| Secretary of State for Health |
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Arms of Her Majesty's Government Department of Health |
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| Style | The Right Honourable |
| Appointer | David Cameron |
| Inaugural holder | Sir Benjamin Hall |
| Formation | 14 October 1854 |
| Website | Department of Health |
| United Kingdom | |
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Secretary of State for Health is a UK cabinet position responsible for the Department of Health. Since devolution in 1999, the position holder's responsibility for the health service is mainly restricted to England.
The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November, and 21 November 1831. In 1848 a General Board of Health was created with the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests as its President. In 1854 this Board was reconstituted and the President appointed separately. However, the Board was abolished and its duties transferred the Privy Council by the Public Health Act 1858. From 1871 the Health powers were moved to the President of the Local Government Board.
The Ministry of Health was created in 1919 as a reconstruction of the Local Government Board. Local government functions were eventually transferred to the Minister of Housing and Local Government, leaving the Health Ministry in charge of Health proper.
From 1968 it was amalgamated with the Ministry of Social Security under the Secretary of State for Social Services, until a demerger of the Department of Health and Social Security on 25 July 1988.
| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt | 14 October 1854 | 13 August 1855 | Whig (Coalition) |
The Earl of Aberdeen | ||
| William Cowper | 13 August 1855 | 9 February 1857 | Whig | The Viscount Palmerston | ||
| William Monsell | 9 February 1857 | 24 September 1857 | Whig | |||
| William Cowper | 24 September 1857 | 21 February 1858 | Whig | |||
| Charles Adderley | 8 March 1858 | 1 September 1858 | Conservative | The Earl of Derby | ||
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Addison | 24 June 1919 | 1 April 1921 | Liberal | David Lloyd George | |
| Sir Alfred Mond, Bt | 1 April 1921 | 19 October 1922 | Liberal | ||
| Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen | 24 October 1922 | 7 March 1923 (Lost seat 1922) |
Conservative | Andrew Bonar Law | |
| Neville Chamberlain | 7 March 1923 | 27 August 1923 | Conservative | ||
| Stanley Baldwin | |||||
| Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt | 27 August 1923 | 22 January 1924 | Conservative | ||
| John Wheatley | 22 January 1924 | 3 November 1924 | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | |
| Neville Chamberlain | 6 November 1924 | 4 June 1929 | Conservative | Stanley Baldwin | |
| Arthur Greenwood | 7 June 1929 | 24 August 1931 | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | |
| Neville Chamberlain | 25 August 1931 | 5 November 1931 | Conservative (National Govt) |
Ramsay MacDonald | |
| Sir Hilton Young | 5 November 1931 | 7 June 1935 | Conservative (National Govt) |
||
| Kingsley Wood | 7 June 1935 | 16 May 1938 | Conservative (National Govt) |
Stanley Baldwin | |
| Neville Chamberlain | |||||
| Walter Elliot | 16 May 1938 | 13 May 1940 | Unionist (National Govt; War Govt) |
||
| Malcolm MacDonald | 13 May 1940 | 8 February 1941 | National Labour (Coalition) |
Winston Churchill | |
| Ernest Brown | 8 February 1941 | 11 November 1943 | National Liberal (Coalition) |
||
| Henry Willink | 11 November 1943 | 26 July 1945 | Conservative (Coalition) |
||
| Aneurin Bevan | 3 August 1945 | 17 January 1951 | Labour | Clement Attlee | |
| Hilary Marquand | 17 January 1951 | 26 October 1951 | Labour | ||
| Harry Crookshank | 30 October 1951 | 7 May 1952 | Conservative | Sir Winston Churchill | |
| Iain Macleod | 7 May 1952 | 20 December 1955 | Conservative | ||
| Robin Turton | 20 December 1955 | 16 January 1957 | Conservative | ||
| Sir Anthony Eden | |||||
| Dennis Vosper | 16 January 1957 | 17 September 1957 | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | |
| Derek Walker-Smith | 17 September 1957 | 27 July 1960 | Conservative | ||
| Enoch Powell | 27 July 1960 | 20 October 1963 | Conservative | ||
| Anthony Barber | 20 October 1963 | 16 October 1964 | Conservative | Sir Alec Douglas-Home | |
| Kenneth Robinson | 18 October 1964 | 1 November 1968 | Labour | Harold Wilson | |
| Name | Portrait | Took Office | Left Office | Party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenneth Clarke | 25 July 1988 | 2 November 1990 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | ||
| William Waldegrave | 2 November 1990 | 28 November 1990 | Conservative | |||
| William Waldegrave | 28 November 1990 | 10 April 1992 | Conservative | John Major | ||
| Virginia Bottomley | 10 April 1992 | 5 July 1995 | Conservative | |||
| Stephen Dorrell | 5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | |||
| Frank Dobson | 3 May 1997 | 11 October 1999 | Labour | Tony Blair | ||
| Alan Milburn | 11 October 1999 | 13 June 2003 | Labour | |||
| John Reid | 13 June 2003 | 6 May 2005 | Labour | |||
| Patricia Hewitt | 6 May 2005 | 27 June 2007 | Labour | |||
| Alan Johnson | 28 June 2007 | 5 June 2009 | Labour | Gordon Brown | ||
| Andy Burnham | 5 June 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | |||
| Andrew Lansley | 11 May 2010 | Incumbent | Conservative | David Cameron | ||
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