Thefinancial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post inHM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after thefirst lord of the Treasury, thechancellor of the Exchequer, thechief secretary to the Treasury, and thepaymaster 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 theMinister for the Cabinet Office to allow the holder of that office to draw a government salary. In practice it is, therefore, the third most senior Treasury minister and has attendedCabinet in the past.
The role of Financial Secretary to the Treasury was created in 1711 and was known as the JuniorSecretary to the Treasury to help deal with the increasing workload of theSenior Secretary to the Treasury. The first Junior Secretary to the Treasury is recorded asThomas 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 asinecure post for theChief 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. While the exact date this change occurred is disputed it is agreed that by 1830 the distinction was complete.[2]
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.
Note 1.^ Between June 1917 and May 1919 Lever and Baldwin jointly held the position of Financial Secretary. Note 2.^ As Baldwin was both Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer Joynson-Hicks was a member of the Cabinet.
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