# Minister for the Cabinet Office

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

## Function and status

The Cabinet Office has a primary responsibility to support the work of the Prime Minister and ensure the effective running of government. 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):
* 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".
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. 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

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

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

## Ministers of State at the Cabinet Office

Minister of State for the Cabinet Office
* 1997: Derek Foster
* 1997–1999: Peter Kilfoyle
* 1998–2001: The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
* 1999–2001: Ian McCartney
* 2001: The Baroness Morgan of Huyton
* 2001–2002: Barbara Roche
* 2002–2003: Douglas Alexander
* 2004–2005: David Miliband
Minister Assisting the Deputy Prime Minister
* 2012–2015: David Laws
Minister of State at the Cabinet Office
* 2020–2022: The Lord True
* 2021–2022: Alok Sharma (President for COP26)
* 2021: The Lord Frost (Minister of State for EU Relations)
* 2022–2024: The Baroness Neville-Rolfe
* 2024: Steve Baker (with responsibility for Windsor Framework implementation)
* 2025- Douglas Alexander