Paymaster General

Last updated
United Kingdom
His Majesty's Paymaster General
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
Official portrait of Nick Thomas-Symonds MP (cropped).jpg
since 8 July 2024
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 position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party.

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
Frederick Lindemann (cropped).jpg Frederick Lindemann
Viscount Cherwell
30 October 195111 November 1953 Conservative Winston Churchill
(III)
10thEarl of Selkirk.jpg George Douglas-Hamilton
Earl of Selkirk
11 November 195320 October 1955
Office vacant20 October 195518 October 1956 Anthony Eden
(Eden)
Walter Monckton cropped.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)
Henry Brooke 1950.jpg 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
Dell, Edmund cropped, Bestanddeelnr 930-1791.jpg Edmund Dell
MP for Birkenhead
4 March 197410 September 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
(III & IV)
Shirley Williams, 1984.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)
Official portrait of Lord Maude of Horsham crop 2, 2024.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 20235 July 2024
Official portrait of Nick Thomas-Symonds MP (cropped).jpg Nick Thomas-Symonds
MP for Torfaen
8 July 2024 Labour Keir Starmer
(Starmer)

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 20235 July 2024 Labour
Official portrait of John Glen MP crop 2, 2024.jpg John Glen 8 July 2024Incumbent Conservative Sunak

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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.