Home Secretary

United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Home Department
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Flag of the United Kingdom
Incumbent Amber Rudd since 13 July 2016
Home Office
Style	The Right Honourable (Formal prefix) Home Secretary
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	GOV.uk

Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, normally referred to as the 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 Amber Rudd, appointed formally by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of her Prime Minister Theresa May on 13 July 2016. Mrs. May had been the previous incumbent, appointed on 12 May 2010 by Prime Minister, David Cameron, to serve in the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government. May was reappointed by Cameron on 8 May 2015 to serve as Home Secretary in the Conservative government. She stood down from this role on 13 July 2016 upon assuming the office of Prime Minister, succeeding Cameron.

List of Home Secretaries

Under the Acts of Union 1800, the Kingdom of Great Britain merged into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. Under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922, the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the Royal and Parliamentary styles formally altered by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927.

Name		Portrait	Term of 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	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Rockingham
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Thomas Townsend		10 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Shelburne
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord North		2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Tory	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Portland (Fox–North Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl Temple		19 December 1783	23 December 1783	Whig	rowspan="5" style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	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
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord Pelham		30 July 1801	17 August 1803	Whig	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	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	style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	William Pitt the Younger
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl Spencer		5 February 1806	25 March 1807	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord Grenville (Ministry of All the Talents)
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	style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Portland
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Richard Ryder		1 November 1809	8 June 1812	Tory	style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Spencer Perceval
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Sidmouth		11 June 1812	17 January 1822	Tory	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl of 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	style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	George Canning
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Lansdowne		16 July 1827	22 January 1828	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Goderich
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	Robert Peel		26 January 1828	22 November 1830	Tory	style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Wellington
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Melbourne		22 November 1830	16 July 1834	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Earl Grey
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Viscount Duncannon		19 July 1834	15 November 1834	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Melbourne
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Wellington		15 November 1834	15 December 1834	Tory	style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Duke of Wellington
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Goulburn		15 December 1834	18 April 1835	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Robert Peel
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord John Russell		18 April 1835	30 August 1839	Whig	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	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	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Robert Peel
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Sir George Grey, Bt		8 July 1846	23 February 1852	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Lord John Russell
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Spencer Horatio Walpole		27 February 1852	19 December 1852	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl of Derby
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Palmerston		28 December 1852	6 February 1855	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Peelite/meta/color" |	The Earl of Aberdeen (Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	Sir George Grey, Bt		8 February 1855	26 February 1858	Whig	style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Palmerston
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Spencer Horatio Walpole		26 February 1858	3 March 1859	Conservative	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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		18 June 1859	25 July 1861	Liberal	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Viscount Palmerston
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir George Grey, Bt		25 July 1861	28 June 1866	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |						style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Earl Russell
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Spencer Horatio Walpole		6 July 1866	17 May 1867	Conservative	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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" |						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	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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		21 February 1874	23 April 1880	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Benjamin Disraeli
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir William Vernon Harcourt		28 April 1880	23 June 1885	Liberal	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Ewart Gladstone
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	R. A. Cross		24 June 1885	1 February 1886	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Salisbury
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Hugh Childers		6 February 1886	25 July 1886	Liberal	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Ewart Gladstone
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Matthews		3 August 1886	15 August 1892	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Ewart Gladstone
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |						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	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Marquess of Salisbury (Unionist Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Charles Ritchie		12 November 1900	12 July 1902	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Aretas Akers-Douglas		12 July 1902	5 December 1905	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Arthur Balfour (Unionist Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herbert Gladstone		11 December 1905	19 February 1910	Liberal	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |						rowspan="5" 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	H. H. Asquith (Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herbert Samuel		12 January 1916	7 December 1916	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir George Cave (Viscount Cave from 1918)		11 December 1916	14 January 1919	Conservative	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Lloyd George (Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Edward Shortt		14 January 1919	23 October 1922	Liberal
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Bridgeman	File:William Bridgeman.jpg	25 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Andrew Bonar Law
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |						Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Arthur Henderson		23 January 1924	4 November 1924	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt		7 November 1924	5 June 1929	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	J. R. Clynes	File:Jrclynes.jpg	8 June 1929	26 August 1931	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Herbert Samuel		26 August 1931	1 October 1932	Liberal	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" |	Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
style="background-color: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" |	Sir John Gilmour, Bt		1 October 1932	7 June 1935	Unionist
style="background-color: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" |	Sir John Simon		7 June 1935	28 May 1937	National Liberal	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		28 May 1937	3 September 1939	Conservative	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min.)
style="background-color: Template:National Government (United Kingdom)/meta/color" |	Sir John Anderson		4 September 1939	4 October 1940	National Independent	Neville Chamberlain (War Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herbert Morrison		4 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour (Coalition)	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Donald Somervell		25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative	Winston Churchill (Caretaker Min.)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	James Chuter Ede		3 August 1945	26 October 1951	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Clement Attlee
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe		27 October 1951	19 October 1954	Conservative	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Winston Churchill
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" |	Gwilym Lloyd George		19 October 1954	14 January 1957	Liberal & 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	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Macmillan
height=15 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Henry Brooke	File:Henry Brooke MP in 1950.jpg	14 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |						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	rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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	File:Reginald Maudling.jpg	20 June 1970	18 July 1972	Conservative	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Merlyn Rees	File:Merlyn Rees in 1965.jpg	10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	James Callaghan
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Whitelaw		4 May 1979	11 June 1983	Conservative	rowspan="4" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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	rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Major
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Kenneth Clarke		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	rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Tony Blair
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Blunkett		8 June 2001	15 December 2004	Labour
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	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	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		12 May 2010	13 July 2016	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Cameron (I · II)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Amber Rudd		13 July 2016	Incumbent	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Theresa May

See also

• British government departments
• Cabinet (government)
• Great Offices of State
• List of British governments
• Ministry of Justice
• Shadow Home Secretary

External links

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