Home Secretary

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Secretary of State for the Home Department
Incumbent: Alan Johnson Took office: 5 June 2009
Style:	The Right Honourable
Appointed by:	Elizabeth II as Queen of the United Kingdom
First :	William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Formation:	27 March 1782

United Kingdom

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the United Kingdom

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The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State. The Home Secretary is responsible for internal affairs within England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole of the United Kingdom; England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The remit of the British ministry also includes policing and matters of national security.

The incumbent is former Trade-Union member, Alan Johnson. Controversially, he was awarded the position by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a recent Cabinet reshuffle (June 2009), including the expenses scandal^[1]. Due to harsh media criticism over her position, the office was free as a result of the resignation of then Secretary of State Jacqui Smith.

Contents 1 Responsibilities 1.1 Constitutional & Legal Affairs 1.2 Development of other government departments 2 Home Secretaries, 1782-1801 3 Home Secretaries, 1801-1900 4 Home Secretaries, 1900-2001 5 Home Secretaries, 2001-present 6 References 7 Related pages 7.1 General terms 7.2 European positions 7.3 North and Central American positions 7.4 Asian positions 7.5 Oceanian positions 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Responsibilities

The Home Secretary is currently responsible for:

• Police
• Crime-fighting
• Anti-terrorism
• Citizenship
• Identity cards and passports

[edit] Constitutional & Legal Affairs

The British government has three separate departments for legal, judicial and civil rights issues: The Home Office (as specified above); the Attorney General's Office; and the Ministry of Justice, headed by the Secretary of State for Justice. As such the Home Office, unlike the Department of Justice in some countries, has no responsibility for the Courts of England and Wales.

[edit] Development of other government departments

Because the Home Office was initially the primary government department with responsibility for domestic affairs, all subsequent domestic departments have effectively been created by taking responsibilities from the Home Office. Until 2001 this left a variety of miscellaneous tasks that sat apart from the law and order functions of the department, such as British Summer Time or wild birds in Scotland.^[2] However, on the appointment of David Blunkett as Home Secretary, these functions - and others such as responsibility for the fire brigades - have been reallocated to other departments to give the position a focus solely on law and order.

[edit] Home Secretaries, 1782-1801

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party
	The Earl of Shelburne		27 March 1782	10 July 1782	Whig
	Thomas Townsend		10 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig
	Lord North		2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Tory
	The Earl Temple		19 December 1783	23 December 1783	Whig
	The Lord Sydney		23 December 1783	5 June 1789	Whig
	The Lord Grenville		5 June 1789	8 June 1791	Whig
	Henry Dundas		8 June 1791	11 July 1794	Tory
	The Duke of Portland		11 July 1794	30 July 1801	Tory

[edit] Home Secretaries, 1801-1900

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

[edit] Home Secretaries, 1900-2001

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party
	Charles Ritchie		12 November 1900	12 July 1902	Conservative
	Aretas Akers-Douglas		12 July 1902	5 December 1905	Conservative
	Herbert Gladstone		11 December 1905	19 February 1910	Liberal
	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
	Herbert Samuel		12 January 1916	7 December 1916	Liberal
	Sir George Cave		11 December 1916	14 January 1919	Conservative
	Edward Shortt		14 January 1919	23 October 1922	Liberal
	William Bridgeman		25 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative
	Arthur Henderson		23 January 1924	4 November 1924	Labour
	Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt		7 November 1924	5 June 1929	Conservative
	J. R. Clynes		8 June 1929	26 August 1931	Labour
	Sir Herbert Samuel		26 August 1931	1 October 1932	Liberal
	Sir John Gilmour, Bt		1 October 1932	7 June 1935	Unionist
	Sir John Simon		7 June 1935	28 May 1937	National Liberal
	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		28 May 1937	3 September 1939	Conservative
	Sir John Anderson		4 September 1939	4 October 1940	Conservative
	Herbert Morrison		4 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour
	Sir Donald Somervell		25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative
	James Chuter Ede		3 August 1945	26 October 1951	Labour
	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe		27 October 1951	19 October 1954	Conservative
	Gwilym Lloyd George		19 October 1954	14 January 1957	Conservative
	R. A. Butler		14 January 1957	13 July 1962	Conservative
	Henry Brooke		14 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
	Sir Frank Soskice		18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour
	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
	Robert Carr		18 July 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative
	Roy Jenkins		5 March 1974	10 September 1976	Labour
	Merlyn Rees		10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour
	William Whitelaw		4 May 1979	11 June 1983	Conservative
	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
	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

[edit] Home Secretaries, 2001-present

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party
	David Blunkett		8 June 2001	15 December 2004	Labour
	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
	Alan Johnson		5 June 2009		Labour

[edit] References

1. ^ 2http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8079205.stm
2. ^ Roy Jenkins Churchill (Macmillan, 2001), page 170 ISBN 0-333-78290-9

• List of Home Secretaries from UKpolitics

[edit] Related pages

Related postings in other countries:

[edit] General terms

• Attorney General
• Interior minister

[edit] European positions

• Attorney General for England and Wales
• Ireland
  • Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
  • Attorney General of Ireland

[edit] North and Central American positions

• Minister of Justice (Canada)
• Attorney General of Ontario and Solicitor General of Ontario
• Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness - acts as Solicitor General of Canada
• United States Attorney General
• United States Secretary of Homeland Security
• Attorney General (Mexico)

[edit] Asian positions

• Minister for Home Affairs (India)
• Indian Attorney General
• Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong) - formerly Attorney General
• Secretary for Security (Hong Kong)

[edit] Oceanian positions

• Attorney-General of Australia
• Attorney-General (New Zealand)

[edit] See also

• Cabinet (government)
• Departments of the United Kingdom Government
• Ministry of Justice
• List of British ministries
• Great Offices of State
• Shadow Home Secretary

[edit] External links

• Home Office website
• Electronic list of ministerial responsibilities
• Her Majesty's Government (Cabinet Ministers)
• Full list of Her Majesty's Government (which includes various junior Ministers too).
• Ministry of Justice

v • d • e Home Office of the United Kingdom Headquarters: 2 Marsham Street Ministers Home Secretary · Minister of State for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing · Minister of State for Borders and Immigration · 3 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State Executive agencies Forensic Science Service · Criminal Records Bureau · Identity and Passport Service · UK Border Agency Non-departmental public bodies Criminal Cases Review Commission · Independent Police Complaints Commission · National Policing Improvement Agency · Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner · Parole Board for England and Wales · Police Negotiating Board · Serious Organised Crime Agency · Security Industry Authority

v • d • e Home Secretaries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain Shelburne · Sydney · North · Temple · Sydney · Grenville · Dundas · Portland of the United Kingdom Pelham · Yorke · Hawkesbury · Spencer · Liverpool · Ryder · Sidmouth · Peel  · Bourne · Lansdowne · Peel · Melbourne · Duncannon · Wellington · Goulburn · Russell · Normanby · Graham · Grey · Walpole · Palmerston · Grey · Walpole · Sotheron-Estcourt · Cornewall Lewis · Grey · Walpole · Hardy · Bruce · Lowe · Cross · Harcourt · Cross · Childers · Matthews · Asquith · Ridley · Ritchie · Akers-Douglas · Gladstone · Churchill · McKenna · Simon · Samuel · Cave · Shortt · Bridgeman · Henderson · Joynson-Hicks  · Clynes · Samuel · Gilmour · Simon · Hoare · Anderson · Morrison · Somervell · Ede · Fyfe · Lloyd George · Butler · Brooke · Soskice · Jenkins · Callaghan · Maudling · Carr · Jenkins · Rees · Whitelaw · Brittan · Hurd · Waddington · Baker · Clarke · Howard · Straw · Blunkett · Clarke · Reid · Smith · Johnson

v • d • e Great Offices of State of the United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling Foreign Secretary David Miliband Home Secretary Alan Johnson