View source for Minister for the Cabinet Office

{{short description|Senior ministerial position in the Government of the United Kingdom}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = {{small|[[United Kingdom]]}}<br> Minister for the Cabinet Office
| insignia = Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
| insigniacaption = [[Royal Arms]] of [[His Majesty's Government]]
| flag = 
| flagsize = 
| flagcaption = 
| image = Nick Thomas Symonds official portrait 7 Jul 2024 (cropped 2).jpg
| incumbent = [[Nick Thomas-Symonds]]
| incumbentsince = 8 July 2024
| department = [[Cabinet Office]]
| style = [[The Right Honourable]]<br />{{small|(within the UK and Commonwealth)}}
| type = [[Minister of the Crown]]
| status = [[Minister of State (United Kingdom)|Minister of State]]
| member_of = {{ubl|[[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] {{small|(attending)}}|[[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]]}}
| reports_to = {{blist|[[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]|[[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]<br>[[Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office]]}}
| seat = [[Westminster]]
| nominator = Prime Minister
| appointer = [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|The Monarch]]
| appointer_qualified = {{small|(on the advice of the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]])}}
| termlength = [[At His Majesty's pleasure]]
| salary = £121,326 per annum {{small|(2022)}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1124173/2022-12-07-Ministerial-Salaries-22-23-table.pdf |date=15 December 2022}}</ref><br />(including £86,584 [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] salary)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pay and expenses for MPs |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/ |access-date=15 December 2022 |website=parliament.uk}}</ref>
| website = 
}}

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/chancellor-of-the-duchy-of-lancaster|title = Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – GOV.UK}}</ref>

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 of the United Kingdom|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-cabinet-office|title=Minister for the Cabinet Office – GOV.UK}}</ref>

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 of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] and ensure the effective running of government.<ref name="Cabinet Office Website">{{cite web|title=What We Do|date=7 August 2025 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office|department=Cabinet Office|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom}}</ref> 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):<ref>{{cite web|title=Fourth Report: The Cabinet and the Centre of Government|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldconst/30/3005.htm#a22|publisher=UK Parliament|department=Constitution Committee of the House of Lords|access-date=9 January 2018}}</ref>

* 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".<ref name="Minister for the Cabinet Office">{{cite web|title=Minister for the Cabinet Office|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-cabinet-office|department=Cabinet Office|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom}}</ref>

[[Damian Green]] held the office in 2017, simultaneously with the office of [[First Secretary of State]]. Green chaired numerous [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|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 of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]].<ref name="Institute for Government">{{cite web|last1=Cheung|first1=Aron|title=Cabinet committees show Damian Green is de facto Deputy PM|url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/cabinet-committees-show-damian-green-de-facto-deputy-pm|publisher=Institute for Government|date=27 July 2017}}</ref> 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) until 2019.

As a result, the office between 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 of the United Kingdom|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 (British politician)|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.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan=3 | Minister
! colspan=2 | Term of office
! Concurrent office
! Party
! colspan=2 | Prime Minister

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Lord Clark of Windermere crop 2, 2019.jpg|60px]]
| [[David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere|David Clark]]
| 2 May 1997
| 27 July 1998
| rowspan=11 | [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
| rowspan=12 | [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
! rowspan=9 style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=9 | [[Tony Blair|Blair]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Blank.svg|60px]]
| [[Jack Cunningham]]
| 27 July 1998
| 11 October 1999

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Mo Mowlam official portrait.jpg|79x79px]]
| [[Mo Mowlam]]
| 11 October 1999
| 7 June 2001

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Khalid with Lord Mcdonalds (cropped).jpg|79x79px]]
| [[Gus Macdonald|The Lord Macdonald of Tradeston]]
| 11 June 2001
| 13 June 2003

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Douglas Alexander at the India Economic Summit 2008.jpg|80x80px]]
| [[Douglas Alexander]]
| 13 June 2003
| 8 September 2004

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Alan Milburn 2014.jpg|60px]]
| [[Alan Milburn]]
| 8 September 2004
| 6 May 2005

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Msc 2009-Sunday, 11.00 - 12.30 Uhr-Zwez 005 Hutton detail.jpg|60px]]
| [[John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness|John Hutton]]
| 6 May 2005
| 2 November 2005

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Jim Murphy.jpg|60px]]
| [[Jim Murphy]] (acting)
| 5 November 2005
| [[2006 British cabinet reshuffle|5 May 2006]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Hilary armstrong a.jpg|87x87px]]
| [[Hilary Armstrong]]
| [[2006 British cabinet reshuffle|5 May 2006]]
| 28 June 2007

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Ed Miliband election infobox.jpg|60px]]
| [[Ed Miliband]]
| 28 June 2007
| 3 October 2008
! rowspan=3 style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=3 | [[Gordon Brown|Brown]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Liam Byrne (cropped).JPG|80x80px]]
| [[Liam Byrne]]
| 3 October 2008
| 5 June 2009

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Tessa Jowell Cropped.jpg|60px]]
| [[Tessa Jowell]]
| 5 June 2009
| 11 May 2010
| rowspan=4 | [[Paymaster General]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office.jpg|75x75px]]
| [[Francis Maude]]
| 12 May 2010
| 11 May 2015
| rowspan=13 | [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
! style="background-color:#DDD" |
| [[David Cameron|Cameron]]<br/>{{Small|([[Cameron–Clegg coalition|Coalition]])}}

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Matt Hancock crop 2.jpg|60px]]
| [[Matthew Hancock]]
| 11 May 2015
| 14 July 2016
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[David Cameron|Cameron]]<br/>{{Small|([[Second Cameron ministry|II]])}}

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Ben Gummer 2016.jpg|60px]]
| [[Ben Gummer]]
| 14 July 2016
| 11 June 2017
! rowspan=3 style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=3 | [[Theresa May|May]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Damian Green crop 2.jpg|60px]]
| [[Damian Green]]
| 11 June 2017
| [[Second May ministry#Changes|20 December 2017]]
| [[First Secretary of State]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Mr David Lidington crop 2.jpg|60px]]
| [[David Lidington]]
| [[2018 British cabinet reshuffle|8 January 2018]]
| 24 July 2019
| [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Oliver Dowden MP crop 2.jpg|60px]]
| [[Oliver Dowden]]
| 24 July 2019
| [[2020 British cabinet reshuffle|13 February 2020]]
| [[Paymaster General]]
! rowspan=4 style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=4 | [[Boris Johnson|Johnson]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Michael Gove MP crop 2.jpg|60px]]
| [[Michael Gove]]
| [[2020 British cabinet reshuffle|13 February 2020]]
| 15 September 2021
| [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP crop 2.jpg|60px]]
| [[Steve Barclay]]
| 15 September 2021
| 8 February 2022
| [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]<br/>[[Downing Street Chief of Staff]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Michael Ellis MP crop 2.jpg|center|60px]]
| [[Michael Ellis (British politician)|Michael Ellis]]
| 8 February 2022
| 6 September 2022
| rowspan=6 | [[Paymaster General]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Edward Argar Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2022 (cropped).jpg|center|79x79px]]
| [[Edward Argar]]
| 6 September 2022
| 14 October 2022
! rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | [[Liz Truss|Truss]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Chris Philp MP crop 2.jpg|center|60px]]
| [[Chris Philp]]
| 14 October 2022
| 25 October 2022

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Jeremy Quin Official Cabinet Portrait, October 2022 (cropped).jpg|center|80x80px]]
| [[Jeremy Quin]]
| 25 October 2022
| [[November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle|13 November 2023]]
! rowspan=2  style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | [[Rishi Sunak|Sunak]]

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:John Glen Official Cabinet Portrait, October 2022 (cropped).jpg|center|79x79px]]
| [[John Glen (politician)|John Glen]]
| [[November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle|13 November 2023]]
| 5 July 2024

|- style="height:1em"
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Nick Thomas Symonds official portrait 7 Jul 2024 (cropped).jpg|center|79x79px]]
| [[Nick Thomas-Symonds]]
| 8 July 2024
| Incumbent
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
! style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[Starmer]]

|}

==Ministers of State at the Cabinet Office==
'''Minister of State for the Cabinet Office''' 

* 1997: [[Derek Foster, Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland|Derek Foster]]
* 1997–1999: [[Peter Kilfoyle]]
* 1998–2001: [[Charlie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton|The Lord Falconer of Thoroton]]
* 1999–2001: [[Ian McCartney]]
* 2001: [[Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton|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 in the Cabinet Office'''

* 2020–2022: [[Nicholas True, Baron True|The Lord True]]
* 2021–2022: [[Alok Sharma]] (President for [[COP26]])
* 2021: [[David Frost, Baron Frost|The Lord Frost]] (Minister of State for EU Relations)
* 2022–2024: [[Lucy Neville-Rolfe|The Baroness Neville-Rolfe]]
'''Minister of State in the Cabinet Office'''
* 2024: [[Steve Baker (politician)|Steve Baker]] (with responsibility for [[Windsor Framework]] implementation)
* 2025–present: [[Dan Jarvis]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-09-06 |title=Ministerial appointments: September 2025 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-5-september-2025 |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2025|reason=The listing has two MoSes "in the Cabinet Office", rather than one "in" and one "at".}}
* 2025–present: [[Anna Turley]]<ref name=":0" />
'''Minister of State at the Cabinet Office'''
* 2025: [[Douglas Alexander]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minister of State in the Cabinet Office – GOV.UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-of-state--185 |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=www.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|United Kingdom}}
* [https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office/about Cabinet Office]

{{Minister for the Cabinet Office}}
{{Cabinet Office}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabinet Office}}
[[Category:Cabinet Office (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1997 establishments in the United Kingdom]]