A parliamentary private secretary (PPS) is a member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a government minister or a shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the "eyes and ears" of the minister in the House of Commons.

PPSs are junior to parliamentary under-secretaries of state, a ministerial post salaried by one or more departments.

Duties and powers of a PPS

Although not paid other than their salary as an MP, PPSs help the government track backbench opinion in Parliament. They are subject to some restrictions, as outlined in the Ministerial Code of the British government, but are not members of the Government. 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.

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. According to Philip W. Buck, a professor of political science at Stanford University:

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 occurred between March 2026 and May 2026, with some PPSs being promoted to ministerial roles and others resigning following the 2026 United Kingdom local elections.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Parliamentary Private Secretaries

!Office or ministerial team

!Incumbent

!Parliamentary Private Secretary

|-

| rowspan="3" |Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Union and Minister for the Civil Service

| rowspan="3" |Keir Starmer

|Catherine Fookes

|-

|Abena Oppong-Asare

|-

|Jon Pearce

|-

! colspan="3" |Cabinet Office

|-

| rowspan="3" |Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Minister for Intergovernmental Relations and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

| rowspan="3" |Darren Jones

|Claire Hazelgrove

|-

|Alice Macdonald

|-

|Sean Woodcock

|-

! colspan="3" |HM Treasury

|-

| rowspan="3" |Chancellor of the Exchequer

| rowspan="3" |Rachel Reeves

|Helena Dollimore

|-

|Alistair Strathern

|-

|Kirith Entwistle

|-

! colspan="3" |Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

|-

| rowspan="3" |Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

| rowspan="3" |Steve Reed

|Tom Hayes

|-

|Harpreet Uppal

|-

|Chris Vince

|-

! colspan="3" |Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

| rowspan="2" |Yvette Cooper

|Jessica Toale

|-

|Johanna Baxter

|-

! colspan="3" |Home Office

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for the Home Department

| rowspan="2" |Shabana Mahmood

|Sarah Coombes

|-

|Michael Payne

|-

! colspan="3" |Ministry of Defence

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Defence

| rowspan="2" |John Healey

|Pamela Nash

|-

|Rachel Hopkins

|-

! colspan="3" |Ministry of Justice

|-

| rowspan="2" |Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

| rowspan="2" |David Lammy

|Joe Powell

|-

|Linsey Farnsworth

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Health and Social Care

|-

| rowspan="3" |Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

| rowspan="3" |James Murray

|David Burton-Sampson

|-

|Laura Kyrke-Smith

|-

|Oliver Ryan

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Education

|-

| rowspan="3" |Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities

| rowspan="3" |Bridget Phillipson

|Alan Strickland

|-

|Emma Foody

|-

|Amanda Martin

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Energy Security & Net Zero

|-

| rowspan="3" |Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

| rowspan="3" |Ed Miliband

|Anna Gelderd

|-

|Connor Rand

|-

|Lloyd Hatton

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Work and Pensions

|-

| rowspan="3" |Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

| rowspan="3" |Pat McFadden

|David Pinto-Duschinsky

|-

|Tim Roca

|-

|Elaine Stewart

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Business and Trade

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade

| rowspan="2" |Peter Kyle

|Jeevun Sandher

|-

|Marie Tidball

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

| rowspan="2" |Liz Kendall

|Callum Anderson

|-

|Lauren Sullivan

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Transport

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Transport

| rowspan="2" |Heidi Alexander

|Liam Conlon

|-

|Julie Minns

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

| rowspan="2" | Emma Reynolds

|Andrew Pakes

|-

|Jayne Kirkham

|-

! colspan="3" |Department for Culture, Media and Sport

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

| rowspan="2" |Lisa Nandy

|Jack Abbott

|-

|Lola McEvoy

|-

! colspan="3" |Law Officers

|-

| rowspan="2" |Attorney General

| rowspan="2" |Baron Hermer

|Alex Barros-Curtis

|-

|Kevin Bonavia

|-

! colspan="3" |Northern Ireland Office

|-

|Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

|Hilary Benn

|Matt Rodda

|-

! colspan="3" |Office of the Secretary of State for Wales

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Wales

| rowspan="2" |Jo Stevens

|Becky Gittins

|-

|Gill German

|-

! colspan="3" |Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland

|-

| rowspan="2" |Secretary of State for Scotland

| rowspan="2" |Douglas Alexander

|Alison Taylor

|-

|Frank McNally

|-

! colspan="3" |Office of the Leader of the House of Commons

|-

|Leader of the House of Commons

|Alan Campbell

|Leigh Ingham

|-

! colspan="3" |Office of the Leader of the House of Lords

|-

|Leader of the House of Lords

|Baroness Smith of Basildon

|Paul Waugh

|-

|}

Notable Parliamentary Private Secretaries 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

See also

  • Parliamentary secretary
  • Parliamentary under-secretary of state
  • Permanent secretary
  • Private secretary
  • Principal Private Secretary

References

  • BBC: A-Z of Politics
  • TheyWorkForYou: List of MPs and the posts that they hold
  • Ministerial code related to PPSs
  • Parliamentary private secretaries, Institute for Government explainer