Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Angela Rayner; since 5 July 2024
	Government of the United Kingdom
Style	Deputy Prime Minister; (informal); The Right Honourable; (within the UK and Commonwealth); His Excellency; (diplomatic)
Status	Second highest in executive branch
Member of	Cabinet; Privy Council;
Reports to	Prime Minister
Residence	None, may use Grace and favour residences
Seat	Westminster, London
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	The Crown; (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	19 February 1942; 82 years ago
First holder	Clement Attlee
Website	www.gov.uk

The Deputy Prime Minister (or DPM) is, when appointed, the second highest ranking executive officer of the government of the United Kingdom. He or she would be the deputy chief of the Cabinet.

Unlike other countries, the position of Deputy Prime Minister is not always needed or appointed. The Prime Minister chooses whether or not they want to have a deputy.

The position was created in 1942: Clement Attlee was the first Deputy Prime Minister. The present holder of this position is Angela Rayner since 5 July 2024. There have been times when the post has been very important.

List of deputy prime ministers

In addition to the many unofficial deputies, some people have been formally appointed deputy prime minister. Ministers are appointed by the monarch, on the advice of the prime minister.^[1] Six people can be described as definitely having been appointed deputy prime minister.^{[Note 1]}^{[Note 2]}^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Deputy prime ministers
Deputy Prime Minister		Term of office		Other ministerial portfolios held during tenure	Party	Ministry
	Michael Heseltine MP for Henley	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	First Secretary of State	Conservative	Major II
	John Prescott MP for Kingston upon Hull East	2 May 1997	27 June 2007	Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001) First Secretary of State (2001–2007)	Labour	Blair I
						Blair II
						Blair III
Vacant (2007 - 2010)
	Nick Clegg MP for Sheffield Hallam	11 May 2010	8 May 2015	Lord President of the Council	Liberal Democrat	Cameron–Clegg
Vacant (2015 - 2021)
	Dominic Raab MP for Esher and Walton	15 September 2021	6 September 2022	Lord Chancellor Secretary of State for Justice	Conservative	Johnson II
	Thérèse Coffey MP for Suffolk Coastal	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Secretary of State for Health and Social Care		Truss
	Thérèse Coffey MP for Suffolk Coastal	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Secretary of State for Health and Social Care		Truss
	Dominic Raab MP for Esher and Walton	25 October 2022	21 April 2023	Lord Chancellor Secretary of State for Justice		Sunak
	Oliver Dowden MP for Hertsmere	21 April 2023	5 July 2024	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office		Sunak
	Angela Rayner MP for Ashton-under-Lyne	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities	Labour	Starmer

↑ Both Brazier and Norton include Clement Attlee in their lists. However, Hennessy says that Attlee's inclusion in the 1942 minute signed off by The King simply read "Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs" and that it was on separate paper that Winston Churchill wrote "Deputy Prime Minister". Bogdanor similarly asserts that the change was in form rather than fact and that Attlee was never formally appointed deputy prime minister.
↑ In his list of official deputy prime ministers, Brazier includes Geoffrey Howe. However, Norton doesn't in his. Norton explains that Buckingham Palace took issue with appointing Howe "Deputy Prime Minister" and proposed "Sir Geoffrey will act as Deputy Prime Minister". On the other hand, in a 1995 (rather than 2020) publication, Bogdanor asserts that no application to the Palace to appoint Howe deputy prime minister was made at all.

References

↑ Britchfield, Colm; Devine, Dan; Durrant, Tim (8 April 2021). "Government ministers". Institute for Government. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
↑ Brazier 2020, p. 77.
↑ Norton 2020, p. 143-144.
↑ Hennessy 1995, p. 16.
↑ Bogdanor 1995, p. 87.

[2] Both Brazier and Norton include Clement Attlee in their lists. However, Hennessy says that Attlee's inclusion in the 1942 minute signed off by The King simply read "Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs" and that it was on separate paper that Winston Churchill wrote "Deputy Prime Minister". Bogdanor similarly asserts that the change was in form rather than fact and that Attlee was never formally appointed deputy prime minister.

[3] In his list of official deputy prime ministers, Brazier includes Geoffrey Howe. However, Norton doesn't in his. Norton explains that Buckingham Palace took issue with appointing Howe "Deputy Prime Minister" and proposed "Sir Geoffrey will act as Deputy Prime Minister". On the other hand, in a 1995 (rather than 2020) publication, Bogdanor asserts that no application to the Palace to appoint Howe deputy prime minister was made at all.

[1] Britchfield, Colm; Devine, Dan; Durrant, Tim (8 April 2021). "Government ministers". Institute for Government. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

[FOOTNOTEBrazier202077-4] Brazier 2020, p. 77.

[FOOTNOTENorton2020143-144-5] Norton 2020, p. 143-144.

[FOOTNOTEHennessy199516-6] Hennessy 1995, p. 16.

[FOOTNOTEBogdanor199587-7] Bogdanor 1995, p. 87.

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