Home Secretary

Secretary of State for the Home Department
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Incumbent Theresa May since 11 May 2010
Home Office
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	Prime Minister
Inaugural holder	William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Formation	27 March 1782

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: that is Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The remit of the ministry also includes policing and matters of national security. The current Home Secretary is Rt Hon Theresa May MP appointed on 12 May 2010 to serve in the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government.

List of Home Secretaries

Colour key
(for political parties)

  Whig

  Tory

  Conservative

  Liberal

  Labour

  National Liberal

  National

Home Secretaries, 1782–1801

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Shelburne		27 March 1782	10 July 1782	Whig	The Marquess of Rockingham
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Thomas Townsend		10 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig	The Earl of Shelburne
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord North		2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Tory (Fox-North Coalition)	The Duke of Portland
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl Temple		19 December 1783	23 December 1783	Whig	William Pitt the Younger
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Lord Sydney		23 December 1783	5 June 1789	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Lord Grenville		5 June 1789	8 June 1791	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Henry Dundas		8 June 1791	11 July 1794	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Portland		11 July 1794	30 July 1801	Tory

Home Secretaries, 1801–1900

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord Pelham		30 July 1801	17 August 1803	Whig	Henry Addington
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Charles Philip Yorke		17 August 1803	12 May 1804	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Lord Hawkesbury		12 May 1804	5 February 1806	Tory	William Pitt the Younger
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl Spencer		5 February 1806	25 March 1807	Whig (Ministry of All the Talents)	Lord Grenville
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Lord Hawkesbury (Earl of Liverpool from 1808)		25 March 1807	1 November 1809	Tory	The Duke of Portland
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Richard Ryder		1 November 1809	8 June 1812	Tory	Spencer Perceval
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Sidmouth		11 June 1812	17 January 1822	Tory	Lord Liverpool
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Robert Peel		17 January 1822	10 April 1827	Tory
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	William Sturges Bourne		30 April 1827	16 July 1827	Tory	George Canning
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Lansdowne		16 July 1827	22 January 1828	Whig	The Viscount Goderich
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Robert Peel		26 January 1828	22 November 1830	Tory	The Duke of Wellington
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Melbourne		22 November 1830	16 July 1834	Whig	Earl Grey
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Viscount Duncannon		19 July 1834	15 November 1834	Whig	The Viscount Melbourne
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Wellington		15 November 1834	15 December 1834	Tory	The Duke of Wellington
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Goulburn		15 December 1834	18 April 1835	Conservative	Sir Robert Peel
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord John Russell		18 April 1835	30 August 1839	Whig	The Viscount Melbourne
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Normanby		30 August 1839	30 August 1841	Whig
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir James Graham, Bt		6 September 1841	30 June 1846	Conservative	Sir Robert Peel
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Sir George Grey, Bt	File:George Grey, 2nd Bt.jpg	8 July 1846	23 February 1852	Whig	Lord John Russell
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Spencer Horatio Walpole	File:Spencer Horatio Walpole.jpg	27 February 1852	19 December 1852	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Palmerston		28 December 1852	6 February 1855	Whig (Coalition)	The Earl of Aberdeen
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Sir George Grey, Bt	File:George Grey, 2nd Bt.jpg	8 February 1855	26 February 1858	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Spencer Horatio Walpole	File:Spencer Horatio Walpole.jpg	26 February 1858	3 March 1859	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Thomas H. Sotheron-Estcourt		3 March 1859	18 June 1859	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt	File:George Cornewall Lewis statue cropped.jpg	18 June 1859	25 July 1861	Liberal	The Viscount Palmerston
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir George Grey, Bt	File:George Grey, 2nd Bt.jpg	25 July 1861	28 June 1866	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |						The Earl Russell
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Spencer Horatio Walpole	File:Spencer Horatio Walpole.jpg	6 July 1866	17 May 1867	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Gathorne Hardy		17 May 1867	3 December 1868	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |						Benjamin Disraeli
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Austin Bruce		9 December 1868	9 August 1873	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Robert Lowe		August 1873	20 February 1874	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	R. A. Cross	File:R A Cross.jpg	21 February 1874	23 April 1880	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir William Vernon Harcourt		28 April 1880	23 June 1885	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	R. A. Cross	File:R A Cross.jpg	24 June 1885	1 February 1886	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Hugh Childers		6 February 1886	25 July 1886	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Matthews		3 August 1886	15 August 1892	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	H. H. Asquith		18 August 1892	25 June 1895	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt		29 June 1895	12 November 1900	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury

Home Secretaries, 1900–2001

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Charles Ritchie		12 November 1900	12 July 1902	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Aretas Akers-Douglas		12 July 1902	5 December 1905	Conservative	Arthur Balfour
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herbert Gladstone		11 December 1905	19 February 1910	Liberal	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |						H. H. Asquith
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Winston Churchill		19 February 1910	24 October 1911	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Reginald McKenna		24 October 1911	27 May 1915	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir John Simon		27 May 1915	12 January 1916	Liberal (Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herbert Samuel		12 January 1916	7 December 1916	Liberal (Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir George Cave (Viscount Cave from 1918)		11 December 1916	14 January 1919	Conservative (Coalition)	David Lloyd George
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Edward Shortt		14 January 1919	23 October 1922	Liberal (Coalition)
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Bridgeman		25 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Andrew Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Arthur Henderson		23 January 1924	4 November 1924	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt		7 November 1924	5 June 1929	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	J. R. Clynes	File:Jrclynes.jpg	8 June 1929	26 August 1931	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Herbert Samuel		26 August 1931	1 October 1932	Liberal (National Government)
style="background-color: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" |	Sir John Gilmour, Bt		1 October 1932	7 June 1935	Unionist (National Government)
style="background-color: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" |	Sir John Simon		7 June 1935	28 May 1937	National Liberal (National Government)	Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		28 May 1937	3 September 1939	Conservative (National Government)	Neville Chamberlain
style="background-color: Template:National Government (United Kingdom)/meta/color" |	Sir John Anderson		4 September 1939	4 October 1940	National Independent (War Government)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herbert Morrison		4 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour (Coalition)	Winston Churchill
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Donald Somervell		25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative (Caretaker)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	James Chuter Ede		3 August 1945	26 October 1951	Labour	Clement Attlee
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe		27 October 1951	19 October 1954	Conservative	Sir Winston Churchill
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Gwilym Lloyd George		19 October 1954	14 January 1957	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |						Sir Anthony Eden
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	R. A. Butler		14 January 1957	13 July 1962	Conservative	Harold Macmillan
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Brooke		14 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |						Sir Alec Douglas-Home
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Frank Soskice		18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour	Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Roy Jenkins		23 December 1965	30 November 1967	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	James Callaghan		30 November 1967	19 June 1970	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Reginald Maudling		20 June 1970	18 July 1972	Conservative	Edward Heath
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Robert Carr		18 July 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Roy Jenkins		5 March 1974	10 September 1976	Labour	Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Merlyn Rees		10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	James Callaghan
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Whitelaw		4 May 1979	11 June 1983	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Leon Brittan		11 June 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Douglas Hurd		2 September 1985	26 October 1989	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Waddington		26 October 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Kenneth Baker		28 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative	John Major
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Kenneth Clarke	File:Ken Clarke 01.jpg	10 April 1992	27 May 1993	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Michael Howard		27 May 1993	2 May 1997	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Jack Straw		2 May 1997	8 June 2001	Labour	Tony Blair

Home Secretaries, 2001–present

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Blunkett		8 June 2001	15 December 2004	Labour	Tony Blair
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Charles Clarke		15 December 2004	5 May 2006	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Reid		5 May 2006	27 June 2007	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Jacqui Smith		28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour	Gordon Brown
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Alan Johnson		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Theresa May		11 May 2010	Incumbent	Conservative	David Cameron

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)
• Full list of Her Majesty's Government (which includes various junior Ministers too).
• Ministry of Justice