| Secretary of State for Education |
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|---|---|
Arms of Her Majesty's Government Department for Education |
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| Style | The Right Honourable |
| Appointer | David Cameron |
| Inaugural holder | William Cowper-Temple Committee of the Council on Education John Patten Secretary of State for Education |
| Formation | 5 February 1857 10 April 1992 |
| Website | DfE |
| United Kingdom | |
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The Secretary of State for Education (frequently shortened to the Education Secretary) is the chief minister of the Department for Education in the United Kingdom government. The position was re-established on 12 May 2010, held by Michael Gove.
A Committee of the Privy Council was appointed in 1839 to supervise the distribution of certain Government grants in the education field. The members of the Committee were the Lord President of the Council, the Secretaries of State, the First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From 1857 a Vice President was appointed who took responsibility for policy.
In 1899, the Board of Education Act abolished the Committee and instituted a new Board, headed by a President, as of 1 April 1900. The members were initially very similar to the old Committee and the President of the Board was the Lord President of the Council; however, from 1902 this ceased to be the case and the President of the Board was appointed separately (although the Marquess of Londonderry happened to hold both jobs from 1903 to 1905).
The Department of Education and Science was created in 1964 with the merger of the offices of Minister of Education and the Minister of Science. In 1992 the responsibility for science was transferred to Cabinet Office’s Office of Public Service, and the department was renamed Department of Education. In 1995 the department merged with the Department of Employment to become the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and in 2001 the employment functions were transferred to a newly created Department for Work and Pensions, with the DfEE becoming the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). In 2007 under Gordon Brown's new premiership, the DfES was split into two new departments; the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and a Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, under two new Secretaries of State.
The ministerial office of the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills was, in late 2009, amalgamated into the new ministerial office of the resurgent politician, Peter Mandelson, ennobled as Lord Mandelson as the newly created Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills - itself an amalgamation of the responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Innovation, Universities and Skills - the Secretary of State has remit over Higher Education policy as well as British business and enterprise. As of 12 May 2010, it is headed by Secretary of State Vince Cable.
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. A. Butler | 3 August 1944 | 25 May 1945 | Conservative (Coalition) |
Winston Churchill | |
| Richard Law | 25 May 1945 | 26 July 1945 | Conservative (Caretaker Govt.) |
||
| Ellen Wilkinson | 3 August 1945 | 6 February 1947 (Died in office) |
Labour | Clement Attlee | |
| George Tomlinson | 10 February 1947 | 26 October 1951 | Labour | ||
| Florence Horsbrugh | 2 November 1951 | 18 October 1954 | Conservative | Sir Winston Churchill | |
| David Eccles | 18 October 1954 | 13 January 1957 | Conservative | ||
| Sir Anthony Eden | |||||
| Quintin Hogg The Viscount Hailsham |
13 January 1957 | 17 September 1957 | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | |
| Geoffrey Lloyd | 17 September 1957 | 14 October 1959 | Conservative | ||
| David Eccles | 14 October 1959 | 13 July 1962 | Conservative | ||
| Sir Edward Boyle | 13 July 1962 | 1 April 1964 | Conservative | ||
| Sir Alec Douglas-Home | |||||
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quintin Hogg (formerly Viscount Hailsham) |
1 April 1964 | 16 October 1964 | Conservative | Sir Alec Douglas-Home | |
| Michael Stewart | 18 October 1964 | 22 January 1965 | Labour | Harold Wilson | |
| Anthony Crosland | 22 January 1965 | 29 August 1967 | Labour | ||
| Patrick Gordon Walker | 29 August 1967 | 6 April 1968 | Labour | ||
| Edward Short | 6 April 1968 | 19 June 1970 | Labour | ||
| Margaret Thatcher | 20 June 1970 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | Edward Heath | |
| Reginald Prentice | 5 March 1974 | 10 June 1975 | Labour | Harold Wilson | |
| Fred Mulley | 10 June 1975 | 10 September 1976 | Labour | ||
| Shirley Williams | 10 September 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | James Callaghan | |
| Mark Carlisle | 5 May 1979 | 14 September 1981 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | |
| Sir Keith Joseph, Bt. | 14 September 1981 | 21 May 1986 | Conservative | ||
| Kenneth Baker | 21 May 1986 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | ||
| John MacGregor | 24 July 1989 | 2 November 1990 | Conservative | ||
| Kenneth Clarke | 2 November 1990 | 10 April 1992 | Conservative | John Major | |
| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Patten | 10 April 1992 | 20 July 1994 | Conservative | John Major | |
| Gillian Shephard | 20 July 1994 | 5 July 1995 | Conservative | ||
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillian Shephard | 5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | John Major | |
| David Blunkett | 2 May 1997 | 8 June 2001 | Labour | Tony Blair | |
| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estelle Morris | 8 June 2001 | 24 October 2002 (Resigned) |
Labour | Tony Blair | ||
| Charles Clarke | 24 October 2002 | 15 December 2004 | Labour | |||
| Ruth Kelly | 15 December 2004 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | |||
| Alan Johnson | 5 May 2006 | 27 June 2007 | Labour | |||
In 2007, the education portfolio was divided between the Department for Children, Schools and Families (responsible for infant, primary and secondary education), and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (responsible for further, higher and adult education). In 2009, the latter department was merged into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Secretary of State for
|
Secretary of State for
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Political party | Prime Minister | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | ||||
| Ed Balls | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | John Denham | 28 June 2007 | 5 June 2009 | Labour | Gordon Brown | ||||
| DIUS merged with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to create a new department headed by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. | |||||||||||
The Department for Education and the post of Secretary of State for Education were recreated in 2010. Responsibility for higher and adult education remains with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, currently Vince Cable.
| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Gove | 11 May 2010 | Incumbent | Conservative | David Cameron | ||