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Minister for the Cabinet Office

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United Kingdom
Minister for the Cabinet Office
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
since 8 July 2024
Cabinet Office
StyleThe Right Honourable
(within the UK and Commonwealth)
TypeMinister of the Crown
StatusMinister of State
Member of
Reports to
SeatWestminster
NominatorPrime Minister
AppointerThe Monarch
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Salary£121,326 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £86,584 MP salary)[2]

The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The position is currently the third highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.[3]

From the second May ministry until mid-2019 when the first Johnson ministry came to power, it functioned as an alternative title to Deputy Prime Minister or First Secretary of State. This practice ended when Dominic Raab was appointed as First Secretary of State on 24 July 2019, by Boris Johnson. Since a reshuffle in February 2022, the role attends Cabinet but not as a full member.[4]

The corresponding Shadow Minister is the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Function and status

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The Cabinet Office has a primary responsibility to support the work of the Prime Minister and ensure the effective running of government.[5] Within this set-up, the Minister for the Cabinet Office has been seen to have varying responsibilities and stature in the government. The role is a flexible one and has variously been described as one or several of the following under different office-holders (and sometimes conflicting accounts of the status of the same office holder):[6]

  • Monitoring the co-ordination of the work of government departments
  • Chairing or sitting on several Cabinet Committees
  • An additional title to indicate special responsibility
  • An additional title to indicate seniority

The government describes the minister for the Cabinet Office as being "in overall charge of and responsible for the policy and work of the department, and attends Cabinet".[7]

Damian Green held the office in 2017, simultaneously with the office of First Secretary of State. Green chaired numerous Cabinet Committees and filled in for the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions. By virtue of his responsibilities and as First Secretary of State, he was considered the de facto Deputy Prime Minister.[8] Upon the appointment of David Lidington in 2018, Lidington retained the responsibilities Green had held, but the title of First Secretary of State remained vacant (as did the office of Deputy Prime Minister, vacant since 2015).

As a result, the office in its 2017–2019 absorbed the responsibilities of a de facto Deputy Prime Minister, without either of the associated titles usually granted to individuals in the British Government (First Secretary of State or Deputy Prime Minister). In 2019, new Prime Minister Boris Johnson ended this arrangement with the appointment of a new First Secretary of State, Dominic Raab, before upgrading his title again to Deputy Prime Minister in 2021.

Current minister and responsibilities

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Nick Thomas-Symonds has served as the Minister for the Cabinet Office since 8 July 2024. He also serves as Paymaster General alongside his position.

The most recent responsibilities are:

  • Oversight of all Cabinet Office policy and appointments
  • Oversight of transition period activity and the United Kingdom's future relations with the EU
  • Devolution issues and Strengthening the Union
  • Leading cross-government and public sector transformation and efficiency
  • Oversight of cross-government work on veterans’ issues
  • Oversight of Cabinet Office responsibilities on National Security and resilience, and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, including COVID-19
  • Supporting the coordination of the cross-government and the devolution aspects of the response to COVID-19

Ministers for the Cabinet Office

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Every occupant of the position has simultaneously held a sinecure office, this being Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from Clark to Byrne, Paymaster General from Jowell to Gummer, and First Secretary of State with Green. Oliver Dowden, and all holders since Michael Ellis, including the incumbent Nick Thomas-Symonds, have held the office of Paymaster General, while David Lidington, Michael Gove and Steve Barclay held the role of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Minister Term of office Concurrent office Party Prime Minister
David Clark 2 May 1997 27 July 1998 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Labour Blair
Jack Cunningham 27 July 1998 11 October 1999
Mo Mowlam 11 October 1999 7 June 2001
The Lord Macdonald of Tradeston 11 June 2001 13 June 2003
Douglas Alexander 13 June 2003 8 September 2004
Alan Milburn 8 September 2004 6 May 2005
John Hutton 6 May 2005 2 November 2005
Jim Murphy (acting) 5 November 2005 5 May 2006
Hilary Armstrong 5 May 2006 28 June 2007
Ed Miliband 28 June 2007 3 October 2008 Brown
Liam Byrne 3 October 2008 5 June 2009
Tessa Jowell 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Paymaster General
Francis Maude 12 May 2010 11 May 2015 Conservative Cameron
(Coalition)
Matthew Hancock 11 May 2015 14 July 2016 Cameron
(II)
Ben Gummer 14 July 2016 11 June 2017 May
Damian Green 11 June 2017 20 December 2017 First Secretary of State
David Lidington 8 January 2018 24 July 2019 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Oliver Dowden 24 July 2019 13 February 2020 Paymaster General Johnson
Michael Gove 13 February 2020 15 September 2021 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Steve Barclay 15 September 2021 8 February 2022 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Downing Street Chief of Staff
Michael Ellis 8 February 2022 6 September 2022 Paymaster General
Edward Argar 6 September 2022 14 October 2022 Truss
Chris Philp 14 October 2022 25 October 2022
Jeremy Quin 25 October 2022 13 November 2023 Sunak
John Glen 13 November 2023 5 July 2024
Nick Thomas-Symonds 8 July 2024 Incumbent Labour Starmer

Ministers of State at the Cabinet Office

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Minister of State for the Cabinet Office

Minister Assisting the Deputy Prime Minister

Minister of State at the Cabinet Office

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster - GOV.UK".
  4. ^ "Minister for the Cabinet Office - GOV.UK".
  5. ^ "What We Do". Cabinet Office. Government of the United Kingdom.
  6. ^ "Fourth Report: The Cabinet and the Centre of Government". Constitution Committee of the House of Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Minister for the Cabinet Office". Cabinet Office. Government of the United Kingdom.
  8. ^ Cheung, Aron (27 July 2017). "Cabinet committees show Damian Green is de facto Deputy PM". Institute for Government.
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