Home Secretary

United Kingdom
Secretary of State for the
Home Department

Incumbent
Theresa May
since 12 May 2010
Home Office
Style The Right Honourable
(Formal)
Minister or Name
(Informal)
Member of British Cabinet
Privy Council
National Security Council
Reports to The Prime Minister
Seat Westminster, London
Appointer The British Monarch
on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length No fixed term
Inaugural holder William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Formation 27 March 1782
Website www.gov.uk
United Kingdom
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Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Secretary) is a senior official as one of the Great Offices of State within Her Majesty's Government and head of the Home Office. The office is a British Cabinet level position.

The Home Secretary is responsible for the internal affairs of England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the United Kingdom. The remit of the Home Office also includes policing in England and Wales and matters of national security, as the Security Service, MI5, is directly accountable to the Home Secretary. Formerly, the Home Secretary was the minister responsible for prisons and probation in England and Wales; however, in 2005 those responsibilities were transferred to the newly created Ministry of Justice under the Lord Chancellor.

The current Home Secretary is The Rt Honourable Theresa May, MP, appointed on 12 May 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to serve in the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government. May was reappointed by Cameron on 8 May 2015 to serve as Home Secretary in the Conservative government.

List of Home Secretaries

Colour key

Home Secretaries, 1782–1801

Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
The Earl of Shelburne 27 March 1782 10 July 1782 Whig The Marquess of Rockingham
Thomas Townsend 10 July 1782 2 April 1783 Whig The Earl of Shelburne
Lord North 2 April 1783 19 December 1783 Tory The Duke of Portland
(Fox-North Coalition)
The Earl Temple 19 December 1783 23 December 1783 Whig William Pitt the Younger
The Lord Sydney 23 December 1783 5 June 1789 Whig
The Lord Grenville 5 June 1789 8 June 1791 Tory
Henry Dundas 8 June 1791 11 July 1794 Tory
The Duke of Portland 11 July 1794 30 July 1801 Tory

Home Secretaries, 1801–1900

Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
Lord Pelham 30 July 1801 17 August 1803 Whig Henry Addington
Charles Philip Yorke 17 August 1803 12 May 1804 Tory
The Lord Hawkesbury 12 May 1804 5 February 1806 Tory William Pitt the Younger
The Earl Spencer 5 February 1806 25 March 1807 Whig Lord Grenville
(Ministry of All the Talents)
The Lord Hawkesbury
(Earl of Liverpool from 1808)		 25 March 1807 1 November 1809 Tory The Duke of Portland
Richard Ryder 1 November 1809 8 June 1812 Tory Spencer Perceval
The Viscount Sidmouth 11 June 1812 17 January 1822 Tory Lord Liverpool
Robert Peel 17 January 1822 10 April 1827 Tory
William Sturges Bourne 30 April 1827 16 July 1827 Tory George Canning
The Marquess of Lansdowne 16 July 1827 22 January 1828 Whig The Viscount Goderich
Robert Peel 26 January 1828 22 November 1830 Tory The Duke of Wellington
The Viscount Melbourne 22 November 1830 16 July 1834 Whig Earl Grey
Viscount Duncannon 19 July 1834 15 November 1834 Whig The Viscount Melbourne
The Duke of Wellington 15 November 1834 15 December 1834 Tory The Duke of Wellington
Henry Goulburn 15 December 1834 18 April 1835 Conservative Sir Robert Peel
Lord John Russell 18 April 1835 30 August 1839 Whig The Viscount Melbourne
The Marquess of Normanby 30 August 1839 30 August 1841 Whig
Sir James Graham, Bt 6 September 1841 30 June 1846 Conservative Sir Robert Peel
Sir George Grey, Bt 8 July 1846 23 February 1852 Whig Lord John Russell
Spencer Horatio Walpole 27 February 1852 19 December 1852 Conservative The Earl of Derby
The Viscount Palmerston 28 December 1852 6 February 1855 Whig The Earl of Aberdeen
(Coalition)
Sir George Grey, Bt 8 February 1855 26 February 1858 Whig The Viscount Palmerston
Spencer Horatio Walpole 26 February 1858 3 March 1859 Conservative The Earl of Derby
Thomas H. Sotheron-Estcourt 3 March 1859 18 June 1859 Conservative
Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt 18 June 1859 25 July 1861 Liberal The Viscount Palmerston
Sir George Grey, Bt 25 July 1861 28 June 1866 Liberal
The Earl Russell
Spencer Horatio Walpole 6 July 1866 17 May 1867 Conservative The Earl of Derby
Gathorne Hardy 17 May 1867 3 December 1868 Conservative
Benjamin Disraeli
Henry Austin Bruce 9 December 1868 9 August 1873 Liberal William Ewart Gladstone
Robert Lowe August 1873 20 February 1874 Liberal
R. A. Cross 21 February 1874 23 April 1880 Conservative Benjamin Disraeli
Sir William Vernon Harcourt 28 April 1880 23 June 1885 Liberal William Ewart Gladstone
R. A. Cross 24 June 1885 1 February 1886 Conservative The Marquess of Salisbury
Hugh Childers 6 February 1886 25 July 1886 Liberal William Ewart Gladstone
Henry Matthews 3 August 1886 15 August 1892 Conservative The Marquess of Salisbury
H. H. Asquith 18 August 1892 25 June 1895 Liberal William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt 29 June 1895 12 November 1900 Conservative The Marquess of Salisbury
(Unionist Coalition)

Home Secretaries, 1900–2001

Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
Charles Ritchie 12 November 1900 12 July 1902 Conservative The Marquess of Salisbury
(Unionist Coalition)
Aretas Akers-Douglas 12 July 1902 5 December 1905 Conservative Arthur Balfour
(Unionist Coalition)
Herbert Gladstone 11 December 1905 19 February 1910 Liberal Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
H. H. Asquith
Winston Churchill 19 February 1910 24 October 1911 Liberal
Reginald McKenna 24 October 1911 27 May 1915 Liberal
Sir John Simon 27 May 1915 12 January 1916 Liberal H. H. Asquith
(Coalition)
Herbert Samuel 12 January 1916 7 December 1916 Liberal
Sir George Cave
(Viscount Cave from 1918)		 11 December 1916 14 January 1919 Conservative David Lloyd George
(Coalition)
Edward Shortt 14 January 1919 23 October 1922 Liberal
William Bridgeman 25 October 1922 22 January 1924 Conservative Andrew Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Arthur Henderson 23 January 1924 4 November 1924 Labour Ramsay MacDonald
Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt 7 November 1924 5 June 1929 Conservative Stanley Baldwin
J. R. Clynes 8 June 1929 26 August 1931 Labour Ramsay MacDonald
Sir Herbert Samuel 26 August 1931 1 October 1932 Liberal Ramsay MacDonald
(1st & 2nd National Min.)
Sir John Gilmour, Bt 1 October 1932 7 June 1935 Unionist
Sir John Simon 7 June 1935 28 May 1937 National Liberal Stanley Baldwin
(3rd National Min.)
Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt 28 May 1937 3 September 1939 Conservative Neville Chamberlain
(4th National Min.)
Sir John Anderson 4 September 1939 4 October 1940 National Independent Neville Chamberlain
(War Coalition)
Herbert Morrison 4 October 1940 23 May 1945 Labour
(Coalition)		 Winston Churchill
(War Coalition)
Sir Donald Somervell 25 May 1945 26 July 1945 Conservative Winston Churchill
(Caretaker Min.)
James Chuter Ede 3 August 1945 26 October 1951 Labour Clement Attlee
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe 27 October 1951 19 October 1954 Conservative Sir Winston Churchill
Gwilym Lloyd George 19 October 1954 14 January 1957 Liberal & Conservative
Sir Anthony Eden
R. A. Butler 14 January 1957 13 July 1962 Conservative Harold Macmillan
Henry Brooke 14 July 1962 16 October 1964 Conservative
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Sir Frank Soskice 18 October 1964 23 December 1965 Labour Harold Wilson
Roy Jenkins 23 December 1965 30 November 1967 Labour
James Callaghan 30 November 1967 19 June 1970 Labour
Reginald Maudling 20 June 1970 18 July 1972 Conservative Edward Heath
Robert Carr 18 July 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative
Roy Jenkins 5 March 1974 10 September 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
Merlyn Rees 10 September 1976 4 May 1979 Labour James Callaghan
William Whitelaw 4 May 1979 11 June 1983 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
Leon Brittan 11 June 1983 2 September 1985 Conservative
Douglas Hurd 2 September 1985 26 October 1989 Conservative
David Waddington 26 October 1989 28 November 1990 Conservative
Kenneth Baker 28 November 1990 10 April 1992 Conservative John Major
Kenneth Clarke 10 April 1992 27 May 1993 Conservative
Michael Howard 27 May 1993 2 May 1997 Conservative
Jack Straw 2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour Tony Blair

Home Secretaries, 2001–present

Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
David Blunkett 8 June 2001 15 December 2004 Labour Tony Blair
Charles Clarke 15 December 2004 5 May 2006 Labour
John Reid 5 May 2006 27 June 2007 Labour
Jacqui Smith 28 June 2007 5 June 2009 Labour Gordon Brown
Alan Johnson 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour
Theresa May 12 May 2010 Incumbent Conservative
 David Cameron
(I · II)

See also

References

    External links

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