First Secretary of State

First Secretary of State
Arms of Her Majesty's Government Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Incumbent William Hague since 12 May 2010
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	David Cameron as Prime Minister
Inaugural holder	R. A. Butler
Formation	13 July 1962

United Kingdom

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

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First Secretary of State is a purely honorific title occasionally used within the Government of the United Kingdom. The title, which implies seniority over all other Secretaries of State, has no specific powers or authority attached to it beyond that of any other Secretary of State. It originated as an alternative to the use of the title Deputy Prime Minister, which was opposed by some for constitutional reasons, the principal objection being that the title implied some degree of expectation that there would be a right of succession to the Prime Minister's position in the event of the death or resignation of the incumbent.^{[citation needed]}

Significantly, the role exists only when in use and therefore there can be a lengthy period between successive holders of the title.

Current position

The current First Secretary of State is William Hague who received the title in addition to that of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs upon his appointment by Prime Minister David Cameron on 12 May 2010. For the first time the title has been used while the title of Deputy Prime Minister is held by a different cabinet member, currently Nick Clegg as leader of the junior coalition partner in the government.

List of First Secretaries of State

Colour key (for political parties):
Politicians:       Conservative       Labour       Liberal Democrats
Governments:       Single party government       Coalition government

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Ministerial Offices	Political party and position		Prime Minister
	R. A. Butler		13 July 1962	18 October 1963	Deputy Prime Minister	Conservative		•		Harold Macmillan
Office not in use			1963–1964					•		Alec Douglas-Home
	George Brown		16 October 1964	11 August 1966	Economic Secretary	Labour (Deputy Leader)		•		Harold Wilson
	Michael Stewart		11 August 1966	6 April 1968	Economic Secretary (until August 1967) Foreign Secretary (from March 1968)	Labour
	Barbara Castle		6 April 1968	19 June 1970	Employment and Productivity Secretary	Labour
Office not in use			1970–1995							Heath; Wilson; Callaghan; Thatcher; Major
	Michael Heseltine		20 July 1995	2 May 1997	Deputy Prime Minister	Conservative		•		John Major
Office not in use			1997–2001					•		Tony Blair
	John Prescott		8 June 2001	27 June 2007	Deputy Prime Minister (since 1997)	Labour (Deputy Leader)
Office not in use			2007–2009					•		Gordon Brown
	The Lord Mandelson		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Business Secretary Lord President of the Council	Labour
	William Hague		12 May 2010	Incumbent	Foreign Secretary	Conservative		•		David Cameron

See also

• Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom