Secretary to the Treasury


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 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, is a Treasury minister.
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 Economic Secretary to the Treasury; the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury; and the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury.
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 Chief Whip in the House of Commons. The office can be seen as a sinecure, allowing the Chief Whip to draw a government salary, attend Cabinet, and use a Downing Street residence.

Current Secretaries to the Treasury

Tom Scholar, the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the Civil Service head of the department.

Secretaries to the Treasury

1660–1830

YearSenior SecretaryJunior Secretary
11 June 1711William LowndesThomas Harley
November 1714William LowndesJohn Taylor
12 October 1715William LowndesHoratio Walpole
April 1717William LowndesCharles Stanhope
April 1721William LowndesHoratio Walpole
January 1724John ScropeHoratio Walpole
24 June 1730John ScropeEdward Walpole
1 June 1739John ScropeStephen Fox
30 April 1741John ScropeHenry Legge
15 July 1742John ScropeHenry Furnese
30 November 1742John ScropeJohn Jeffreys
1 May 1746John ScropeJames West
9 April 1752James WestNicholas Hardinge
18 November 1756Nicholas HardingeSamuel Martin
5 July 1757Nicholas HardingeJames West
9 April 1758James West
31 May 1758James WestSamuel Martin
29 May 1762Samuel MartinJeremiah Dyson
18 April 1763Jeremiah DysonCharles Jenkinson
24 August 1763Charles JenkinsonThomas Whateley
30 September 1765William MellishCharles Lowndes
18 August 1766Sir Grey Cooper, BtThomas Bradshaw
16 October 1770Sir Grey Cooper, BtJohn Robinson
29 March 1782Henry StracheyEdward Chamberlain
6 April 1782Henry StracheyRichard Burke
15 July 1782Thomas OrdeGeorge Rose
5 April 1783Richard BurkeRichard Brinsley Sheridan
27 December 1783George RoseThomas Steele
26 February 1791George RoseCharles Long
24 March 1801John Hiley AddingtonCharles Long
9 April 1801John Hiley AddingtonNicholas Vansittart
8 July 1802Nicholas VansittartJohn Sargent
21 May 1804William HuskissonWilliam Sturges Bourne
10 February 1806Nicholas VansittartJohn King
2 September 1806Nicholas VansittartWilliam Henry Fremantle
1 April 1807Hon. Henry WellesleyWilliam Huskisson
5 April 1809Charles ArbuthnotWilliam Huskisson
8 December 1809Charles ArbuthnotRichard Wharton
7 January 1814Charles ArbuthnotStephen Rumbold Lushington
7 February 1823Stephen Rumbold LushingtonJohn Charles Herries
19 April 1827Joseph PlantaThomas Frankland Lewis
28 January 1828Joseph PlantaGeorge Robert Dawson

1830–present