Home Secretary

United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Home Department
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Flag of the United Kingdom
Incumbent Theresa May since 12 May 2010
Home Office
Style	The Right Honourable (Formal) Minister or Name (Informal)
Member of	British Cabinet Privy Council National Security Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster, London
Appointer	The British Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Formation	27 March 1782
Website	.uk.govwww

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Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Secretary) is a senior official as one of the Great Offices of State within Her Majesty's Government and head of the Home Office. The office is a British Cabinet level position.

The Home Secretary is responsible for the internal affairs of England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the United Kingdom. The remit of the Home Office also includes policing in England and Wales and matters of national security, as the Security Service, MI5, is directly accountable to the Home Secretary. Formerly, the Home Secretary was the minister responsible for prisons and probation in England and Wales; however, in 2005 those responsibilities were transferred to the newly created Ministry of Justice under the Lord Chancellor.

The current Home Secretary is The Rt Honourable Theresa May, MP, appointed on 12 May 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to serve in the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government. May was reappointed by Cameron on 8 May 2015 to serve as Home Secretary in the Conservative government.

List of Home Secretaries

Home Secretaries, 1782–1801

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	The Earl of Shelburne		27 March 1782	10 July 1782	Whig		The Marquess of Rockingham
	Thomas Townsend		10 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig		The Earl of Shelburne
	Lord North		2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Tory		The Duke of Portland (Fox-North Coalition)
	The Earl Temple		19 December 1783	23 December 1783	Whig		William Pitt the Younger
	The Lord Sydney		23 December 1783	5 June 1789	Whig
	The Lord Grenville		5 June 1789	8 June 1791	Tory
	Henry Dundas		8 June 1791	11 July 1794	Tory
	The Duke of Portland		11 July 1794	30 July 1801	Tory

Home Secretaries, 1801–1900

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

Home Secretaries, 1900–2001

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	Charles Ritchie		12 November 1900	12 July 1902	Conservative		The Marquess of Salisbury (Unionist Coalition)
	Aretas Akers-Douglas		12 July 1902	5 December 1905	Conservative		Arthur Balfour (Unionist Coalition)
	Herbert Gladstone		11 December 1905	19 February 1910	Liberal		Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
							H. H. Asquith
	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		H. H. Asquith (Coalition)
	Herbert Samuel		12 January 1916	7 December 1916	Liberal
	Sir George Cave (Viscount Cave from 1918)		11 December 1916	14 January 1919	Conservative		David Lloyd George (Coalition)
	Edward Shortt		14 January 1919	23 October 1922	Liberal
	William Bridgeman		25 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative		Andrew Bonar Law
							Stanley Baldwin
	Arthur Henderson		23 January 1924	4 November 1924	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt		7 November 1924	5 June 1929	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin
	J. R. Clynes		8 June 1929	26 August 1931	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	Sir Herbert Samuel		26 August 1931	1 October 1932	Liberal		Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
	Sir John Gilmour, Bt		1 October 1932	7 June 1935	Unionist
	Sir John Simon		7 June 1935	28 May 1937	National Liberal		Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.)
	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		28 May 1937	3 September 1939	Conservative		Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min.)
	Sir John Anderson		4 September 1939	4 October 1940	National Independent		Neville Chamberlain (War Coalition)
	Herbert Morrison		4 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour (Coalition)		Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
	Sir Donald Somervell		25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative		Winston Churchill (Caretaker Min.)
	James Chuter Ede		3 August 1945	26 October 1951	Labour		Clement Attlee
	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe		27 October 1951	19 October 1954	Conservative		Sir Winston Churchill
	Gwilym Lloyd George		19 October 1954	14 January 1957	Liberal & Conservative
							Sir Anthony Eden
	R. A. Butler		14 January 1957	13 July 1962	Conservative		Harold Macmillan
	Henry Brooke		14 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
							Sir Alec Douglas-Home
	Sir Frank Soskice		18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour		Harold Wilson
	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		Edward Heath
	Robert Carr		18 July 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative
	Roy Jenkins		5 March 1974	10 September 1976	Labour		Harold Wilson
	Merlyn Rees		10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour		James Callaghan
	William Whitelaw		4 May 1979	11 June 1983	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
	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		John Major
	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		Tony Blair

Home Secretaries, 2001–present

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	David Blunkett		8 June 2001	15 December 2004	Labour		Tony Blair
	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		Gordon Brown
	Alan Johnson		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
	Theresa May		12 May 2010	Incumbent	Conservative		David Cameron (I · II)

See also

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

References

• List of Home Secretaries from UKpolitics

External links

• Home Office website
• Electronic list of ministerial responsibilities
• Her Majesty's Government (Cabinet Ministers)
• Ministry of Justice

Home Office Headquarters: 2 Marsham Street Ministers Home Secretary Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice Minister of State for Security and Immigration two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State Divisions Border Force HM Passport Office Immigration Enforcement National DNA Database UK Visas and Immigration Non-departmental public bodies Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Animals in Science Committee Disclosure and Barring Service Gangmasters Licensing Authority Independent Police Complaints Commission Investigatory Powers Tribunal National DNA Database Ethics Group Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner Security Industry Authority

Home Secretaries of the United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Home Department Shelburne Townshend North Temple Sydney Grenville Dundas Portland Pelham Yorke Hawkesbury Spencer Liverpool Ryder Sidmouth Peel Sturges Bourne Lansdowne Peel Melbourne Duncannon Wellington Goulburn Russell Normanby Graham Grey Walpole Palmerston Grey Walpole Sotheron-Estcourt 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 Chuter Ede Maxwell-Fyfe Lloyd George Butler Brooke Soskice Jenkins Callaghan Maudling Carr Jenkins Rees Whitelaw Brittan Hurd Waddington Baker K. Clarke Howard Straw Blunkett C. Clarke Reid Smith Johnson May

Great Offices of State of the United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond Home Secretary Theresa May