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]
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]
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]
Health, education, work, business, energy, environment, transport and the regions
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'.
^"Government ministers". Institute for Government. Retrieved 1 February 2021. What are the different types of minister? The most senior government ministers, except the prime minister, are secretaries of state.
^ abCabinet Manual. 14 December 2010. 3.26 Most statutory powers and duties are conferred on the Secretary of State; these may be exercised or complied with by any one of the secretaries of state. This reflects the doctrine that there is only one office of Secretary of State, even though it is the well-established practice to appoint more than one person to carry out the functions of the office.((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)
^"Interpretation Act 1978: Schedule 1". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 1978 c. 30 (sch. 1). Retrieved 30 April 2023. 'Secretary of State' means one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State. By virtue of sections 6 and 10 of that Act, words importing the feminine gender include the masculine and references to the Sovereign at the time of enactment refer to the Sovereign for the time being, and so "Her Majesty" can be read as "His Majesty" when the monarch is male.
^Cabinet Manual. 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.((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)
^"Cabinet Ministers (House of Lords)". House of Commons Hansard. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 24 March 1936. vol 310 cc1161. Retrieved 30 April 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;
^Cabinet Manual. 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)
^ abSainty, J. C. (1973). "Introduction". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782. pp. 1–21. 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.((cite book)): |work= ignored (help)
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