In the third episode of the first season of Yes, Prime Minister, Humphrey suggests that Huck transfer Thorne to a position under the Treasury Department in order to get Health Secretary Thorne to drop the smoking ban. Although the specific name of the position is not explicitly stated in the play, it is certainly not the Chancellor of the Exchequer. On the face of it, Thorne was transferred from the health secretary, who was on the same level as the chancellor, to a subordinate of the chancellor, which should have been a demotion suppression.
Huck considered Thorne's move a "big promotion", and Thorne was so happy with the move that he temporarily abandoned the smoking ban that gambled on his political career. Apparently transferred from the health secretary at the same level as the chancellor of the exchequer to the chancellor's subordinates, why do Huck and Thorne still think this is a "promotion"? This ghost talks about the words of a family.
Among the United Kingdom cabinet ministries, the Treasury is the veritable number one. In terms of real power, the Ministry of Finance holds the money bag, and the lives of the vast majority of people in United Kingdom depend on their faces. Seniorly, the United Kingdom Prime Minister system originated from the Ministry of Finance, and the United Kingdom Prime Minister is still the First Chancellor of the Exchequer. In addition to the above two points, the United Kingdom Treasury has a special advantage: a four-cabinet membership.
In accordance with United Kingdom legal practice, each ministry has only one cabinet member (minister) in the cabinet. However, in addition to the First Chancellor of the Exchequer (Prime Minister) and Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Finance can also attend Cabinet meetings. In other words, the Ministry of Finance has three representatives in the Cabinet, and the same cannot be said for the other ministries of the Cabinet.
As the second person in the United Kingdom Treasury to sit in Cabinet meetings, the Principal Secretary of the United Kingdom Treasury has far more power and practical influence than some Cabinet Ministers whose nominal status is higher than him. The Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, who is also the whip chief of the ruling party, is not only the supervisor of the entire ruling party and the organizer of activities, but also has the influence on the money bags of the parliamentarians, and can reprimand the ministers and parliamentarians in person.
Precisely because the Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and the Parliamentary Secretary can participate in Cabinet meetings and have a great influence in practice, the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and the Parliamentary Secretary, like the Cabinet Minister, are generally appointed by the Prime Minister as a Member of Parliament (MP). According to United Kingdom regulations and political conventions, the premise of Peter · Thorne's appointment as Secretary of Health in "Yes, Prime Minister" is that he is elected as a member of the United Kingdom Parliament.
It is inferred that Harker's position in the Treasury is likely to be one of the principal secretary of the Treasury and the secretary of Congress, as the other positions in the Treasury are either unimportant or cannot be held by parliamentarians. The chief secretary of the Ministry of Finance and the secretary of parliament have much more power and development prospects than the secretary of state of health, so they are "big promotions".