The deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom is a member of the British Cabinet. The title is not always in use and prime ministers have been known to appoint informal deputies without the title of deputy prime minister. The incumbent deputy prime minister is Oliver Dowden.
Constitutional position
Deputy prime minister is a title. The position of deputy prime minister by itself carries no salary under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 and the holder has no right to automatic succession to the premiership.
Successive monarchs have refused to officially recognise the position of deputy prime minister. When Winston Churchill attempted to have Anthony Eden appointed deputy prime minister in 1942, George VI said that the 'office... does not exist' and that conferring the title may be seen as an attempt to designate the prime minister's successor and thus may restrict the monarch's royal prerogative. However, Vernon Bogdanor has said that that argument holds little weight in the modern context, since the monarch no longer has any real discretion, and that, even in the past, a person acting as deputy prime minister had no real advantage to being appointed prime minister.
The title is not always in use and the holder's responsibilities will vary depending on the circumstances. Jonathan Kirkup and Steven Thornton suggest that there are multiple motivations behind a prime minister appointing a deputy: leader of a party in a coalition government, as their designated successor, to neuter or mollify a rival, because they are a 'safe pair of hands' and to create a 'balanced ticket'. Philip Norton has written that there are two advantages to a prime minister of having a deputy prime minister (or first secretary of state): functional (to serve the prime minister free of departmental responsibilities, so they can do "correlation, co-ordination and chairmanship of committees" in the words of Rab Butler) and political (to send a signal as to the status of the holder). Bogdanor, Rodney Brazier and Anthony Seldon also suggest that the title may be of use if a prime minister were to die or fall unable to exercise their functions.
When the position has been in use in the past, the deputy prime minister has deputised for the prime minister at Prime Minister's Questions.
History
Before World War II, while a minister was occasionally invited to deputise as prime minister when the prime minister was ill or abroad, no one was styled as such when the prime minister was in the country and physically able to run the government. This changed in 1942 when Clement Attlee was appointed deputy prime minister, though such a designation was seen as an exceptional result of a coalition and the war. The designation was because Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted to demonstrate the importance of the Labour party in the coalition, not for any reasons relating to succession; he actually left written advice that the King should send for Anthony Eden if he were to die, not Attlee.
After this, fearing a possible curtailment of the monarch's prerogative to choose a prime minister, no one was formally styled deputy prime minister (though there was often a senior minister generally regarded as such) until Michael Heseltine in 1995 was formally styled deputy prime minister. John Prescott was formally styled as such under Tony Blair and remains the longest serving deputy prime minister. Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg was deputy prime minister under David Cameron, in the Cameron-Clegg coalition between 2010 and 2015. Later, Dominic Raab gained the title as part of Boris Johnson's 2021 reshuffle. Thérèse Coffey was Liz Truss's deputy prime minister, before Raab was reappointed to the role under Rishi Sunak in October 2022. Following Raab's resignation, Oliver Dowden gained the title in April 2023, with the GOV.UK announcement notably listing Dowden separately to those who had had their appointments approved by the King.
Office and residence
There is no set of offices permanently ready to house the deputy prime minister. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg maintained an office at the Cabinet Office headquarters, 70 Whitehall, which is linked to 10 Downing Street. Clegg's predecessor, Prescott, maintained his main office at 26 Whitehall.
The prime minister may also give them the use of a grace and favour country house. While in office, Nick Clegg resided at his private residence in Putney and he shared Chevening House with First Secretary William Hague as a weekend residence. Clegg's predecessor, John Prescott, used Dorneywood.
List of deputy prime ministers
The following people have held the title of deputy prime minister.