Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

UK government titles

Secretary of State
Minister of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Private Secretary

A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State. Having been an under secretary in Macmillan's 1957-1963 Conservative government, the Duke of Devonshire noted "No one who hasn't been a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State has any conception of how unimportant a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is".[1]

The position should not be confused with a Permanent Under Secretary of State - commonly referred to as a Permanent Secretary - who is the chief civil servant in a Government department.

References

  1. ↑ Philip Ziegler, ‘Cavendish, Andrew Robert Buxton, eleventh duke of Devonshire (1920–2004)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2008