Tuesday 17 March 2026 4:40 pm  |  Updated:  Tuesday 17 March 2026 4:42 pm

Britain’s problem isn’t too few ministers, it’s too much government

By: Eliot Wilson

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A little scrutinised bill will allow the government to put even more ministers on the payroll, laments Eliot Wilson

Yesterday, behind the impenetrable shield of public indifference, the House of Commons will take all stages of the Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill. It was introduced without fanfare on Thursday 5 March and received the ritual First Reading, but tomorrow will see the Second Reading, Committee of the whole House and Third Reading, after which it will be passed on to the House of Lords.

What does this piece of legislation aim to achieve? As its title suggests, it amends the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975; the main purpose of this is to place a limit on the number of paid ministers who can be appointed to the government. The 1975 act provides for a total of 109 salaried government posts, covering ministers in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Some 83 of these are divided among the three ministerial ranks: Secretaries of State (that is, Cabinet ministers) which in this context includes the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer; middle-ranking Ministers of State; and the most junior grade, Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Parliamentary Secretaries.

The act also includes 26 other posts: the Lord High Chancellor of........

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