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Explainer

Parliamentary private secretaries

A parliamentary private secretary (PPS) is an MP who serves as an unpaid assistant to a government minister.

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What is a parliamentary private secretary?

A parliamentary private secretary (PPS) is an MP who serves as an unpaid assistant to a government minister or – in a few cases – a senior shadow minister, like the leader of the opposition.

The term should not be confused with the principal private secretary (PPS) – a senior civil servant who heads the office of a secretary of state – or with parliamentary secretaries, the most junior kind of minister.

What do parliamentary private secretaries do?

A parliamentary private secretary’s duties vary considerably depending on the minister they work alongside, with some choosing to involve the PPS more fully in the work of the department than others.

At the most basic level, the PPS will be used to pass notes and documents from civil servants to the minister while they are speaking in parliament.

Many PPSs will also have a role explaining and defending government positions to their fellow backbenchers. They can act as a minister’s ‘eyes and ears’ in the Commons, passing important parliamentary intelligence back to the department. Tim Loughton told the Institute for Government that it had become increasingly common for PPSs to organise ‘tearoom surgeries’ in which backbench MPs could raise matters with ministers directly – a notable formalisation of the PPS’s function.

Former ministers have told the Institute for Government how they used their PPS in this way. Gavin Barwell felt having a PPS kept him in touch with what colleagues were thinking during a period when ‘you spend most of your working life in the department’, while Mark Francois felt it made up for his inability to spend time listening to his colleagues in the tearooms. 

Other PPSs may be more directly involved in the life of the department. Alan Johnson described being involved with preparation for Treasury questions when he was PPS to the paymaster general. Francis Maude told the IfG that he was allowed to attend any meeting he wanted while PPS to then employment minister Peter Morrison.

Such involvement is not universal, however. It depends in part on the seniority of the PPS. Steve Brine recalled being given carte blanche to attend any of Jeremy Hunt’s meetings while PPS to the health secretary but was far less involved as a PPS to a junior minister in the Home Office, where it was the secretary of state’s PPS who attended the majority of meetings. It can also depend on ministerial temperament. Gavin Barwell told the IfG that while Greg Clark involved him in policy work, Michael Gove involved him only in the ‘more traditional’, parliamentary aspects of the job.

Does the prime minister have a parliamentary private secretary?

The prime minister also has a PPS – in some cases multiple PPSs: Boris Johnson had two and at some points even had three PPSs working for him. As of July 2024, Keir Starmer has two parliamentary private secretaries: Liz Twist and Chris Ward.

The prime minister’s PPSs perform a similar role to their colleagues in other departments but are often more closely involved with the work of government. Desmond Swayne, former PPS to David Cameron, told the IfG that he attended all cabinet meetings, as well as the 08:30 morning meeting that began the prime minister’s day. David Hanson, Tony Blair’s PPS, described similar levels of access, spending 20 hours a week with the PM and allowed to control six hours of his diary each week.

Rishi Sunak’s PPS – Craig Williams – was the source of controversy during the 2024 general election campaign, during which he was accused of profiting from his access to the prime minister by placing bets on the date of the election before it had been announced.

Are parliamentary private secretaries members of the government?

PPSs are not ministers and not part of the government frontbench, but many of the same restrictions apply to their conduct. The ministerial code states that "parliamentary private secretaries are expected to support the government in divisions in the House", and that "no parliamentary private secretary who votes against the government can retain his or her position". They do not speak in the Commons on matters related to their department and while they can and do serve on select committees, they are expected to withdraw themselves from inquiries concerning their department. They must also ”avoid associating themselves with recommendations critical of or embarrassing to the government”.

Despite being bound by many of the same rules as a government minister, PPSs lack many of the same privileges. They are not privy to the same level of sensitive information and cannot contribute to departmental discussions unless explicitly permitted by their minister. They do not speak for the government in an official capacity and do not answer questions from the frontbench.

What are the benefits to being a parliamentary private secretary?

Being a PPS is often considered the first rung on the ladder to becoming a government minister and is therefore coveted by ambitious MPs. Jo Johnson told the IfG that being a PPS “gave you a bit more of an understanding about some of the various things that a minister is required to do: the performance in the chamber, the performance in parliament”. Steve Brine described it as “perfect preparation for being a minister, in the sense that you see inside the machine.”

The degree of access PPSs enjoy can also help to compensate for the restrictions the role imposes. Alan Johnson was initially reluctant to become a Treasury PPS, fearing that it would mark the end of his campaign in the Commons for compensation for trawlermen, but accepted once the chief whip reminded him that he would be able to exert more pressure from within the Treasury in private than he ever would from the backbenches.

How many parliamentary private secretaries are there?

The cabinet manual – last updated in 2010 – says that all cabinet ministers and ministers of state are entitled to appoint a parliamentary private secretary, and this assertion is repeated in the ministerial code. This has not been usual practice since 2017, however, and it is now more common for secretaries of state to appoint one PPS of their own and a second for the wider ministerial team.

As of September 2024, there were 32 PPSs, down from a recorded peak of 52 in June 2022 and – we believe – the fewest number of PPSs since the 1970s, although it is difficult to verify this due to inconsistent reporting by the government.

For a time, the Cabinet Office released lists of PPSs more frequently than in the past – producing three lists in 2022 alone. These frequent publications were good for transparency but also indicated a particularly high level of turnover among PPSs.

Why is the appointment of PPSs sometimes controversial?

PPSs are obliged to support the government and consequently form part of the ‘payroll vote’. However, as they are not government ministers, they do not fall under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, which limits the number of ministers who may sit in the House of Commons to 95 at any one time. By increasing the number of PPSs, the government inflates the size of the payroll vote – evading limits set by parliament – and limits the number of MPs who can properly scrutinise government policy.

This must be balanced, however, with the benefits of having a body of parliamentary private secretaries, like improved links between government and parliament and the ability to train a new generation of ministers.

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