Secretary of State (United Kingdom)
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In the United Kingdom, a secretary of state (SofS) is a Cabinet minister in charge of a government department (though not all departments are headed by a secretary of state, e.g. HM Treasury is headed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer).
There are a number of secretaries of state, each formally titled "Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for ...". Legislation generally only refers to "the Secretary of State" without specifying which one; by virtue of the Interpretation Act 1978 this phrase means "one of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State".[1] These positions can be created without primary legislation, nowadays at the behest of the Prime Minister.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Kingdom of England
1.2 After the Union
2 Current positions
3 Obsolete positions
4 References
History
Kingdom of England
In the Middle Ages the kings of England were attended by a cleric called the "king's clerk" and later "secretary", who dealt with their correspondence. Until the reign of Henry VIII, there was usually only one secretary, but under him a second appeared. In the time of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) these men gained the title "Secretary of State". With Cabinet government after 1688, the Secretaries of State took on higher duties. Their posts came to be known as the Secretary of State for the Northern Department and the Secretary of State for the Southern Department. Both dealt with home affairs, but they divided foreign affairs, so that one dealt with the Protestant states of northern Europe and the other with the Roman Catholic states of southern Europe. The Secretary of State for the Southern Department ranked above the one for the Northern Department.
After the Union
In 1708, after Union with Scotland, a Secretary of State for Scotland was appointed, but the third secretaryship disappeared from 1742 until 1768, when a newly re-instituted third secretary began to take charge of the increasing administrative work of the British Empire. In 1782 came the new posts of Home Secretary, dealing with home affairs, and Foreign Secretary, dealing with foreign relations. The third secretary again disappeared, and the charge of the colonies was transferred to the Home Secretary. However, owing to the War of the First Coalition with France in 1794, a third secretary re-appeared to superintend the activities of the War Department. Seven years later, the colonial business became attached to his Department. In 1854, a fourth secretary of state gained the exclusive charge of the War Department, and in 1858 a fifth secretary (for India) began duties.
These five secretaries of state remained constant thereafter until after the first world war. In the post-war decade, three new secretaries of state were instituted – one for the Royal Air Force was split out of the War Office; one for relations with Britain's self-governing Dominions was carved out of the Colonial Office, and the minister responsible for Scottish affairs was raised to the level of a secretary of state.
This situation remained constant until after the Second World War. At the independence of India in 1947, the India Office and the Dominions Office were merged under a single Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations. A year before, the Secretaries for War and Air had lost their status as cabinet-level ministers, due to a reorganisation of British military command, being subordinated to a new Minister of Defence, and were finally abolished in 1964 and replaced with a new Secretary of State for Defence. A few years later, with the increasing contraction of the British Empire, the Colonial and Commonwealth Relations offices were merged, and in 1968 their responsibilities were subsumed within those of the Foreign Secretary.
By this time, however, the entire concept of a secretary of state had been largely transformed, as Prime Minister Harold Wilson began in 1964 the process of transforming nearly all of the various ministers and board presidents which made up the British cabinet into secretaries of state. By the end of the twentieth century, virtually all departmental cabinet ministers were secretaries of state, with the notable exception of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In contrast to the general stability of the secretaryships before the 1960s, the exact number and duties of the various secretaries of state has been very fluid, with only the Foreign and Home Secretaries, the two original secretaries of state, maintaining a consistent portfolio.
Current positions
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (usually referred to as the Foreign Secretary) (1782; took current name 1968)
Secretary of State for the Home Department (usually referred to as the Home Secretary) (1782)
Secretary of State for Scotland (1707–1746; 1926–present)
Secretary of State for Education (1964, took current name 2010)
Secretary of State for Defence (1964)
Secretary of State for Wales (1964)
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1968 both Minister of Labour and Minister of Social Security elevated to Secretary of State running separate departments; departments merged with current name 2001)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1972)
Secretary of State for Transport (1976; name not used 1979–1981; subsumed in other departments 1997–2002)
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (1988; took current name 2018)
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (1992; took current name 2017, adding "Olympics" for 2010–2012)
Secretary of State for International Development (1997)
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2001)
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (2006)
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (2007)
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2016)
Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (2016)
Secretary of State for International Trade (2016)
The honorific title First Secretary of State is awarded occasionally. It has been in existence since 1962 and is currently vacant.
Obsolete positions
Secretary of State for the Northern Department (1660–1782)
Secretary of State for the Southern Department (1660–1782)
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1782–1968; merged into Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)
Secretary of State for the Colonies (1768–1782 and 1854–1966; merged into Commonwealth Affairs)
Secretary of State for War (1794–1801 and 1854–1964; merged into Defence)
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1801–1854; divided)
Office the First Lord of the Admiralty (1801–1964; merged into Defence)
Secretary of State for India (1858–1947; from 1935 known as India and Burma)
Secretary of State for Air (1918–1964; merged into Defence)
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (1925–1947; merged into Commonwealth Relations)
Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (1947–1966; merged into Commonwealth Affairs)
Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development (1963–1964; merged into Trade and Industry)
Secretary of State for Education and Science (1964–1992; renamed Education)
Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (1964–1969)
Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs (1966–1968; merged into Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)
Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity (1968–1970; renamed Employment)
Secretary of State for Social Services (1968–1988; split into Health and Social Security)
Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning (1969–1970; became Minister of State)
Secretary of State for the Environment (1970–1997; renamed Environment, Transport and the Regions)
Secretary of State for Employment (1970–1995; merged into Education and Employment)
Secretary of State for Energy (1974–1992; merged into Trade and Industry)
Secretary of State for Trade (1974–1983; merged into Trade and Industry)
Secretary of State for Industry (1974–1983; merged into Trade and Industry)
Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection (1974–1979)
Secretary of State for Social Security (1988–2001; renamed Work and Pensions)
Secretary of State for Education (1992–1995; merged into Education and Employment)
Secretary of State for National Heritage (1992–1997; renamed Culture, Media and Sport)
Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1995–2001; split into Education and Skills, and Work and Pensions)
Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001; divided into Transport, Local Government and the Regions and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2001–2002; divided into Transport and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister)
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (2003–2007; merged with some duties of Home to create Justice)
Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1964–2007; split into Children, Schools and Families and Innovation, Universities and Skills)
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1970–2007; renamed Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform)
Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (2007–2009; merged into Business, Innovation and Skills)
Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (2007–2009; merged into Business, Innovation and Skills)
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade (2007-2016; split into Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and International Trade)
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (2008-2016; merged into Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
References
^ Schedule 1 to the Interpretation Act 1978, as amended, from the UK Statute Law Database.
