Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (CST) is the most senior deputy finance minister in the United Kingdom.

The post nominally ranks as the third highest ministerial office in the Treasury. CST is after the First Lord of the Treasury (being Prime Minister) and the Second Lord of the Treasury (being Chancellor of the Exchequer). However, the role of Lord Chancellor of the Exchequer is always held by the prime minister, who is nominally only within the Treasury.

The office was created in 1961. This was made to share responsibility for representing the Treasury with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

List of Chief Secretaries to the Treasury

• Henry Brooke (9 October 1961 - 13 July 1962)
• John Boyd-Carpenter (13 July 1962 - 16 October 1964)
• Jack Diamond (16 October 1964 - 19 June 1970)
• Maurice Macmillan (23 June 1970 - 7 April 1972)
• Patrick Jenkin (7 April 1972 - 8 January 1974)
• Tom Boardman (8 January 1974 - 4 March 1974)
• Joel Barnett (5 March 1974 - 4 May 1975)
• John Biffen (4 May 1975 - 5 January 1981)
• Leon Brittan (5 January 1981 - 11 June 1983)
• Peter Rees (11 June 1983 - 2 September 1985)
• John MacGregor (2 September 1985 - 13 June 1987)
• John Major (13 June 1987 - 24 July 1989)
• Norman Lamont (24 July 1989 - 28 November 1990)
• David Mellor (28 November 1990 - 11 April 1992)
• Michael Portillo (11 April 1992 - 20 July 1994)
• Jonathan Aitken (20 July 1994 - 5 May 1995)
• William Waldegrave (5 July 1995 - 2 May 1997)
• Alistair Darling (3 May 1997 - 27 July 1998)
• Stephen Byers (27 July 1998 - 23 December 1998)
• Alan Milburn (23 December 1998 - 11 October 1999)
• Andrew Smith (11 October 1999 - 29 May 2002)
• Paul Boateng (29 May 2002 - 5 May 2005)
• Des Browne (6 May 2005 - 5 May 2006)
• Stephen Timms (5 May 2006 - 28 June 2007)
• Andy Burnham (28 June 2007 - 24 January 2008)
• Yvette Cooper (24 January 2008 - 5 June 2009)
• Liam Bryne (5 June 2009 - 11 May 2010)
• David Laws (12 May 2010 - 29 May 2010)
• Danny Alexander (29 May 2010 - 8 May 2015)
• Greg Hands (8 May 2015 - 14 July 2016)
• David Gauke (14 July 2016 - 11 June 2017)
• Liz Truss (11 June 2017 - 24 July 2019)
• Rishi Sunak (24 July 2019 - 13 February 2020)
• Steve Barclay (13 February 2020 - 15 September 2021)
• Simon Clarke (15 September 2021 - 6 September 2022)
• Chris Philp (6 September 2022 - 14 October 2022)
• Edward Argar (14 October 2022 - 25 October 2022)
• John Glen (25 October 2022 - 13 November 2023)
• Laura Trott (13 November 2023 - 4 July 2024)
• Darren Jones (5 July 2024 - present)