Parliamentary Private Secretaries to Prime Ministers since 1906

This List notes Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPSs) to successive Prime Ministers from 1906. Alex Burghart was appointed PPS to Boris Johnson in July 2019 and Trudy Harrison appointed PPS in January 2020.

Summary

Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPSs) are not members of the Government although they do have responsibilities and restrictions as defined by the Ministerial Code available on the Cabinet Office website.

A list of PPSs to Cabinet Ministers as at June 2019 is published on the Government’s transparency webpages.

It is usual for the Leader of the Opposition to have a PPS; Tan Dhesi was appointed as Jeremy Corbyn’s PPS in January 2020.

Further information

The Commons Library briefing on Parliamentary Private Secretaries provides a history of the development of the position of Parliamentary Private Secretary in general and looks at the role and functions of the post and the limitations placed upon its holders.

The Institute for Government’s explainer: parliamentary private secretaries (Nov 2019) considers the numbers of PPSs over time.

Parliament: facts and figures

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This series of publications contains data on various subjects relating to Parliament and Government. Topics include legislation, MPs, select committees, debates, divisions and Parliamentary procedure.

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