Paymaster General

Last updated
United Kingdom
His Majesty's Paymaster General
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg
Official portrait of John Glen MP.jpg
Incumbent
John Glen
since 13 November 2023
Cabinet Office
Style Paymaster General
The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Appointer The King
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Inaugural holder Henry Parnell
Formation27 April 1836
Website Official website

His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is John Glen.

Contents

History

Until 1939 the Office of the Paymaster General was at 36 Whitehall (an extension of Horse Guards formerly occupied by the Paymaster to the Forces). 36 Whitehall (geograph 5346102).jpg
Until 1939 the Office of the Paymaster General was at 36 Whitehall (an extension of Horse Guards formerly occupied by the Paymaster to the Forces).

The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the positions of the offices of the Paymaster of the Forces (1661–1836), the Treasurer of the Navy (1546–1835), the Paymaster and Treasurer of Chelsea Hospital (responsible for Army pensions) (1681–1835) and the Treasurer of the Ordnance (1670–1835).

Initially, the Paymaster General only had responsibilities in relation to the armed services but in 1848 two more offices were merged into that of Paymaster General: the Paymaster of Exchequer Bills (1723–1848) and the Paymaster of the Civil Service (1834–1848), the latter followed by its Irish counterpart in 1861. They thus became 'the principal paying agent of the government and the banker for all government departments except the revenue departments and the National Debt Office'. [2]

From 1848 to 1868, the post was held concurrently with that of Vice-President of the Board of Trade.

The longest-serving holder of the post was Dawn Primarolo, whose portfolio covered HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue (which during her tenure became merged as HM Revenue and Customs) and who served from 1999 to 2007.

Role

Today, the Paymaster General is usually a minister without portfolio available for any duties which the government of the day may designate. The post may be combined with another office, or may be left unfilled.

Though the Paymaster General was titular head of the Paymaster General's Office, their executive functions were delegated to the Assistant Paymaster General, a permanent civil servant who (though acting in the name of the Paymaster General) was answerable to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. [2]

Office of HM Paymaster General

The Paymaster General was formerly in nominal charge (and at one time in actual charge) of the Office of HM Paymaster General [3] (OPG), which held accounts at the Bank of England on behalf of government departments and selected other public bodies. Funds which were made available from the Consolidated Fund were then channelled into OPG accounts, from where they were used by the relevant body. OPG operated a full range of accounts and banking transaction services, including cheque and credit, BACS and CHAPS services for its customers via an electronic banking system. Integration of OPG accounts held with commercial banks was provided by the private company Xafinity Paymaster which is now part of the Equiniti group.

However, in 2008, the government announced that the Office of the Paymaster General would be incorporated into a new body, the Government Banking Service, [4] which also provides banking operations for HM Revenue & Customs and National Savings and Investments. Following the Bank of England's decision to withdraw from providing retail banking services, [5] retail banking and payment services for the GBS are provided by a range of financial institutions including Barclays, Citibank, NatWest, and Worldpay, [6] although the Bank of England still plays a role in managing the government's higher level accounts. [7]

List of paymasters general

19th century

20th century

Paymaster GeneralTerm of officeConcurrent office(s)Political partyPrime Minister
Blank.png Frederick Lindemann
Viscount Cherwell
30 October 195111 November 1953 Conservative Winston Churchill
(III)
Blank.png George Douglas-Hamilton
Earl of Selkirk
11 November 195320 October 1955
Office vacant20 October 195518 October 1956 Anthony Eden
(Eden)
Blank.png Walter Monckton
MP for Bristol West
18 October 195616 January 1957
Blank.png Reginald Maudling
MP for Barnet
16 January 195714 October 1959 Harold Macmillan
(I)
Blank.png Percy Mills
Viscount Mills
14 October 19599 October 1961 Harold Macmillan
(II)
Blank.png Henry Brooke
MP for Hampstead
9 October 196113 July 1962 Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Blank.png John Boyd-Carpenter
MP for Kingston-upon-Thames
13 July 196219 October 1964 Chief Secretary to the Treasury Alec Douglas-Home
(Douglas-Home)
Blank.png George Wigg
MP for Dudley
19 October 196412 November 1967 Labour Harold Wilson
(I & II)
Office vacant12 November 19676 April 1968 Harold Wilson
(II)
Blank.png Edward Shackleton
Baron Shackleton
6 April 19681 November 1968
Blank.png Judith Hart
MP for Clydesdale
1 November 19686 October 1969
Blank.png Harold Lever
MP for Manchester Cheetham
6 October 196923 June 1970
Blank.png David Eccles
Viscount Eccles
23 June 19702 December 1973 Minister for the Arts Conservative Edward Heath
(Heath)
Blank.png Maurice Macmillan
MP for Farnham
2 December 19734 March 1974
Blank.png Edmund Dell
MP for Birkenhead
4 March 197410 September 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
(III & IV)
Regius Professorship Lecture (15648721150).jpg Shirley Williams
MP for Hitchin
10 September 19764 May 1979 Secretary of State for Education and Science James Callaghan
(Callaghan)
Blank.png Angus Maude
MP for Stratford-on-Avon
4 May 19795 January 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
(I)
Francis Leslie Pym.jpg Francis Pym
MP for Cambridgeshire
5 January 198114 September 1981 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
(5 January 1981 – 14 September 1981)

Leader of the House of Commons
(5 January 1981 – 5 April 1982)

Blank.png Cecil Parkinson
MP for South Hertfordshire
14 September 198111 June 1983 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
(6 April 1982 – 11 June 1983)
Office vacant11 June 198311 September 1984 Margaret Thatcher
(II)
Official portrait of Lord Deben crop 2.jpg John Gummer
MP for Suffolk Coastal
11 September 19841 September 1985
Official portrait of Mr Kenneth Clarke crop 2.jpg Kenneth Clarke
MP for Rushcliffe
2 September 198513 July 1987 Minister of State for Employment
Blank.png Peter Brooke
MP for City of London and Westminster South
13 July 198724 July 1989 Margaret Thatcher
(III)
Official portrait of The Earl of Caithness crop 2.jpg Malcolm Sinclair
Earl of Caithness
25 July 198914 July 1990
Official portrait of Lord Ryder of Wensum crop 2.1.jpg Richard Ryder
MP for Mid Norfolk
14 July 199028 November 1990 John Major
(I)
Blank.png John Ganzoni
Baron Belstead
28 November 199011 April 1992 Minister of State for Northern Ireland
Official portrait of Lord Cope of Berkeley crop 3, 2019.jpg John Cope
MP for Northavon
14 April 199220 July 1994 John Major
(lI)
David Heathcoat-Amery.JPG David Heathcoat-Amory
MP for Wells
20 July 199420 July 1996
Official portrait of Lord Willetts crop 2.jpg David Willetts
MP for Havant
20 July 199621 November 1996
Official portrait of Lord Bates crop 2, 2019.jpg Michael Bates
MP for Langbaurgh
21 November 19962 May 1997 Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
(17 October 1995 – 11 December 1996)
Official portrait of Mr Geoffrey Robinson crop 2.jpg Geoffrey Robinson
MP for Coventry North West
2 May 199723 December 1998 Labour Tony Blair
(I)

21st century

Paymaster GeneralTerm of officeConcurrent office(s)Political partyPrime Minister
Dawn Primarolo.jpg Dawn Primarolo
MP for Bristol South
4 January 199928 June 2007 Labour Tony Blair
(I, II, III)
Tessa Jowell Cropped.jpg Tessa Jowell
MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
28 June 200711 May 2010 Minister for the Olympics
Minister for the Cabinet Office
(from 5 June 2009)
Minister for London
(until 3 October 2008; from 5 June 2009)
Gordon Brown
(Brown)
Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office.jpg Francis Maude
MP for Horsham
12 May 201011 May 2015Minister for the Cabinet Office Conservative David Cameron
(I)
Official portrait of Matt Hancock crop 2.jpg Matt Hancock
MP for West Suffolk
11 May 201514 July 2016 David Cameron
(II)
Ben Gummer 2016.jpg Ben Gummer
MP for Ipswich
14 July 201613 June 2017 Theresa May
(I)
Official portrait of Mel Stride crop 2.jpg Mel Stride
MP for Central Devon
13 June 2017 23 May 2019 Financial Secretary to the Treasury Theresa May
(II)
Official portrait of Jesse Norman crop 2.jpg Jesse Norman
MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire
23 May 2019 24 July 2019
Official portrait of Oliver Dowden crop 2.jpg Oliver Dowden
MP for Hertsmere
24 July 2019 13 February 2020 Minister for the Cabinet Office Boris Johnson
(I & II)
Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt.jpg Penny Mordaunt
MP for Portsmouth North
13 February 2020 16 September 2021 Boris Johnson
(II)
Official portrait of Rt Hon Michael Ellis MP crop 2.jpg Michael Ellis
MP for Northampton North
16 September 2021 6 September 2022Minister for the Cabinet Office
(from 8 February 2022)
Official portrait of Edward Argar MP crop 2.jpg Edward Argar
MP for Charnwood
6 September 2022 14 October 2022Minister for the Cabinet Office Liz Truss
(Truss)
Official portrait of Chris Philp MP crop 2.jpg Chris Philp
MP for Croydon South
14 October 202225 October 2022
Official portrait of Jeremy Quin MP crop 2.jpg Jeremy Quin
MP for Horsham
25 October 202213 November 2023 Rishi Sunak
(Sunak)
Official portrait of John Glen MP crop 2.jpg John Glen
MP for Salisbury
13 November 2023Incumbent

List of shadow paymasters general

Shadow Paymaster generalTerm of officePartyOpposition Leader
Richard Ottaway MP.jpg Richard Ottaway 1 June 20001 June 2001 Conservative Hague
Stephen O'Brien Official.jpg Stephen O'Brien 1 June 20021 June 2003Conservative Duncan Smith
Lord Tyrie.jpg Andrew Tyrie 1 June 20041 June 2005Conservative Howard
Official portrait of Mr Mark Francois crop 2.jpg Mark Francois 10 May 20053 July 2007Conservative
Cameron
Official portrait of Jack Dromey MP crop 2.jpg Jack Dromey 14 May 20214 December 2021 Labour Starmer
Official portrait of Fleur Anderson MP crop 2.jpg Fleur Anderson 4 December 20214 September 2023 Labour
Official portrait of Jonathan Ashworth MP crop 2.jpg Jonathan Ashworth 4 September 2023 Incumbent Labour

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Steward</span> Official of the British Royal Household

The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is an official of the Royal Household in England. Holders of the office are always peers, until 1924, were always members of the Government, and until 1782, the office was one of considerable political importance and carried Cabinet rank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke</span> British lawyer and statesman (1690–1764)

Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 1756 and 1757 until 1762.

The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Jersey</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Earl of Jersey, is a title in the Peerage of England. It is held by a branch of the Villiers family, which since 1819 has been the Child Villiers family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron Stanley of Alderley</span> Barony in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Baron Stanley of Alderley, in the County of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1839 for the politician and landowner Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron Eddisbury</span> Title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Baron Eddisbury, of Winnington in the County Palatine of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 12 May 1848 for the Whig politician and diplomat Edward Stanley (1802–1869), son of the politician Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet.

The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of local government licensing in 2004. In recent times, a senior government whip has invariably occupied the office. On state occasions the Comptroller carries a white staff of office, as often seen in portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley</span> British politician

Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley,, known as The Lord Eddisbury between 1848 and 1850, was a British politician. He served as Postmaster General between 1860 and 1866.

The Master of the Buckhounds was an officer in the Master of the Horse's department of the British Royal Household. The holder was also His/Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot. The role was to oversee a hunting pack; a buckhound is smaller than a staghound and used for coursing the smaller breeds of deer, especially fallow deer. The position was abolished by the Civil List Act 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp</span> British Conservative politician

Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp PC DL, styled The Honourable Frederick Lygon between 1853 and 1866, was a British Conservative politician.

The following is a list of people who have held the title of Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire. After 1761, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Montgomeryshire. The office was abolished on 31 March 1974 and replaced by the Lord Lieutenant of Powys, with Deputy Lieutenants for Montgomeryshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eden baronets</span> Since 1844 two united baronetages

The Eden Baronetcy, of West Auckland in the County of Durham, and the Eden Baronetcy, of Maryland in North America, are two titles in the Baronetage of England and Baronetage of Great Britain respectively that have been united under a single holder since 1844.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Regiment of Life Guards</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 2nd Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated with the 1st Life Guards to form The Life Guards.

The Coronation Honours 1911 for the British Empire were announced on 19 June 1911, to celebrate the Coronation of George V which was held on 22 June 1911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooks's</span> Gentlemens club in London, England

Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world.

The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list should be published on that day anyway.

The 1927 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published in The London Gazette on 3 June 1927.

References

  1. Roper, Michael (1998). The Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964. Kew, UK: Public Record Office.
  2. 1 2 UKOpenGovernmentLicence.svg  This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence  v3.0: "Records of the Paymaster General's Office and predecessors". The National Archives. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  3. Gater, G.H.; Wheeler, E.P. (1935). "Office of the Paymaster-General". British History Online. London: London County Council. pp. 17–27. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  4. "Press Release: Angela Eagle launches the Government Banking Service". HM Treasury. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010.
  5. "Important changes to banking arrangements for the Insolvency Services Account". insolvency.gov.uk. The Insolvency Service. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010.
  6. "Government Banking". gov.uk.
  7. "Government Banking Service" (PDF). Department for Work and Pensions.