The home secretary, officially the secretary of state for the Home Department, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for all Home Office business. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, fourth in the ministerial ranking.
The position was created in 1782, though its responsibilities have changed many times. Past office holders have included the Prime Ministers Lord North, Robert Peel, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston, Winston Churchill, James Callaghan, and Theresa May. In 2007, Jacqui Smith became the first female home secretary.
The office holder works alongside the other Home Office ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Home Secretary.
The incumbent is Priti Patel, who was appointed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019.
Responsibilities
The Home Secretary has overall responsibility for all Home Office business, including oversight of MI5. They have been referred to as the UK interior minister.
History
The title Secretary of State in the government of England dates back to the early 17th century. The position of Secretary of State for the Home Department was created in the British governmental reorganisation of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Foreign Office and Home Office respectively.
In 2007, the new Ministry of Justice took on the criminal justice functions of the Home Office and its agencies.
List of home secretaries
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Party | Ministry | Monarch (Reign) |
Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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The Right Honourable William Petty 2nd Earl of Shelburne KGPC (1737–1805) |
27 March 1782 | 10 July 1782 | Whig | Rockingham II | George III (1760–1820) |
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The Right Honourable Thomas Townsend MP for Whitchurch (1733–1800) |
10 July 1782 | 2 April 1783 | Whig | Shelburne (Whig–Tory) |
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The Right Honourable Frederick North Lord North KG MP for Banbury (1732–1792) |
2 April 1783 | 19 December 1783 | Tory | Fox–North | |||
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The Right Honourable George Nugent-Temple-Grenville 3rd Earl Temple PC (1753–1813) |
19 December 1783 | 23 December 1783 | Tory | Pitt I | |||
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The Right Honourable Thomas Townsend 1st Baron Sydney PC (1733–1800) |
23 December 1783 | 5 June 1789 | Whig | ||||
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The Right Honourable William Grenville 1st Baron Grenville PCPC (Ire) MP for Buckinghamshire (1759–1834) |
5 June 1789 | 8 June 1791 | Tory | ||||
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The Right Honourable Henry Dundas MP for Edinburgh (1742–1811) |
8 June 1791 | 11 July 1794 | Tory | ||||
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His Grace William Cavendish-Bentinck 3rd Duke of Portland KGPCFRS (1738–1809) |
11 July 1794 | 30 July 1801 | Tory | ||||
| Addington | ||||||||
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The Right Honourable Thomas Pelham 4th Baron Pelham of Stanmer PCPC (Ire)FRS (1756–1826) |
30 July 1801 | 17 August 1803 | Whig | ||||
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The Right Honourable Charles Philip Yorke FRSFSA MP for Cambridgeshire (1764–1834) |
17 August 1803 | 12 May 1804 | Tory | ||||
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The Right Honourable Robert Jenkinson 2nd Baron Hawkesbury PCFRS (1770–1828) |
12 May 1804 | 5 February 1806 | Tory | Pitt II | |||
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The Right Honourable George Spencer 2nd Earl Spencer KGPCDLFRSFSA (1758–1834) |
5 February 1806 | 25 March 1807 | Whig | All the Talents (Whig–Tory) |
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The Right Honourable Robert Jenkinson 2nd Earl of Liverpool PCFRS (1770–1828) |
25 March 1807 | 1 November 1809 | Tory | Portland II | |||
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The Right Honourable Richard Ryder MP for Tiverton (1766–1832) |
1 November 1809 | 8 June 1812 | Tory | Perceval | |||
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The Right Honourable Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth PC (1757–1844) |
11 June 1812 | 17 January 1822 | Tory | Liverpool | |||
George IV (1820–1830) |
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The Right Honourable Robert Peel FRS MP for Oxford University (1788–1850) |
17 January 1822 | 10 April 1827 | Tory | ||||
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The Right Honourable William Sturges Bourne MP for Ashburton (1769–1845) |
30 April 1827 | 16 July 1827 | Tory | Canning (Canningite–Whig) |
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The Most Honourable Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne PCFRS (1780–1863) |
16 July 1827 | 22 January 1828 | Whig | |||
| Goderich | ||||||||
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The Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel BtFRS MP for 3 constituencies respectively (1788–1850) |
26 January 1828 | 22 November 1830 | Tory | Wellington–Peel | |||
| William IV (1830–1837) |
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The Right Honourable William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne PC (1779–1848) |
22 November 1830 | 16 July 1834 | Whig | Grey | |||
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The Right Honourable John Ponsonby 1st Baron Duncannon PC (1781–1847) |
19 July 1834 | 15 November 1834 | Whig | Melbourne I | |||
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Field MarshalHis Grace Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington KGGCBGCHPC (1769–1852) |
15 November 1834 | 15 December 1834 | Tory | Wellington Caretaker | |||
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The Right Honourable Henry Goulburn FRS MP for Cambridge University (1784–1856) |
15 December 1834 | 18 April 1835 | Conservative | Peel I | |||
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The Right Honourable Lord John Russell MP for Stroud (1792–1878) |
18 April 1835 | 30 August 1839 | Whig | Melbourne II | |||
Victoria (1837–1901) |
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The Most Honourable Constantine Phipps 1st Marquess of Normanby GCHPC (1797–1863) |
30 August 1839 | 30 August 1841 | Whig | ||||
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The Right Honourable Sir James Graham Bt MP for Dorchester (1792–1861) |
6 September 1841 | 30 June 1846 | Conservative | Peel II | |||
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The Right Honourable Sir George Grey Bt MP for Devonport →
North Northumberland (1799–1882) |
8 July 1846 | 23 February 1852 | Whig | Russell I | |||
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The Right Honourable Spencer Horatio Walpole QC MP for Midhurst (1806–1898) |
27 February 1852 | 19 December 1852 | Conservative | Who? Who? | |||
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The Right Honourable Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston GCBPCFRS MP for Tiverton (1784–1865) |
28 December 1852 | 6 February 1855 | Whig | Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig) |
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The Right Honourable Sir George Grey Bt MP for Morpeth (1799–1882) |
8 February 1855 | 26 February 1858 | Whig | Palmerston I | |||
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The Right Honourable Spencer Horatio Walpole QC MP for Cambridge University (1806–1898) |
26 February 1858 | 3 March 1859 | Conservative | Derby–Disraeli II | |||
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The Right Honourable Thomas Henry Sutton Sotheron-Estcourt DLJP MP for North Wiltshire (1801–1876) |
3 March 1859 | 18 June 1859 | Conservative | ||||
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The Right Honourable Sir George Cornewall Lewis Bt MP for Radnor (1806–1863) |
18 June 1859 | 25 July 1861 | Liberal | Palmerston II | |||
| | |
The Right Honourable Sir George Grey Bt MP for Morpeth (1799–1882) |
25 July 1861 | 28 June 1866 | Liberal | |||
| Russell II | ||||||||
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The Right Honourable Spencer Horatio Walpole QC MP for Cambridge University (1806–1898) |
6 July 1866 | 17 May 1867 | Conservative | Derby–Disraeli III | |||
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The Right Honourable Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy MP for Oxford University (1814–1906) |
17 May 1867 | 3 December 1868 | Conservative | ||||
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The Right Honourable Henry Bruce JPDL MP for Merthyr Tydfil →
Renfrewshire (1815–1895) |
9 December 1868 | 9 August 1873 | Liberal | Gladstone I | |||
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The Right Honourable Robert Lowe MP for London University (1811–1892) |
9 August 1873 | 20 February 1874 | Liberal | ||||
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The Right Honourable R. A. Cross GCBFRSDL MP for South West Lancashire (1823–1914) |
21 February 1874 | 23 April 1880 | Conservative | Disraeli II | |||
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The Right Honourable Sir William Harcourt QC MP for Derby (1827–1904) |
28 April 1880 | 23 June 1885 | Liberal | Gladstone II | |||
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The Right Honourable R. A. Cross GCBFRSDL MP for Newton (1823–1914) |
24 June 1885 | 1 February 1886 | Conservative | Salisbury I | |||
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The Right Honourable Hugh Childers MP for Edinburgh South (1827–1896) |
6 February 1886 | 25 July 1886 | Liberal | Gladstone III | |||
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The Right Honourable Henry Matthews QC MP for Birmingham East (1826–1913) |
3 August 1886 | 15 August 1892 | Conservative | Salisbury II | |||
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The Right Honourable H. H. Asquith QC MP for East Fife (1852–1928) |
18 August 1892 | 25 June 1895 | Liberal | Gladstone IV | |||
| Rosebery | ||||||||
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The Right Honourable Sir Matthew White Ridley BtDL MP for Blackpool (1842–1904) |
29 June 1895 | 12 November 1900 | Conservative | Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.) |
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The Right Honourable Charles Ritchie MP for Croydon (1838–1906) |
12 November 1900 | 11 August 1902 | Conservative | ||||
| Edward VII (1901–1910) |
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| Balfour | ||||||||
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The Right Honourable Aretas Akers-Douglas JPDL MP for St Augustine’s (1851–1926) |
11 August 1902 | 5 December 1905 | Conservative | ||||
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The Right Honourable Herbert Gladstone JP MP for Leeds West (1854–1930) |
11 December 1905 | 19 February 1910 | Liberal | Campbell-Bannerman | |||
| | Asquith (I–III) |
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The Right Honourable Winston Churchill MP for Dundee (1874–1965) |
19 February 1910 | 24 October 1911 | Liberal | ||||
| George V (1910–1936) |
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The Right Honourable Reginald McKenna MP for North Monmouthshire (1863–1943) |
24 October 1911 | 27 May 1915 | Liberal | ||||
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The Right Honourable Sir John Simon MP for Walthamstow (1873–1954) |
27 May 1915 | 12 January 1916 | Liberal | Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–et al.) |
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The Right Honourable Herbert Samuel MP for Cleveland (1870–1963) |
12 January 1916 | 7 December 1916 | Liberal | ||||
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The Right Honourable George Cave 1st Viscount Cave PC MP for Kingston (1856–1928) |
11 December 1916 | 14 January 1919 | Conservative | Lloyd George (I & II) |
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The Right Honourable Edward Shortt KC MP for Newcastle upon Tyne West (1862–1935) |
14 January 1919 | 23 October 1922 | Liberal | ||||
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The Right Honourable William Bridgeman JPDL MP for Oswestry (1864–1935) |
25 October 1922 | 22 January 1924 | Conservative | Law | |||
| Baldwin I | ||||||||
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The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson MP for Burnley (1863–1935) |
23 January 1924 | 4 November 1924 | Labour | MacDonald I | |||
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The Right Honourable Sir William Joynson-Hicks BtPC (NI)DL MP for Twickenham (1865–1932) |
7 November 1924 | 5 June 1929 | Conservative | Baldwin II | |||
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The Right Honourable John Robert Clynes MP for Manchester Platting (1869–1949) |
8 June 1929 | 26 August 1931 | Labour | MacDonald II | |||
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The Right Honourable Herbert Samuel GCBGBE |
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