In 2012, Crabb was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales and became a Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury, meaning he was a government minister and a government whip at the same time, which the BBC said had led to "political pundits and opposition politicians scratching their heads". Labour's Owen Smith, whose parliamentary career has mirrored that of Crabb, called the arrangement "highly unusual and unsatisfactory", adding, "it's unheard of to have a whip also acting as a minister in a department".