His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The incumbent Paymaster General is

Jeremy Quin Jeremy Mark Quin (born 24 September 1968) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Horsham since the 2015 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Crime, Poli ...

MP.

History

The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the positions of the offices of the

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II, and was responsible for part of the financing of the British Army, in ...

(1661–1836), the

Treasurer of the Navy The Treasurer of the Navy, originally called Treasurer of Marine Causes or Paymaster of the Navy, was a civilian officer of the Royal Navy, one of the principal commissioners of the Navy Board responsible for naval finance from 1524 to 1832. ...

(1546–1835), the Paymaster and Treasurer of

Chelsea Hospital The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, London, Che ...

(responsible for Army pensions) (1681–1835) and the

Treasurer of the Ordnance The Treasurer of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance in the United Kingdom, the office being created in 1670. The office was abolished in 1836 and its duties merged with that of several others to form the office ...

(1670–1835). Initially, the Paymaster General only had responsibilities in relation to the

armed services A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

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'. From 1848 to 1868, the post was held concurrently with that of

Vice-President of the Board of Trade The office of Vice-President of the Board of Trade is a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade. The office was created in 1786 but fell into abeyance in 1867. From 1848 onwards, the office was he ...

. The longest-serving holder of the post was

Dawn Primarolo Dawn Primarolo, Baroness Primarolo, (born 2 May 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Bristol South from 1987 until 2015, when she stood down. She was Minister of State for Children, Young People an ...

, whose portfolio covered

HM Revenue and Customs , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

(formerly the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

and

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

) 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.

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 (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 In many states with political systems derived from the Westminster system, a consolidated fund or consolidated revenue fund is the main bank account of the government. General taxation is taxation paid into the consolidated fund (as opposed ...

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 Equiniti Group is a British-based outsourcing business focused on financial and administration services. History The business has its origins in the share registration business of Lloyds TSB which was bought out from Lloyds by Advent Internat ...

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, which also provides banking operations for

HM Revenue & Customs , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

and

National Savings and Investments National Savings and Investments (NS&I), formerly called the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings, is a state-owned savings bank in the United Kingdom. It is both a non-ministerial government department and an executive agency of HM Trea ...

. Following the Bank of England's decision to withdraw from providing retail banking services, retail banking and payment services for the GBS are provided by a range of financial institutions including Barclays, Citibank, NatWest, and Worldpay, although the Bank of England still plays a role in managing the government's higher level accounts.

List of paymasters general

19th century

* Sir Henry Parnell, Bt. 1836–1841 * Edward Stanley 1841 * Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bt. 1841–1845 *

Bingham Baring William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, (June 1799 – 23 March 1864) was a British businessman and a Whig politician who later became a Tory. Background and education William Bingham Baring was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June ...

1845–1846 *

Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1 ...

1846–1848 * Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville 1848–1852 *

Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley (13 November 180216 June 1869), known as The Lord Eddisbury between 1848 and 1850, was a British politician. Background Stanley was the son of John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley, and ...

1852 * Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester 1852 *Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley 1853–1855 *

Edward Pleydell-Bouverie Edward Pleydell-Bouverie PC, FRS (26 April 1818 – 16 December 1889), styled The Honourable from 1828, was a British Liberal politician. He was a member of Lord Palmerston's first administration as Paymaster-General and Vice-President of the ...

1855 * Robert Lowe 1855–1858 * Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 4th Earl of Donoughmore 1858–1859 * Algernon Percy, Lord Lovaine 1859 *

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

1859 *

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...

1859–1860 * William Hutt 1860–1865 * George Goschen 1865–1866 * William Monsell 1866 * Stephen Cave 1866–1868 * Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Earl of Dufferin 1868–1872 *

Hugh Childers Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (25 June 1827 – 29 January 1896) was a British Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for his reform efforts at the Admiralty and the War Office. Later in his career, as Chancello ...

1872–1873 * William Adam 1873–1874 *Stephen Cave 1874–1880 * David Plunket 1880 *

George Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton George Grenfell Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton PC (10 February 1824 – 6 November 1887), was a British Liberal politician. He held office in three of the Liberal administrations of William Gladstone. Background Wolverton was the eldest of th ...

1880–1885 *

Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp PC DL (10 November 1830 – 19 February 1891), styled The Honourable Frederick Lygon between 1853 and 1866, was a British Conservative politician. Background and education Beauchamp was the third son of Hen ...

1885–1886 * Thomas Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 5th Baron Thurlow 1886 *Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp 1886–1887 *

Adelbert Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow Adelbert Wellington Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow (19 August 1844 – 17 March 1921), was a British soldier, courtier and Conservative politician. Background and education Brownlow was the second son of John Egerton, Viscount Alford, eldest ...

1887–1889 *

Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey Victor Albert George Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, (20 March 1845 – 31 May 1915) was a British banker, Conservative politician and colonial administrator from the Villiers family. He served as Governor of New South Wales between 1891 and ...

1889–1890 * Robert Windsor-Clive, 14th Baron Windsor 1890–1892 *

Charles Seale-Hayne Charles Hayne Seale Hayne PC (22 October 1833 – 22 November 1903) of Fuge House in the parish of Blackawton and of Kingswear Castle, Dartmouth harbour, both in Devon, was a British businessman and Liberal politician, serving as Member of Pa ...

1892–1895 *

John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, (25 September 1860 – 29 February 1908) was a British aristocrat and statesman who served as the first governor-general of Australia, in office from 1901 to 1902. He was ...

1895–1899 *

Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, (13 November 1871 – 30 June 1934), styled Earl of Sunderland until 1883 and Marquess of Blandford between 1883 and 1892, was a British soldier and Conservative politician, and a ...

1899–1902

20th century

* Savile Crossley 1902–1905 * Richard Causton (1st Baron Southwark after 13 July 1910) 1905–1910 * Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Ashby St Ledgers 1910–1912 *

Edward Strachey, 1st Baron Strachie Edward Strachey, 1st Baron Strachie, PC (30 October 1858 – 25 July 1936), known as Sir Edward Strachey, Bt, between 1901 and 1911, was a British Liberal politician. He was a member of the Liberal administrations of Sir Henry Campbell-Banne ...

1912–1915 *

Thomas Legh, 2nd Baron Newton Thomas Wodehouse Legh, 2nd Baron Newton PC, DL (18 March 1857 – 21 March 1942) was a British diplomat and Conservative politician who served as Paymaster-General during the First World War. Background and education Newton was the son of Wil ...

1915–1916 *

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...

1916 *

Joseph Compton-Rickett Sir Joseph Compton-Rickett, DL PC (13 February 1847 – 30 July 1919), was a British Liberal Party politician. He was also an industrialist (until 1902), lay preacher, and writer. He wrote poetry and fiction, as well as on such topics as popu ...

1916–1919 *

Tudor Walters Sir John Tudor Walters PC (25 February 1866 – 16 July 1933) was a Welsh architect, surveyor and Liberal Party politician. He served as Paymaster-General under David Lloyd George from 1919 to 1922 and once again briefly in 1931 under Rams ...

1919–1922 *''Office vacant'' 1922–1923 * Neville Chamberlain 1923 *

William Joynson-Hicks William is a male given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norm ...

1923 *

Archibald Boyd-Carpenter Major Sir Archibald Boyd Boyd-Carpenter (26 March 1873 – 27 May 1937) was a British Conservative Party politician. Career The fourth son of William Boyd-Carpenter, Bishop of Ripon and Canon of Westminster, Archibald Boyd-Carpenter was ed ...

1923–1924 *

Harry Gosling Harry Gosling CH (9 June 1861 – 24 October 1930) was a British Labour Party politician and trade union leader. Early life Gosling was born in 1861 at 57 York Street, Lambeth, London, on the southern bank of the River Thames. He was the seco ...

1924 *''Office vacant'' 1924–1925 *

George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland, KT, PC (29 August 1888 – 1 February 1963), styled Earl Gower until 1892 and Marquess of Stafford between 1892 and 1913, was a British courtier, patron of the film industr ...

1925–1928 *

Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow (23 August 1876 – 9 June 1945), styled Viscount Cranley until 1911, was a British peer, diplomat, parliamentary secretary and government minister. Background and education Viscount Cranley ...

1928–1929 * Sydney Arnold 1929–1931 *''Office vacant'' 1931 *Tudor Walters 1931 * Ernest Lamb, 1st Baron Rochester 1931–1935 *

Robert Hutchison, 1st Baron Hutchison of Montrose Major-General Robert Hutchison, 1st Baron Hutchison of Montrose, (5 September 1873 – 13 June 1950), was a Scottish soldier and Liberal politician. Background Hutchison was the son of Alexander Hutchison, of Braehead, Kirkcaldy, Fife. His youn ...

1935–1938 *

Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster Geoffrey William Richard Hugh FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster, KBE, PC (17 February 1906 – 26 August 1975) was a British peer and Conservative politician. Background Munster was the son of Major the Honourable Harold Edward FitzClarence ( ...

1938–1939 *

Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton, PC (4 April 1883 – 26 August 1962), styled Viscount Turnour until 1907, was an Irish peer and British politician who served as a Member of Parliament for 47 years, attaining the rare distinction of serving ...

1939 *''Office vacant'' 1939–1940 * Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne 1940 *''Office vacant'' 1940–1941 *

Maurice Hankey Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey, (1 April 1877 – 26 January 1963) was a British civil servant who gained prominence as the first Cabinet Secretary and later made the rare transition from the civil service to ministerial office. ...

1941–1942 * William Jowitt 1942 * Frederick Lindemann, 1st Baron Cherwell 1942–1945 *''Office vacant'' 1945–1946 *

Arthur Greenwood Arthur Greenwood, (8 February 1880 – 9 June 1954) was a British politician. A prominent member of the Labour Party from the 1920s until the late 1940s, Greenwood rose to prominence within the party as secretary of its research department f ...

9 July 1946 Lab *

Hilary Marquand Hilary Adair Marquand, (24 December 1901 – 6 November 1972) was a British economist and Labour Party politician. Life and career He was born in Cardiff, the son of Alfred Marquand of Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, a clerk in a coal exporting ...

5 March 1947 Lab * The Viscount Addison 2 July 1948 also

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

Lab * The Lord Macdonald of Gwaenysgor 1 April 1949 Lab

21st century

List of shadow paymasters general

References

External links

Office of the Paymaster General
– archived version, as of June 2008. Since then the OPG website redirects to the new GBS site:

{{Cabinet Office United Kingdom Paymasters General Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom 1836 establishments in the United Kingdom