Overview
- Chief Whip Anneliese Midgley circulated a letter on Monday formally announcing a review to “strengthen and elevate” Parliamentary Private Secretaries and confirming a set of appointments.
- Sir Nic Dakin has been named the Prime Minister’s senior PPS and a slate of regional PPSs were appointed, including Lola McEvoy at DCMS, Mary Kelly Foy and Luke Charters at MHCLG.
- The reforms explicitly allow PPSs to take on more media work and parliamentary activity, including on national policy, but any appearances or briefings must be cleared by departmental media advisers and Number 10.
- The changes sit alongside long‑standing constraints: PPSs receive no extra ministerial pay, act as departmental eyes and ears, and must publicly follow collective responsibility, which could create tensions for MPs with prior instances of resigning from PPS roles.
- Coverage differs by outlet with some reports framing the move as routine team building and others as a factional reshuffle, so the immediate test will be how the Whips Office and departments turn the letter’s guidance into firm rules and practices.