Parliamentary private secretary

Duties and powers of a PPS

Although not paid other than their salary as an MP,{{cite news |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626181302/http://explore.parliament.uk/Parliament.aspx?id=10047&glossary=true |archive-date=2007-06-26

A PPS can sit on select committees but must avoid "associating themselves with recommendations critical of, or embarrassing to the Government", and must not make statements or ask questions on matters affecting the minister's department. In particular, the PPS in the Department for Communities and Local Government may not participate in planning decisions or in the consideration of planning cases.{{ cite news |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070205140739/http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1144571#Parliamentary |archive-date = 2007-02-05

PPSs are not members of the government, and all efforts are made to avoid these positions being referred to as such. They are instead considered more simply as normal Members. However, their close confidence with ministers does impose obligations on every PPS. The guidelines surrounding the divulging of classified information by ministers to PPSs are rigid.

Ministers choose their own PPSs, but they are expected to consult the Chief Whip and must seek the written approval for each candidate from the prime minister.

Although not on the government payroll, PPSs are expected to act as part of the payroll vote, voting in line with the government on every division.

When on official Departmental business, a PPS receives travel and subsistence allowance paid out of government funds, as with formal members of the government. This makes the PPS the only type of unpaid advisor who receives reimbursement in the course of duty.

Overseas travel for PPSs must be approved by the Prime Minister and is granted only in exceptional cases.

The role in the career of MPs

The role of PPS is seen as a starting point for many MPs who aspire to become ministers themselves.

After the leaking of party details in emails associated with Desmond Swayne, PPS to David Cameron, a writer of the Thirsk and Malton Labour Party Constituency Blog commented:

Current Parliamentary Private Secretaries

an updated list of Parliamentary Private Secretaries was published on GOV.UK. The Leader of the Opposition usually has at least one Parliamentary Private Secretary as well. More recent changes can be seen at Starmer Ministry.

Notable Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister

Main article: Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister

While giving the holder a close-up view of the workings of government at the highest levels, relatively few Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister seem to have gone on to serve at the highest level of government themselves, although Sir Alec Douglas-Home served as prime minister in 1963–4, while Anthony Barber was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1970 to 1974, Robert Carr, Home Secretary, 1972–4, and Christopher Soames, Peter Shore, and Gavin Williamson, the future Secretary of State for Education, all went on to be senior Cabinet ministers.

• J. C. C. Davidson: to Bonar Law
• Alec Douglas-Home, Lord Dunglass: to Neville Chamberlain, 1937–1940
• Brendan Bracken: to Winston Churchill, 1940–1941
• Christopher Soames: to Winston Churchill, 1952–1955
• Robert Carr: to Sir Anthony Eden, 1955
• Anthony Barber: to Harold Macmillan, 1957–1959
• Peter Shore: to Harold Wilson, 1965–1966
• Timothy Kitson: to Edward Heath, 1970–1974
• Ian Gow: to Margaret Thatcher, 1979–1983
• Peter Morrison: to Margaret Thatcher, 1990
• Graham Bright: to John Major, 1990–1994
• Gavin Williamson: to David Cameron, 2013–2016
• George Hollingbery: to Theresa May, 2016–2017

References

References

1. Maer, Lucinda. (4 September 2017). "Parliamentary Private Secretaries". [[House of Commons Library]].
2. (December 2022). "Ministerial Code". gov.uk.
3. The Ministerial Code §3.10.
4. Ministerial Code §3.12.
5. The Ministerial Code §3.8.
6. The Ministerial Code §3.6.
7. The Ministerial Code §3.9.
8. Brazier, Rodney. (2020-09-07). "Rodney Brazier: Why is Her Majesty's Government so big?".
9. The Ministerial Code §3.11.
10. (1963). "The Early Start toward Cabinet Office, 1918–55". The Western Political Quarterly.
11. (19 November 2025). "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): November 2025".
12. "Parliamentary Private Secretary - Who are they and what do they do?".