Ministerial ranking

In the United Kingdom's system of government, a person with cabinet rank is a member, or minister, of the cabinet who has been appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. The "ministerial ranking" or "order of precedence in cabinet" refers to the "...pecking order" of cabinet ministers – however, its importance is debated.

Ministerial ranking

In the United Kingdom, the top three ministers after the Prime Minister are traditionally the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. These four positions are referred to as the Great Offices of State.^{[citation needed]} However, the high prestige of these positions has not always run with ministerial rank, as the ministerial ranking is decided by the Prime Minister alone – David Cameron, in his autobiography, takes a slightly different view, explaining that it "...combines seniority of post and the length of time as a cabinet minister to determine the rank of everyone present..."^{[citation needed]}

Just as traditionally lower Cabinet jobs can be placed high, traditionally higher positions can be placed low in the rankings, such as when the then Secretary of State for Defence Bob Ainsworth was ranked the 3rd lowest ranking minister in Gordon Brown's cabinet.^{[citation needed]}

Its importance is debated.^{[by whom?]} Historian Peter Hennessy states that it "...matters more than one thinks in establishing the power of a Prime Minister in relation to his most senior colleagues".^{[citation needed]} When the Prime Minister is unable to attend Cabinet or the chair and any deputy chair of a cabinet committee are absent, The Cabinet Manual states that the next most senior minister in the order of precedence should take the chair.^[1]

Cameron says that the order of precedence was "...something we had never bothered with..."^{[citation needed]} Additionally, in April 2020, when he was moved into intensive care for Covid-19, Boris Johnson asked Dominic Raab, as First Secretary of State, "to deputise for him where necessary",^[2] but the ministerial ranking on the parliament.uk website at the time actually showed Sunak ranking above Raab.^[3]

Current ministerial ranking

The current ministerial ranking, as of 24 January 2021, is as follows:^[4]

Cabinet members
Rank	Minister	Office	Department
1	Boris Johnson	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Minister for the Civil Service Minister for the Union	Cabinet Office
2	Rishi Sunak	Chancellor of the Exchequer	HM Treasury
3	Dominic Raab	Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs First Secretary of State	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
4	Priti Patel	Secretary of State for the Home Department	Home Office
5	Michael Gove	Minister for the Cabinet Office Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Cabinet Office
6	Robert Buckland	Lord Chancellor Secretary of State for Justice	Ministry of Justice
7	Ben Wallace	Secretary of State for Defence	Ministry of Defence
8	Matt Hancock	Secretary of State for Health and Social Care	Department of Health and Social Care
9	Kwasi Kwarteng	Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
10	Elizabeth Truss	Secretary of State for International Trade President of the Board of Trade	Department for International Trade UK Export Finance
11	Thérèse Coffey	Secretary of State for Work and Pensions	Department for Work and Pensions
12	Gavin Williamson	Secretary of State for Education	Department for Education and Skills
13	George Eustice	Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
14	Robert Jenrick	Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
15	Grant Shapps	Secretary of State for Transport	Department for Transport
16	Brandon Lewis	Secretary of State for Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland Office
17	Alister Jack	Secretary of State for Scotland	Scotland Office
18	Simon Hart	Secretary of State for Wales	Wales Office
19	Baroness Evans	Leader of the House of Lords Lord Privy Seal	Office of the Leader of the House of Lords
20	Oliver Dowden	Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
21	Amanda Milling	Minister without Portfolio	Cabinet Office

Non-members who attend cabinet meetings
Rank	Minister	Office	Department
22	Steve Barclay	Chief Secretary to the Treasury	HM Treasury
23	Jacob Rees-Mogg	Lord President of the Council Leader of the House of Commons	Office of the Leader of the House of Commons
24	Mark Spencer	Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Chief Whip	HM Treasury
25	Suella Braverman	Attorney General	Attorney General's Office

References

^ The Cabinet Manual 2011, p. 35.
^ "Statement from Downing Street: 6 April 2020". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
^ "Her Majesty's Government: The Cabinet – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament". 21 April 2020. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
^ "Her Majesty's Government: The Cabinet". London: UK Parliament. 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.