The Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister is a

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

serving the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

. The holder of the office is widely viewed as the Prime Minister's "eyes and ears" on the backbenches, serving as a liaison to the Prime Minister's parliamentary party. The Parliamentary Private Secretary is also responsible for meeting with members of Parliament when the Prime Minister is unavailable, and accompanying the Prime Minister to, and assisting them with preparations for

Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...

. They usually sit directly behind the Prime Minister during question time.

Role

The Parliamentary Private Secretary can become a highly powerful and significant role; Bonar Law's Parliamentary Private Secretary, J.C.C. Davidson acted in effect as his chief of staff.

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's downfall from the Conservative Party leadership in 1990 is attributed by many to the actions of her Parliamentary Private Secretary,

Peter Morrison Sir Peter Hugh Morrison (2 June 1944 – 13 July 1995) was a British Conservative politician, MP for Chester from 1974 to 1992, and Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Background and education Morrison ...

, in failing to accurately count votes amongst

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

backbenchers. Some Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister go on to hold higher office; Alec Douglas-Home served as Parliamentary Private Secretary under Neville Chamberlain and later went on to serve as Prime Minister in his own right. There can be multiple Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister at a given time. Many Prime Ministers have used this tactic during their premierships; former Prime Minister, David Cameron, only employed one Parliamentary Private Secretary at a time during his tenure in office, but he appointed Sir John Hayes as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

with responsibility for the

Parliamentary Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party ...

, a job typically reserved for the Parliamentary Private Secretary.

Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister (1906–present)

The following table lists Parliamentary Private Secretaries to successive Prime Ministers from 1906.

In popular culture

The final instalment of

Michael Dobbs Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs (born 14 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and author, best known for his ''House of Cards'' trilogy. Early life and education Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordsh ...

's and the

BBC's #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

'' trilogy, '' The Final Cut'', includes a character, Claire Carlsen, who serves as Prime Minister

Francis Urquhart Francis Ewan Urquhart is a fictional character created by British politician and author Michael Dobbs. Urquhart is the main character in Dobbs's ''House of Cards'' trilogy of novels and television series: ''House of Cards'' (1990), ''To Play t ...

's Parliamentary Private Secretary, ultimately betraying him by attempting to leak documents about his service in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

References

{{PPSs to the Prime Minister, state=autocollapse British Prime Minister's Office Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom

Role

Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister (1906–present)

In popular culture

See also

References