Under-Secretary of State.

Background

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

The current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State are:[9]

Historic Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State

See also

References
  1. Brazier, Rodney (1997). Ministers of the Crown. Clarendon Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-19-825988-3.
  2. Cabinet Office (October 2011). "Cabinet Manual" (PDF) (1st ed.). HM Government. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. "Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975, c.27". Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  4. 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. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, c.24". Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  6. Maer, Lucinda (4 September 2017). "Ministers in the House of Lords" (PDF). Briefing Paper (5226). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 19 January 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Parliamentary Private Secretaries - Glossary page". UK Parliament website. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  8. 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.)
  9. "Ministers - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  10. "Minister of State for Europe - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  11. "Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Implementation) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  12. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  13. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for vaccines and public health) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  14. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Patient Safety and Primary Care) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  15. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Science, Research and Innovation) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  16. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Faith and Communities) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  17. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  18. "Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for Civil Society) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
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