Secretary of State (United Kingdom): Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
m Disambiguating links to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (link changed to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK); link changed to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)) using DisamAssist. |
levelling up, housing, and communities -> hclg; sos in the cabinet office dropped |
||
| (21 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Member of the Cabinet of the |
{{Short description|Member of the Cabinet of the UK government}} |
||
{{For|secretaries of state of the Kingdom of England before 1707|Secretary of State (England)}} |
{{For|secretaries of state of the Kingdom of England before 1707|Secretary of State (England)}} |
||
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} |
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} |
||
{{uk-gov-positions}} |
{{uk-gov-positions}} |
||
'''His Majesty's principal secretaries of state''', or '''secretaries of state''', are senior [[Minister of the Crown|ministers of the Crown]] in the [[Government of the United Kingdom]]. |
'''His Majesty's principal secretaries of state''', or '''secretaries of state''', are senior [[Minister of the Crown|ministers of the Crown]] in the [[Government of the United Kingdom]]. Secretaries of state head most major [[Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom|government departments]] and make up the majority of the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom]]. |
||
== Legal position == |
== Legal position == |
||
[[File:Parking sign in Richmond Park, UK - 3.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Sign in [[Richmond Park]] citing the authority of the Secretary of State.]] |
|||
{{excerpt|Powers of the home secretary|Acting on behalf of other secretaries of state|this=Part of this section is}} |
|||
Legislation in the United Kingdom is often written like this example section of a hypothetical [[The Ministry of Silly Walks|Silly Walks Act 1970]]: |
|||
{{blockquote| |
|||
'''1. Grant powers''' |
|||
On the appointed day, the Secretary of State shall be empowered to grant money towards the development of fatuous ambulations as seen fit.}} |
|||
In legislation, the term "Secretary of State", thus capitalised, is interpreted under the [[Interpretation Act 1978]]<ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=act |year=1978 |act=Interpretation Act 1978 |chapter=30 |schedule=1 |mode=cs1 |access-date=17 November 2023|quote="Secretary of State" means one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.}}</ref> as referring to any one of the secretaries of state in use; in practice, such secretaries of state are each allocated a portfolio by the prime minister, and only exercise the powers in that portfolio.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-manual |title=Cabinet Manual |date=14 December 2010 |publisher=Cabinet Office |website=[[Cabinet Manual (United Kingdom)|The Cabinet Manual]] |quote=3.27 It is also the well-established practice for each secretary of state to be allocated responsibility by the Prime Minister for a particular department (for example health, foreign affairs, defence, transport, education etc.) and, accordingly, for each Secretary of State, in practice, to exercise only those functions that are within that department.}}</ref> In this example, a "Secretary of State for Silly Walks" would be appointed to exercise the provisions of the Act, but could theoretically exercise the powers of, for example, the [[Secretary of State for Scotland]] at any time. There are exceptions, in that legislation sometimes refers to particular secretaries of state.<ref>For example: |
|||
*{{cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2017 |act=Digital Economy Act 2017 |chapter=30 |schedule=4 |mode=cs1 |access-date=22 June 2023}} |
|||
*{{cite legislation UK |type=act |year=1920 |chapter=16 |schedule=0 |act=Imperial War Museum Act 1920 |mode=cs1 |access-date=22 June 2023}}</ref> |
|||
Under the [[Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975]], a maximum of 21 secretaries of state can receive a salary.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1975/27/schedule/1/paragraph/2 |title=Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, Schedule 1, Part V, Paragraph 2 |work=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=1 February 2021 |quote=In the case of the following offices a salary may be paid to more than one holder of the office at the same time, subject to the limitations expressed below, that is to say— (a) Secretary of State, so long as not more than 21 salaries are paid at the same time in accordance with Part I above;}}</ref> |
Under the [[Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975]], a maximum of 21 secretaries of state can receive a salary.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1975/27/schedule/1/paragraph/2 |title=Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, Schedule 1, Part V, Paragraph 2 |work=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=1 February 2021 |quote=In the case of the following offices a salary may be paid to more than one holder of the office at the same time, subject to the limitations expressed below, that is to say— (a) Secretary of State, so long as not more than 21 salaries are paid at the same time in accordance with Part I above;}}</ref> |
||
Secretaries of state and other government ministers are appointed by the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Monarch]] exercising [[Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom|royal prerogative]] on the advice of the government.<ref name="gob">[http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf The Governance of Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201132614/http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf |date=1 December 2007 }}</ref> By convention secretaries of state must be a member of either the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] or the [[House of Lords]], but the prime minister can advise the monarch to confer a [[Life peer|peerage]] to satisfy this requirement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Richard |date=17 November 2023 |title=Ministers in the House of Lords |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05226/ |access-date=30 November 2023 |publisher=[[House of Commons Library]]}}</ref> |
|||
Secretaries of state, like other government ministers, are appointed through the [[Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom|royal prerogative]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ministry of Justice|date=October 2009|title=The Governance of Britain: Review of the Executive Royal Prerogative Powers: Final Report|url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20091111115352/http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/royal-prerogative.pdf|access-date=9 September 2020|page=33}}</ref> |
|||
Most secretaries of state are incorporated as a "[[corporation sole]]". This gives the minister a separate legal personality, allowing continuity in areas such as the ownership of property between office-holder changes.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-manual |title=Cabinet Manual |date=14 December 2010 |publisher=Cabinet Office |website= |
Most secretaries of state are incorporated as a "[[corporation sole]]". This gives the minister a separate legal personality, allowing continuity in areas such as the ownership of property between office-holder changes.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-manual |title=Cabinet Manual |date=14 December 2010 |publisher=Cabinet Office |website=The Cabinet Manual |quote=3.28 Most secretaries of state are incorporated as 'corporations sole'. This gives the minister a separate legal personality. This is administratively convenient, for example as regards the ownership of property, because it facilitates continuity when the officeholder changes. }}</ref> |
||
==History== |
==History== |
||
===Kingdom of England=== |
===Kingdom of England=== |
||
{{Main|Secretary of State (England)}} |
{{Main|Secretary of State (England)}} |
||
The origin of the office lies in the office of the [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign|king's private secretary]].<ref name=":5" /> However, by the [[Tudor period]], the office's purview had become more onerous.<ref name=":5" /> |
The origin of the office lies in the office of the [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign|king's private secretary]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Brazier |first=Rodney |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37301571 |title=Ministers of the Crown |date=1997 |publisher=Clarendon |isbn=0-19-825988-3 |location=Oxford |pages=9–10 |oclc=37301571}}</ref> However, by the [[Tudor period]], the office's purview had become more onerous.<ref name=":5" /> |
||
In 1539 or 1540, Henry VIII appointed two people to the office.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="Pickrill">{{Cite book|last=Pickrill|first=DA|title=Ministers of the Crown|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|year=1981|isbn=0-7100-0916-X}}</ref>{{rp|p.29}} After the [[Stuart Restoration]], the practice of appointing two secretaries of state resumed.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Sainty|first=J. C.|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol2/pp1-21#h3-0008|title=Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782| |
In 1539 or 1540, Henry VIII appointed two people to the office.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="Pickrill">{{Cite book|last=Pickrill|first=DA|title=Ministers of the Crown|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|year=1981|isbn=0-7100-0916-X}}</ref>{{rp|p.29}} After the [[Stuart Restoration]], the practice of appointing two secretaries of state resumed.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Sainty|first=J. C.|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol2/pp1-21#h3-0008|title=Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782|via=British History Online|publisher=University of London|year=1973|pages=1–21|language=en|chapter=Introduction|quote=At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments. ... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.}}</ref> A formal division, in the form of the offices of the [[Secretary of State for the Northern Department|secretary of state for the Northern Department]] and the [[Secretary of State for the Southern Department|secretary of state for the Southern Department]], was made in 1689,<ref name=":5" /> though the office had been first divided into the Northern and Southern Department purviews in 1660.<ref name="Pickrill"/>{{rp|p.30}} |
||
===After the Union=== |
===After the Union=== |
||
In 1782, the responsibilities of these offices were changed, so that one would be responsible for foreign affairs and one for domestic affairs, thus establishing the embryonic offices of [[Foreign Secretary|foreign secretary]] and [[Home Secretary|home secretary]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /> Over time, the number of secretaries of states grew, so that there were five in 1900 and 14 by 1996.<ref name=":5" /> There are currently 16 secretaries of state.<ref name=":0" /> |
In 1782, the responsibilities of these offices were changed, so that one would be responsible for foreign affairs and one for domestic affairs, thus establishing the embryonic offices of [[Foreign Secretary|foreign secretary]] and [[Home Secretary|home secretary]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /> Over time, the number of secretaries of states grew, so that there were five in 1900 and 14 by 1996.<ref name=":5" /> There are currently 16 secretaries of state.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Ministers |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers |access-date=31 March 2021 |website=[[gov.uk]]}}</ref> |
||
==Secretaries of state currently in use== |
==Secretaries of state currently in use== |
||
| Line 34: | Line 43: | ||
!Dissolved into |
!Dissolved into |
||
!Ref(s) |
!Ref(s) |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |orig-date=15 February 2023 |title=ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE KING AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 15TH FEBRUARY 2023 |url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-02-15-List-of-Business.pdf |journal=Privy Council Meetings |publisher=The Privy Council Office |pages=8–10}}</ref> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Home Secretary|Secretary of State for the Home Department]] |
|[[Home Secretary|Secretary of State for the Home Department]] |
||
| Line 67: | Line 69: | ||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|<ref>{{Cite web|last=Torrance|first=David|date=19 June 2019|title=Introduction to devolution in the UK|url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8599 |
|<ref>{{Cite web|last=Torrance|first=David|date=19 June 2019|title=Introduction to devolution in the UK|url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8599|access-date=8 February 2021|website=[[House of Commons Library]]|page=12}}</ref> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Secretary of State for Defence]] |
|[[Secretary of State for Defence]] |
||
| Line 182: | Line 184: | ||
|<ref name=":7">[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/942/made The Transfer of Functions (Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs) Order 2020].</ref> |
|<ref name=":7">[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/942/made The Transfer of Functions (Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs) Order 2020].</ref> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Secretary of State for |
|rowspan="2"|[[Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government]] |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
|2021 |
|2021 |
||
|[[Secretary of State for |
|[[Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities]] |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
|2024 |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|<ref>{{Cite journal |orig-date=10 July 2024 |title=ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL, HELD BY THE KING AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 10TH JULY 2024 |url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-10-List-of-Business.pdf |journal=Privy Council Meetings |publisher=The Privy Council Office |pages=20}}</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero]] |
|[[Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero]] |
||
| Line 290: | Line 298: | ||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|<ref name="Pickrill"/>{{rp|p. |
|<ref name="Pickrill"/>{{rp|p.43–44}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Secretary of State for India and Burma]] |
|[[Secretary of State for India and Burma]] |
||
| Line 357: | Line 365: | ||
|[[Secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]] |
|[[Secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]] |
||
|1968 |
|1968 |
||
|[[Secretary of |
|[[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]] |
||
|2020 |
|2020 |
||
| |
| |
||
| Line 436: | Line 444: | ||
|2020 |
|2020 |
||
| |
| |
||
|<ref name=":2">[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/992/made The Secretaries of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for International Trade and for Exiting the European Union and the Transfer of Functions (Education and Skills) Order 2016].</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Duffy|first=Nick|date=1 February 2020|title=Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay exits cabinet as Boris Johnson shutters department|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/brexit/brexit-secretary-steve-barclay-exits-cabinet-boris-johnson-shutters-department-393030 |
|<ref name=":2">[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/992/made The Secretaries of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for International Trade and for Exiting the European Union and the Transfer of Functions (Education and Skills) Order 2016].</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Duffy|first=Nick|date=1 February 2020|title=Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay exits cabinet as Boris Johnson shutters department|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/brexit/brexit-secretary-steve-barclay-exits-cabinet-boris-johnson-shutters-department-393030|access-date=31 March 2021|website=inews.co.uk}}</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
|2024 |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |orig-date=15 February 2023 |title=ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE KING AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 15TH FEBRUARY 2023 |url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-02-15-List-of-Business.pdf |journal=Privy Council Meetings |publisher=The Privy Council Office |pages=8–10}}</ref> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
|[[Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities]] |
|[[Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities]] |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
|[[Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government]] |
|||
|2024 |
|||
|Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
|} |
|} |
||
| Line 525: | Line 540: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | |
||
| style="background:#CCCCFF;" | |
| style="background:#CCCCFF;" | |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2001 |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2001 |
||
| rowspan=" |
| rowspan="14" colspan="2" style="border-width:3px 3px 3px 3px;border-color:black;background:#CCCCFF;" | [[Secretary of State for Work and Pensions]] (2001–present) |
||
| rowspan="4" colspan="2" style="background:#b7e690;" | [[Secretary of State for Education and Skills]] (2001–07) |
| rowspan="4" colspan="2" style="background:#b7e690;" | [[Secretary of State for Education and Skills]] (2001–07) |
||
| rowspan="5" colspan="2" style="border-width:3px 3px 0 3px;border-color:black"| [[Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]] (2001–present) |
| rowspan="5" colspan="2" style="border-width:3px 3px 0 3px;border-color:black"| [[Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]] (2001–present) |
||
| Line 539: | Line 554: | ||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2002 |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2002 |
||
| |
| |
||
| rowspan=" |
| rowspan="12" style="border-width:3px 3px 3px 3px;border-color:black;background:lightgrey" | [[Secretary of State for Transport]] (2002–present) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2006 |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2006 |
||
| Line 560: | Line 575: | ||
| colspan="3" style="border-width:1px 0 1px 0;border-color:#a1a9b1;background:#ffdead;" | |
| colspan="3" style="border-width:1px 0 1px 0;border-color:#a1a9b1;background:#ffdead;" | |
||
| rowspan="3" colspan="2" style="background:#CEE0F2"| [[Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]] (2008–16) |
| rowspan="3" colspan="2" style="background:#CEE0F2"| [[Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]] (2008–16) |
||
| rowspan=" |
| rowspan="8" style="border-width:0 3px 3px 3px;border-color:black" | |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2009 |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2009 |
||
| Line 575: | Line 590: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2018 |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2018 |
||
| rowspan=" |
| rowspan="4" style="border-width:3px 3px 3px 3px;border-color:black;background:#FFCCCC;" | [[Secretary of State for Health and Social Care]] (2018–present) |
||
| rowspan=" |
| rowspan="5" colspan="2" style="border-width:0 3px 3px 0;border-color:black;background:#b7e690;" | [[Secretary of State for Education]] (2010–present) |
||
| style="border-width:0;border-color:black;background:#FBCEB1" | [[Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government]] (2018–2021) |
| style="border-width:0;border-color:black;background:#FBCEB1" | [[Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government]] (2018–2021) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2021 |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2021 |
||
| rowspan="2" style="border-width: |
| rowspan="2" style="border-width:0;border-color:black;background:#FBCEB1" | [[Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities]] (2021–2024) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2023 |
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2023 |
||
| colspan="2" style="border-width:3px;border-color:black;background:#ffdead" | [[Secretary of State for Business and Trade]] (2023–present) |
| rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="border-width:3px;border-color:black;background:#ffdead" | [[Secretary of State for Business and Trade]] (2023–present) |
||
| style="border-width:3px;border-color:black" |[[Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology]] (2023–present) |
| rowspan="2" style="border-width:3px;border-color:black" |[[Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology]] (2023–present) |
||
| colspan="2" style="border-width:3px;border-color:black;background:#CEE0F2"| [[Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero]] (2023–present) |
| rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="border-width:3px;border-color:black;background:#CEE0F2"| [[Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero]] (2023–present) |
||
|- |
|||
| style="border-width:1px 0 1px 1px;border-color:white;vertical-align:top;" | 2024 |
|||
| rowspan="2" style="border-width:3px;border-color:black;background:#FBCEB1" | [[Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government]] (2024–present) |
|||
|} |
|} |
||
| Line 643: | Line 661: | ||
[[Category:Titles]] |
[[Category:Titles]] |
||
[[Category:Government occupations]] |
[[Category:Government occupations]] |
||
[[Category:Ministerial |
[[Category:Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom]] |
||
Latest revision as of 16:51, 12 July 2024
| Political offices in the UK government |
|---|
_(Tudor_Crown).svg) |
| List of political offices |
His Majesty's principal secretaries of state, or secretaries of state, are senior ministers of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. Secretaries of state head most major government departments and make up the majority of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Legal position
[edit]
Legislation in the United Kingdom is often written like this example section of a hypothetical Silly Walks Act 1970:
1. Grant powers
On the appointed day, the Secretary of State shall be empowered to grant money towards the development of fatuous ambulations as seen fit.
In legislation, the term "Secretary of State", thus capitalised, is interpreted under the Interpretation Act 1978[1] as referring to any one of the secretaries of state in use; in practice, such secretaries of state are each allocated a portfolio by the prime minister, and only exercise the powers in that portfolio.[2] In this example, a "Secretary of State for Silly Walks" would be appointed to exercise the provisions of the Act, but could theoretically exercise the powers of, for example, the Secretary of State for Scotland at any time. There are exceptions, in that legislation sometimes refers to particular secretaries of state.[3]
Under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, a maximum of 21 secretaries of state can receive a salary.[4]
Secretaries of state and other government ministers are appointed by the Monarch exercising royal prerogative on the advice of the government.[5] By convention secretaries of state must be a member of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, but the prime minister can advise the monarch to confer a peerage to satisfy this requirement.[6]
Most secretaries of state are incorporated as a "corporation sole". This gives the minister a separate legal personality, allowing continuity in areas such as the ownership of property between office-holder changes.[7]
History
[edit]Kingdom of England
[edit]The origin of the office lies in the office of the king's private secretary.[8] However, by the Tudor period, the office's purview had become more onerous.[8]
In 1539 or 1540, Henry VIII appointed two people to the office.[8][9]: p.29 After the Stuart Restoration, the practice of appointing two secretaries of state resumed.[10] A formal division, in the form of the offices of the secretary of state for the Northern Department and the secretary of state for the Southern Department, was made in 1689,[8] though the office had been first divided into the Northern and Southern Department purviews in 1660.[9]: p.30
After the Union
[edit]In 1782, the responsibilities of these offices were changed, so that one would be responsible for foreign affairs and one for domestic affairs, thus establishing the embryonic offices of foreign secretary and home secretary.[8][10] Over time, the number of secretaries of states grew, so that there were five in 1900 and 14 by 1996.[8] There are currently 16 secretaries of state.[11]
Secretaries of state currently in use
[edit]Secretaries of state no longer in use
[edit]Health, education, work, business, energy, environment, transport and the regions
[edit]The secretaries of state that have been used for the matters of health, education, work, business, energy, environment, transport and the regions are shown in the graphic below. It shows how portfolios of responsibilities have been broadly passed down from one secretary of state position to the position(s) directly below it. However, it is impossible for such a graphic to be completely accurate; it cannot show smaller changes, or gains or losses of responsibilities within a position due to changes of responsibilities for the UK Government (for example, due to devolution or Brexit). It is not to scale. In the gaps, and before the first of these secretaries of state, relevant responsibilities were taken on by ministers not titled 'Secretary of State'.
Key:
| Secretary of state primarily relating to health | |
| Secretary of state primarily relating to work and benefits | |
| Secretary of state primarily relating to education | |
| Secretary of state primarily relating to business | |
| Secretary of state primarily relating to energy | |
| Secretary of state primarily relating to the regions | |
| Secretary of state primarily relating to transport | |
| Secretary of state covering more than one of these areas | |
| Secretary of state currently in use |
Culture
[edit]The Secretaries of state that have been used for culture, heritage and sport are as follows:
References
[edit]- ^ "Interpretation Act 1978: Schedule 1". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 1978 c. 30 (sch. 1). Retrieved 17 November 2023.
"Secretary of State" means one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.
- ^ "Cabinet Manual". The Cabinet Manual. Cabinet Office. 14 December 2010.
3.27 It is also the well-established practice for each secretary of state to be allocated responsibility by the Prime Minister for a particular department (for example health, foreign affairs, defence, transport, education etc.) and, accordingly, for each Secretary of State, in practice, to exercise only those functions that are within that department.
- ^ For example:
- "Digital Economy Act 2017: Schedule 4". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 2017 c. 30 (sch. 4). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- "Imperial War Museum Act 1920: Schedule". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 1920 c. 16 (sch.). Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, Schedule 1, Part V, Paragraph 2". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
In the case of the following offices a salary may be paid to more than one holder of the office at the same time, subject to the limitations expressed below, that is to say— (a) Secretary of State, so long as not more than 21 salaries are paid at the same time in accordance with Part I above;
- ^ The Governance of Britain Archived 1 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Kelly, Richard (17 November 2023). "Ministers in the House of Lords". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ Cabinet Manual. Cabinet Office. 14 December 2010.
3.28 Most secretaries of state are incorporated as 'corporations sole'. This gives the minister a separate legal personality. This is administratively convenient, for example as regards the ownership of property, because it facilitates continuity when the officeholder changes.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Brazier, Rodney (1997). Ministers of the Crown. Oxford: Clarendon. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0-19-825988-3. OCLC 37301571.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Pickrill, DA (1981). Ministers of the Crown. Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-0916-X.
- ^ a b Sainty, J. C. (1973). "Introduction". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782. University of London. pp. 1–21 – via British History Online.
At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments. ... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.
- ^ "Ministers". gov.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Torrance, David (19 June 2019). "Introduction to devolution in the UK". House of Commons Library. p. 12. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- ^ a b Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act 1964.
- ^ Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972.
- ^ The Secretary of State for Transport Order 1976.
- ^ The Transfer of Functions (Transport, Local Government and the Regions) Order 2002.
- ^ The Secretaries of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Order 2001.
- ^ The Secretary of State for Education Order 2010.
- ^ The Secretaries of State for Education and Skills and for Work and Pensions Order 2002.
- ^ The Secretary of State for Justice Order 2007.
- ^ a b The Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care and for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Transfer of Functions (Commonhold Land) Order 2018.
- ^ a b The Transfer of Functions (Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs) Order 2020.
- ^ "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL, HELD BY THE KING AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 10TH JULY 2024" (PDF). Privy Council Meetings. The Privy Council Office: 20.
- ^ a b c "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE KING AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 15TH FEBRUARY 2023" (PDF). Privy Council Meetings. The Privy Council Office: 8–10.
- ^ The Secretaries of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for International Trade and for Exiting the European Union and the Transfer of Functions (Education and Skills) Order 2016.
- ^ Duffy, Nick (1 February 2020). "Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay exits cabinet as Boris Johnson shutters department". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ The Transfer of Functions (Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) Order 2021.