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 chief secretary to the Treasury, and the paymaster general. However, the role of First Lord of the Treasury is always held by the prime minister who is not a Treasury minister, and the position of Paymaster General is a sinecure often held by the Minister for the Cabinet Office to allow the holder of that office to draw a government salary. In practice, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is, therefore, the third–most senior Treasury ministerial position, and in the past its holder has been known to attend Cabinet.
The current holder of the position is James Murray, who was appointed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham following the establishment of the Burnham ministry. The position is shadowed by the shadow financial secretary to the treasury.
History The role of Financial Secretary to the Treasury was created in 1711 and was known as the Junior Secretary to the Treasury to help deal with the increasing workload of the Senior Secretary to the Treasury. The first Junior Secretary to the Treasury is recorded as Thomas Harley who was appointed on 11 June 1711. The position has continued without any major interruption to the present day. Initially when the position of Senior Secretary to the Treasury became vacant not as the result of an election of 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 with the Senior Secretary post being used as a sinecure post for the Chief Whip, with no formal responsibilities to the Treasury. The Junior Secretary, however, 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 the 'Financial Secretary to the Treasury' and the 'automatic' promotion from Junior to Senior ceased. The exact date when this change occurred is disputed, but it is agreed that by 1830 the distinction was complete.
In 1923, Sir William Joynson-Hicks became – to date – the only financial secretary to concurrently serve in the Cabinet; this was owing to the then Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, simultaneously holding the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In May 2010, as part of the ministerial reorganisation by the First Cameron ministry, the financial secretary was given the additional semi-official title of City Minister. This position was retained until April 2014, when – following the promotion of Sajid Javid to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – the portfolio of City Minister was moved from the financial secretary to the Treasury to the economic secretary of the Treasury.
Appointment to the position of Financial Secretary to the Treasury is often considered an important stepping stone in a politician's career; six of the ten most recent holders of the office have gone on to hold Cabinet-level positions.
Notable former financial secretaries to the Treasury include Lord Frederick Cavendish, Austen Chamberlain, Stanley Baldwin, Enoch Powell, Nigel Lawson and Norman Lamont.
Current role The current duties of the financial secretary to the Treasury include departmental responsibility for the Office for National Statistics and the Royal Mint. The financial secretary to the Treasury had departmental responsibility for HM Customs & Excise until the merger with the Inland Revenue to form HM Revenue & Customs.
List of financial secretaries to the Treasury since 1830 see Secretary to the Treasury for earlier incumbents
Colour key (for political parties):
Financial Secretary Term of office Political party Prime Minister Chancellor Thomas Spring Rice 26 November 1830 6 June 1834 Whig Earl Grey Viscount Althorp Francis Baring 6 June 1834 14 November 1834 Whig Viscount Melbourne Office not in use 15 November 1834 – 19 December 1834 Duke of Wellington Lord Denman Thomas Fremantle 20 December 1834 April 1835 Conservativeor Tory Peel Peel Francis Baring 21 April 1835 26 August 1839 Whig Viscount Melbourne Spring Rice Robert Gordon 6 September 1839 1841 Whig Baring Richard More O'Ferrall 9 June 1841 30 August 1841 Whig George Clerk 8 September 1841 1845 Conservative Peel Goulburn Edward Cardwell 4 February 1845 29 June 1846 Conservative John Parker 7 July 1846 1849 Whig Lord John Russell Wood William Goodenough Hayter 22 May 1849 1850 Whig George Cornewall Lewis 9 July 1850 1852 Whig George Alexander Hamilton 2 March 1852 1852 Conservative Earl of Derby Disraeli James Wilson 5 January 1853 19 February 1858 Whig Earl of Aberdeen Gladstone Viscount Palmerston Lewis George Alexander Hamilton 2 March 1858 1859 Conservative Earl of Derby Disraeli Stafford Northcote 21 January 1859 1859 Conservative Samuel Laing 24 June 1859 1860 Liberal Viscount Palmerston Gladstone Frederick Peel 2 November 1860 1865 Liberal Hugh Childers 19 August 1865 26 June 1866 Liberal Earl Russell George Ward Hunt 14 July 1866 29 February 1868 Conservative Earl of Derby Disraeli George Sclater-Booth 4 March 1868 1 December 1868 Conservative Disraeli Hunt Acton Smee Ayrton 9 December 1868 1869 Liberal Gladstone Lowe James Stansfeld 2 November 1869 1871 Liberal William Edward Baxter 17 March 1871 11 August 1873 Liberal John Dodson 11 August 1873 1874 Liberal Gladstone William Henry Smith 21 February 1874 1877 Conservative Disraeli Northcote Frederick Stanley 14 August 1877 1878 Conservative Henry Selwin-Ibbetson 2 April 1878 21 April 1880 Conservative Lord Frederick Cavendish 28 April 1880 1882 Liberal Gladstone Gladstone Leonard Courtney 6 May 1882 12 December 1884 Liberal Childers J. T. Hibbert 12 December 1884 9 June 1885 Liberal Henry Holland 24 June 1885 1885 Conservative Marquess of Salisbury Hicks Beach Matthew White Ridley 1885 1886 Conservative William Jackson 1886 28 January 1886 Conservative Henry Fowler 6 February 1886 20 July 1886 Liberal Gladstone Harcourt William Jackson 3 August 1886 1891 Conservative Marquess of Salisbury Lord Randolph Churchill Viscount Goschen John Eldon Gorst 9 November 1891 11 August 1892 Conservative J. T. Hibbert 18 August 1892 22 June 1895 Liberal Gladstone Harcourt Earl of Rosebery Robert William Hanbury 29 June 1895 1900 Conservative Marquess of Salisbury Hicks Beach Austen Chamberlain 7 November 1900 11 August 1902 Liberal Unionist Marquess of Salisbury Hicks Beach Balfour William Fisher 11 August 1902 April 1903 Conservative Ritchie Arthur Elliot 10 April 1903 9 October 1903 Conservative Victor Cavendish 9 October 1903 5 December 1905 Liberal Unionist A. Chamberlain Reginald McKenna 12 December 1905 23 January 1907 Liberal Campbell-Bannerman Asquith Walter Runciman 29 January 1907 1908 Liberal Charles Hobhouse 12 April 1908 1911 Liberal Asquith Lloyd George Thomas McKinnon Wood 23 October 1911 13 February 1912 Liberal Charles Masterman 13 February 1912 11 February 1914 Liberal Edwin Montagu 11 February 1914 3 February 1915 Liberal Francis Dyke Acland 3 February 1915 25 May 1915 Liberal Edwin Montagu 26 May 1915 9 July 1916 Liberal Asquith McKenna Thomas McKinnon Wood 9 July 1916 5 December 1916 Liberal Hardman Lever 15 December 1916 19 May 1919 None Lloyd George LawA. Chamberlain Stanley Baldwin 18 June 1917 1 April 1921 Conservative Hilton Young 21 April 1921 19 October 1922 Liberal Horne John Hills 6 November 1922 1923 Conservative Law Baldwin Archibald Boyd-Carpenter 12 March 1923 May 1923 Conservative William Joynson-Hicks 25 May 1923 27 August 1923 Conservative Baldwin Walter Guinness 5 October 1923 1923 Conservative N. Chamberlain William Graham 23 January 1924 4 November 1924 Labour MacDonald Snowden Walter Guinness 11 November 1924 5 November 1925 Conservative Baldwin Churchill Ronald McNeill 5 November 1925 1 November 1927 Conservative Arthur Samuel 1 November 1927 5 June 1929 Conservative Frederick Pethick-Lawrence 11 June 1929 August 1931 Labour MacDonald Snowden Walter Elliot 24 August 1931 29 September 1932 Unionist MacDonald MacDonald N. Chamberlain Leslie Hore-Belisha 29 September 1932 29 June 1934 Liberal National Duff Cooper 29 June 1934 22 November 1935 Conservative Baldwin William Morrison 22 November 1935 29 October 1936 Conservative John Colville 29 October 1936 1938 Unionist N. Chamberlain Simon Euan Wallace 16 May 1938 21 April 1939 Conservative Harry Crookshank 21 April 1939 7 February 1943 Conservative N. Chamberlain Churchill Wood Ralph Assheton 7 February 1943 29 October 1944 Conservative Anderson Osbert Peake 29 October 1944 26 July 1945 Conservative Churchill William Glenvil Hall 4 August 1945 2 March 1950 Labour Attlee Dalton Cripps Douglas Jay 2 March 1950 26 October 1951 Labour Gaitskell John Boyd-Carpenter 30 October 1951 28 July 1954 Conservative Churchill Butler Henry Brooke 28 July 1954 January 1957 Conservative Eden Macmillan Enoch Powell 14 January 1957 15 January 1958 Conservative Macmillan Thorneycroft Jack Simon 15 January 1958 22 October 1959 Conservative Heathcoat-Amory Edward Boyle 22 October 1959 16 July 1962 Conservative Lloyd Anthony Barber 16 July 1962 20 October 1963 Conservative Maudling Alan Green 23 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Douglas-Home Niall MacDermot 21 October 1964 29 August 1967 Labour Wilson Callaghan Harold Lever 29 August 1967 13 October 1969 Labour Jenkins Dick Taverne 13 October 1969 19 June 1970 Labour Patrick Jenkin 19 June 1970 7 April 1972 Conservative Heath Macleod Barber Terrence Higgins 7 April 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative John Gilbert 8 March 1974 17 June 1975 Labour Wilson Healey Robert Sheldon 17 June 1975 4 May 1979 Labour Callaghan Nigel Lawson 4 May 1979 14 September 1981 Conservative Thatcher Howe Nicholas Ridley September 1981 11 June 1983 Conservative John Moore 19 October 1983 21 May 1986 Conservative Lawson Norman Lamont 21 May 1986 24 July 1989 Conservative Peter Lilley 24 July 1989 14 July 1990 Conservative Major Francis Maude 14 July 1990 9 April 1992 Conservative Major Lamont Stephen Dorrell 11 April 1992 11 July 1994 Conservative Clarke George Young 11 July 1994 5 July 1995 Conservative Michael Jack 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative Dawn Primarolo 2 May 1997 4 January 1999 Labour Blair Brown Barbara Roche 4 January 1999 29 July 1999 Labour Stephen Timms 29 July 1999 8 June 2001 Labour Paul Boateng 8 June 2001 May 2002 Labour Ruth Kelly May 2002 9 September 2004 Labour Stephen Timms 12 September 2004 6 May 2005 Labour John Healey 6 May 2005 28 June 2007 Labour Jane Kennedy 28 June 2007 5 October 2008 Labour Brown Darling Stephen Timms 5 October 2008 11 May 2010 Labour Mark Hoban 13 May 2010 4 September 2012 Conservative Cameron Osborne Greg Clark 4 September 2012 7 October 2013 Conservative Sajid Javid 7 October 2013 9 April 2014 Conservative Nicky Morgan 9 April 2014 15 July 2014 Conservative David Gauke 15 July 2014 14 July 2016 Conservative Cameron Jane Ellison 15 July 2016 9 June 2017 Conservative May Hammond Mel Stride 12 June 2017 23 May 2019 Conservative May Jesse Norman 23 May 2019 16 September 2021 Conservative Johnson Javid Sunak Lucy Frazer 16 September 2021 7 September 2022 Conservative Zahawi Andrew Griffith 8 September 2022 27 October 2022 Conservative Truss Kwarteng Hunt Victoria Atkins 27 October 2022 13 November 2023 Conservative Sunak Nigel Huddleston 13 November 2023 5 July 2024 Conservative Spencer Livermore, Baron Livermore 8 July 2024 20 July 2026 Labour Starmer ReevesJames Murray21 July 2026IncumbentLabourBurnhamHealey
See also Secretary to the Treasury Chief Secretary to the Treasury
References
External links British History Online List of Secretaries to the Treasury Treasury Ministerial responsibilities