| Secretary of State for Northern Ireland |
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Arms of Her Majesty's Government Northern Ireland Office |
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| Style | The Right Honourable |
| Residence | Hillsborough Castle |
| Appointer | David Cameron |
| Inaugural holder | William Whitelaw |
| Formation | 24 March 1972 |
| Website | Northern Ireland Office |
| Northern Ireland |
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The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is the chief minister in the Northern Ireland Office. As with other ministers, the position is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The position is normally described simply as 'the Secretary of State' by residents of Northern Ireland.
Formerly holding a large portfolio over home affairs in Northern Ireland, the current devolution settlement has lessened the Secretary of State's role, granting many of the former powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive. The Secretary of State is now generally limited to representing Northern Ireland in the UK cabinet, overseeing the operation of the devolved administration and a number of reserved and excepted matters which remain the sole competence of the UK Government e.g. security, human rights, certain public inquiries and the administration of elections.[1]
Created in 1972, the position has switched between Members of Parliament from the Conservative Party and Labour Party. As Labour has not fielded candidates in Northern Ireland and the Conservatives have not had candidates elected to Northern Ireland Assembly or for House of Commons seats in the province, those appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland have not represented a constituency in Northern Ireland. This contrasts with the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales.
The Secretary of State resides in Hillsborough Castle, the previous residence of the Governor and the official government and royal residence in Northern Ireland, and exercises their duties through the Northern Ireland Office.
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Historically, the principal ministers for Irish (and subsequently Northern Ireland) affairs in the UK Government and its predecessors were:
In August 1969, for example, Home Secretary James Callaghan approved the sending of British Army soldiers to Northern Ireland. [3] Scotland and Wales were represented by the Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Wales from 1885 and 1965 respectively but Northern Ireland remained separate, due to the devolved Northern Ireland Government and Northern Ireland Parliament.
The office of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was created following the suspension, then abolition, of the Northern Ireland, following widespread civil strife. The UK Government was increasingly concerned that the Northern Ireland Government (at Stormont) was losing control of the situation. On 24 March 1972, it announced that direct rule from Westminster would be introduced. This took effect on 30 March 1972. [4]
The post effectively filled three roles which existed under the previous Stormont regime: [5]
Direct rule was seen as a temporary measure, with a power-sharing devolution preferred as the solution, and was annually renewed by a vote in Parliament.
The Sunningdale Agreement in 1973 resulted in a brief, power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive, from 1 January 1974, which was ended by the loyalist Ulster Workers' Council strike on 28 May 1974. The strikers opposed the power-sharing and all-Ireland aspects of the new administration.
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975-1976) and Northern Ireland Assembly (1982-1986) were unsuccessful in restoring devolved government. After the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 15 November 1985, the UK Government and Irish Government co-operated more closely on security and political matters.
Following the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) on 10 April 1998, devolution returned to Northern Ireland on 2 December 1999. This removed many of the duties of the Secretary of State and his Northern Ireland Office colleagues and devolved them to locally-elected politicians, constituting the Northern Ireland Executive.
The devolved administration was suspended several times (especially between 15 October 2002 and 8 May 2007) because the Ulster Unionist Party and Democratic Unionist Party were uncomfortable being in government with Sinn Féin when the Provisional Irish Republican Army had failed to decommission its arms fully and continued its criminal activities. On each of these occasions, the responsibilities of the ministers in the Executive then returned to the Secretary of State and his ministers. During these periods, in addition to administration of the region, the Secretary of State was also heavily involved in the negotiations with all parties to restore devolved government.
Power was again devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007. The Secretary of State retained responsibility for policing and justice until most of those powers were devolved on 12 April 2010.[6]
| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Whitelaw | 24 March 1972 | 2 December 1973 | Conservative | Edward Heath | ||
| Francis Pym | 2 December 1973 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | |||
| Merlyn Rees | 5 March 1974 | 10 September 1976 | Labour | Harold Wilson | ||
| Roy Mason | 10 September 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | James Callaghan | ||
| Humphrey Atkins | 5 May 1979 | 14 September 1981 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | ||
| James Prior | 14 September 1981 | 11 September 1984 | Conservative | |||
| Douglas Hurd | 11 September 1984 | 3 September 1985 | Conservative | |||
| Tom King | 3 September 1985 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | |||
| Peter Brooke | 24 July 1989 | 10 April 1992 | Conservative | |||
| John Major | ||||||
| Sir Patrick Mayhew | 10 April 1992 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | |||
| Mo Mowlam | 3 May 1997 | 11 October 1999 | Labour | Tony Blair | ||
| Peter Mandelson | 11 October 1999 | 24 January 2001 (resigned) |
Labour | |||
| John Reid | 25 January 2001 | 24 October 2002 | Labour | |||
| Paul Murphy | 24 October 2002 | 6 May 2005 | Labour | |||
| Peter Hain | 6 May 2005 | 27 June 2007 | Labour | |||
| Shaun Woodward | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Gordon Brown | ||
| Owen Paterson | 12 May 2010 | Incumbent | Conservative | David Cameron | ||
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