Political offices in the UK government |
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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.[1] Secretaries of state head most major government departments[2] and make up the majority of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.[3] There are currently 17 secretaries of state.[3] They are all also currently members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons, although it is possible for them to be members of the House of Lords.[3]
Legislation sometimes refers to particular secretaries of state.[4] Often, however, legislation refers simply to "the Secretary of State" (capitalised thus) without further elaboration. There is only one office of Secretary of State. However, in practice, more than one person will be appointed to the office, to carry out its functions.[5][6] Therefore, by virtue of the Interpretation Act 1978, the phrase 'Secretary of State', when used in legislation, means "one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State".[7] Each individual secretary of state is allocated responsibility by the Prime Minister for a particular department, and therefore, in practice, will exercise only the Secretary of State's functions that are within that portfolio.[8] As there is only one office of Secretary of State, any secretary of state can act on another's behalf, and could exercise the other Secretary of State powers (except for powers given by the legislation to one particular secretary of state).[6] Home secretary John Simon said in a debate in the House of Commons in 1936:
Of course, originally, there was only one Secretary of State, and, indeed, in one sense it may be said that even today there is only one office of Secretary of State, because anyone who is a Secretary of State may lawfully and constitutionally perform any act that can be done by any other Secretary of State. If I may for a moment call on my own personal experience, I happened to be Secretary of State for Home Affairs at the time when [Secretary of State for War] Lord Kitchener made his last fatal journey from this country, and just before he sailed from these shores I had a message from the War Office asking me whether I would sign his papers until he came back. I continued to give the formal signature which it is legitimate for any Secretary of State to put upon the papers of any other Secretary of State, and I did so until the news came of his death. Constitutionally, the office of Secretary of State is held by a number of persons who may be regarded as all one.[9]
Under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, a maximum of 21 secretaries of state can receive a salary.[10]
Secretaries of state, like other government ministers, are appointed through the royal prerogative.[11]
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.[12]
Main article: Secretary of State (England) |
The origin of the office lies in the office of the king's private secretary.[2] However, by the Tudor period, the office's purview had become more onerous.[2]
In 1539 or 1540, Henry VIII appointed two people to the office.[2][13]: p.29 After the Stuart Restoration, the practice of appointing two secretaries of state resumed.[14] 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,[2] though the office had been first divided into the Northern and Southern Department purviews in 1660.[13]: p.30
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.[2][14] Over time, the number of secretaries of states grew, so that there were five in 1900 and 14 by 1996.[2] There are currently 16 secretaries of state.[3]
See also: List of government ministers of the United Kingdom |
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 |
The Secretaries of state that have been used for culture, heritage and sport are as follows: