In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as

Lord Treasurer The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord ...

in the 16th century. The number of secretaries was expanded to two by 1714 at the latest. The Treasury ministers together discharge all the former functions of the Lord Treasurer, which are nowadays nominally vested in the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. Of the Commissioners, only the Second Lord of the Treasury, who is also the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

, is a Treasury minister (the others are the Prime Minister and the government whips). The Chancellor is the senior Treasury minister, followed by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who also attends Cabinet and has particular responsibilities for public expenditure. In order of seniority, the junior Treasury ministers are: the

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the ch ...

, the

Economic Secretary to the Treasury The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General a ...

, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, and the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (currently not in use). One of the present-day secretaries, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, formerly known as the ''Patronage Secretary'', is not a Treasury minister but the government whip in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. The office can be seen as a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

, allowing the Chief Whip to draw a government salary, attend Cabinet, and use a Downing Street residence.

Current Secretaries to the Treasury

* Chief Secretary to the Treasury — Darren Jones *

— The Lord Livermore *

— ( City Minister) —

Emma Reynolds Emma Elizabeth Reynolds (born 2 November 1977) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister since January 2025. She was elected as Member of Parliament (United Ki ...

* Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury — James Murray * Commercial Secretary to the Treasury — ''Office not in use'' * Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip) — Sir Alan Campbell

Secretaries to the Treasury

1660–1830

*June 1660: Sir Philip Warwick *May 1667: Sir George Downing, Bt *October 1671: Sir Robert Howard *July 1673: Charles Bertie *March 1679: Henry Guy *April 1689: William Jephson *June 1691: Henry Guy *March 1695: William Lowndes

1830–present

* Chief Secretary to the Treasury (established 1961) *

(established 1830) *

(established 1947) * Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (established 1996) * Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury (established 2008, not in use since 2010) * Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (established 2010, not in use since 2017)

References

*http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16741 {{DEFAULTSORT:Secretary To The Treasury Finance ministers of the United Kingdom Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom Lists of government ministers of the United Kingdom

Current Secretaries to the Treasury

Secretaries to the Treasury

1660–1830

1830–present

See also

References