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Secretary of State for Transport

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United Kingdom
Secretary of State for Transport
since 14 July 2016
Department for Transport
StyleThe Right Honourable
(Formal prefix)
Transport Secretary
'
AppointerElizabeth II
Inaugural holderEric Campbell Geddes
Formation19 May 1919
WebsiteTransport

Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The office used to be called the Minister of Transport and has been merged with the Department for the Environment at various times.

The current Secretary of State for Transport is Chris Grayling.

The Secretary of State is supported by a small team of junior Ministers. Each Minister is a Member of Parliament from either the House of Commons or the House of Lords. The number of Ministers supporting the Secretary of State for Transport vary from time to time, but is usually about 3. The titles given to these Ministers also vary. Currently the positions are held by one Minister of State for Transport and two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for Transport.

During the tenure of different governments the title of Minister of/for Transport has been used to refer to the Secretary of State for Transport, one or more of the junior Ministers or even both the Secretary of State and the junior Ministers at the same time.

From 2003 until June 2007 the role of Secretary of State for Transport was combined with the role of Secretary of State for Scotland. This arrangement changed on 28 June 2007, when in the appointment of his first Cabinet, Prime Minister Gordon Brown assigned the responsibilities of Secretary of State for Scotland to Des Browne, his Secretary of State for Defence.

The names provided in the sections below are those who have served in a position equivalent to the Secretary of State for Transport.

Minister of Transport (1919–1941)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour   National Labour   Liberal   National Liberal

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Eric Campbell Geddes 19 May 1919 7 November 1921 Conservative rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | David Lloyd George
(Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | The Viscount Peel 7 November 1921 12 April 1922 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | The Earl of Crawford 12 April 1922 31 October 1922 Conservative
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Sir John Baird, Bt 31 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" | Harry Gosling 24 January 1924 3 November 1924 Labour style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Wilfrid Ashley 11 November 1924 4 June 1929 Conservative style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Herbert Morrison 7 June 1929 24 August 1931 Labour style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | John Pybus 3 September 1931 22 February 1933 Liberal rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" | Ramsay MacDonald
(1st & 2nd National min.)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Hon. Oliver Stanley 22 February 1933 29 June 1934 Conservative
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" | Leslie Hore-Belisha 29 June 1934 28 May 1937 National Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Stanley Baldwin
(3rd National min.)
style="background-color: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" | Leslie Burgin 28 May 1937 21 April 1939 National Liberal rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Neville Chamberlain
(4th National min.)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Euan Wallace 21 April 1939 14 May 1940 Conservative Neville Chamberlain
(War Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:National Independent/meta/color" | John Reith 14 May 1940 3 October 1940 National Independent rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Winston Churchill
(War Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | John Moore-Brabazon 3 October 1940 1 May 1941 Conservative

Minister of (War) Transport and Minister of Civil Aviation (1941–1953)

The Ministry of Transport absorbed the Ministry of Shipping and was renamed the Ministry of War Transport in 1941, but resumed its previous name at the end of the war.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation was created by Winston Churchill in 1944 to look at peaceful ways of using aircraft and to find something for the aircraft factories to do after the war. The new Conservative Government in 1951 appointed the same Minister to Transport and Civil Aviation, finally amalgamating the Ministries on 1 October 1953.

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour   National Liberal

Minister of
Transport
Minister of
Civil Aviation
Term of office Political party Prime Minister
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | The Lord Leathers
(Min. of War Transport)
1 May 1941 8 October 1944 Conservative rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Winston Churchill
(War Coalition)
The Viscount Swinton 8 October 1944 26 July 1945 Conservative
rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Alfred Barnes The Lord Winster 3-4 August 1945 4 October 1946 Labour rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Clement Attlee
The Lord Nathan 4 October 1946 31 May 1948 Labour
The Lord Pakenham 31 May 1948 1 June 1951 Labour
The Lord Ogmore 1 June 1951 26 October 1951 Labour
style="background-color: Template:National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)/meta/color" | Hon. John Maclay 31 October 1951 7 May 1952 National Liberal rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Sir Winston Churchill
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Alan Lennox-Boyd 7 May 1952 1 October 1953 Conservative

Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1953–1959)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Alan Lennox-Boyd 1 October 1953 28 July 1954 Conservative rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Sir Winston Churchill
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | John Boyd-Carpenter 28 July 1954 20 December 1955 Conservative
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Harold Watkinson 20 December 1955 14 October 1959 Conservative style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Sir Anthony Eden
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Harold Macmillan

Minister of Transport (1959–1970)

The Ministry was renamed back to the Ministry of Transport on 14 October 1959.

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Ernest Marples 14 October 1959 16 October 1964 Conservative style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Harold Macmillan
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Sir Alec Douglas-Home
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Thomas Fraser 16 October 1964 23 December 1965 Labour rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Barbara Castle 23 December 1965 6 April 1968 Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Richard Marsh 6 April 1968 6 October 1969 Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Fred Mulley 6 October 1969 19 June 1970 Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | John Peyton 23 June 1970 15 October 1970 Conservative style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Edward Heath

Minister within the Department of the Environment (1970–1976)

Transport responsibilities were subsumed by the Department for the Environment, headed by the Secretary of State for the Environment from 15 October 1970 to 10 September 1976.

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Peter Walker 15 October 1970 5 November 1972 Conservative rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Edward Heath
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Geoffrey Rippon 5 November 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Anthony Crosland 5 March 1974 8 April 1976 Labour style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Harold Wilson

The junior ministers responsible for transport within the Department for the Environment:

Minister for Transport Industries (1970–1974)

  • John Peyton (Conservative, 15 October 1970 – 4 March 1974)

Minister for Transport (1974–1976)

The Department for Transport was recreated as a separate department by James Callaghan in 1976.

Secretary of State for Transport (1976–1979)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Labour

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | William Rodgers 10 September 1976 4 May 1979 Labour style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | James Callaghan

Minister of Transport (1979–1981)

Not an official member of the cabinet. Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Norman Fowler 11 May 1979 5 January 1981 Conservative style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Margaret Thatcher

Secretary of State for Transport (1981–1997)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Norman Fowler 5 January 1981 14 September 1981 Conservative rowspan=7 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Margaret Thatcher
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | David Howell 14 September 1981 11 June 1983 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Tom King 11 June 1983 16 October 1983 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Hon. Nicholas Ridley 16 October 1983 21 May 1986 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | John Moore 21 May 1986 13 June 1987 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Paul Channon 13 June 1987 24 July 1989 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Cecil Parkinson 24 July 1989 28 November 1990 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Malcolm Rifkind 28 November 1990 10 April 1992 Conservative rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | John Major
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | John MacGregor 10 April 1992 20 July 1994 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Brian Mawhinney 20 July 1994 5 July 1995 Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Sir George Young, Bt 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative

Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001)

The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was created in 1997 for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Colour key (for political parties):
  Labour

Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | John Prescott 2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Tony Blair

From 1997 to 2001, the Ministers of State with responsibility for Transport were:

John Reid attended cabinet meetings, but was not formally a member of the cabinet whereas Gavin Strang was given a seat in the cabinet when he held the position.

Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2001–2002)

The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was widely considered unwieldy and so was broken up, with the Transport functions now combined with Local Government and the Regions in the DTLR (Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions). Critics argued from the outset that this was a mistake and that a post of Secretary of State for Transport was needed in its own right.

Colour key (for political parties):
  Labour

Name Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Stephen Byers 8 June 2001 29 May 2002 Labour style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Tony Blair

After Byers' resignation, such a division was made, with the portfolios of Local Government and the Regions transferred to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

During the lifetime of DTLGR, John Spellar served as Minister of State for Transport with a right to attend Cabinet.

Secretary of State for Transport (2002– )

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour

Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Alistair Darling 29 May 2002 5 May 2006 Labour rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Tony Blair
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Douglas Alexander 5 May 2006 27 June 2007 Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Ruth Kelly 28 June 2007 3 October 2008 Labour rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Gordon Brown
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | Geoff Hoon 3 October 2008 5 June 2009 Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | The Lord Adonis 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Philip Hammond 12 May 2010[1] 14 October 2011 Conservative rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | David Cameron
(Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Justine Greening 14 October 2011 4 September 2012 Conservative
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Patrick McLoughlin 4 September 2012 14 July 2016 Conservative
David Cameron
(II)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Chris Grayling 14 July 2016 Incumbent Conservative style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | Theresa May

See also

References

  1. ^ "Out with the old cabinet, in with the new". Public Service. Retrieved 12 May 2010.