The office holder is always a full member or attendee of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The office was created in 1961 to share the burden of representing HM Treasury with the chancellor.

Between 1961 and 2015, the holder of the office of Chief Secretary to the Treasury was of full cabinet rank.

This formally made HM Treasury the only department to have more than one ministerial position of cabinet rank.

[3][4] The office holder is responsible for public expenditure, including spending reviews.