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- See also: Lord Chancellor
The Secretary of State for Justice is a United Kingdom cabinet position. It was created in 2007 replacing the abolished Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, which was originally intended to fulfil those functions of the office of Lord Chancellor which related to the Lord Chancellor's Department. On 9 May 2007, the Department for Constitutional Affairs was abolished, and a Ministry of Justice was created in its place. The Ministry of Justice is also responsible for certain functions transferred from the Home Office. Given the experience and influence within the cabinet of incumbent Secretary of State Jack Straw, there is a growing sense (although not a consensus) that the position has reached the status held by the most senior government departments, becoming the fifth Great Office of State.
The then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, was appointed to the post of Secretary of State for Justice on the abolition of his position as Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. The Home Secretary, John Reid, told Parliament that future Secretaries of State for Justice would be MPs rather than peers. Jack Straw took over this department on 28 June 2007, following the selection of Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.
[edit] Secretary of State for Justice
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