Home Secretary - Definition and Overview

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. The Home Office has also previously dealt with social issues, including social exclusion, equality and race relations. Responsibility for social exclusion is now held by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. However, the Home Office continues to have responsibility for race equality, charities, the voluntary sector, and community policy.

Unlike many other governments, the British government has separate departments for the issues dealt with by the Home Office and for legal, judicial and civil rights issues; these have been dealt with by the Lord Chancellor's Department. Although there have been calls for the merger of this department with the Home Office, in June 2003 the government announced that it intended instead to abolish the office of Lord Chancellor and replace his department with a Department for Constitutional Affairs headed by a Secretary of State.

Because the Home Office was initially the primary government department with responsibility for domestic affairs, all subsequent domestic departments have effectively been created by taking responsibilities from the Home Office, leaving in addition to law and order a variety of miscellaneous tasks that have not yet been allocated to a government minister. Consequently the Home Secretary can find themselves dealing with matters as diverse as wild birds in Scotland, which towns in England and Wales are entitled to call themselves cities and formal ceremonies annointing bishops in the Church of England. It is, however, the law and order function of the department that predominates overwhelmingly.

Home Secretaries since 1782

• William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (March 27, 1782 - July 10, 1782)
• Thomas Townshend (July 10, 1782 - April 2, 1783)
• Frederick North, Lord North: (April 2, 1783 - 19 December, 1783)
• George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 3rd Earl Temple: (December 19, 1783 - December 23, 1783) (Resigned)
• Thomas Townshend, 1st Lord Sydney (December 23, 1783 - June 5, 1789)
• William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Lord Grenville (June 5, 1789 - June 8, 1791)
• Henry Dundas (June 8 1791 - July 11 1794)
• William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (July 11, 1794 - July 30, 1801)
• Thomas Pelham, 1st Lord Pelham (July 30, 1801 - August 17, 1803)
• Charles Philip Yorke (August 17, 1803 - May 12, 1804)
• Robert Banks Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury (May 12, 1804 - February 5, 1806)
• George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (February 5, 1806 - March 25, 1807)
• Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (March 25, 1807 - November 1, 1809)
• Richard Ryder (November 1, 1809 - June 8, 1812)
• Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (June 11, 1812 - January 17, 1822)
• Sir Robert Peel (January 17, 1822 - April 10, 1827)
• William Sturges-Bourne (April 30, 1827 - July 16, 1827)
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (July 16, 1827 - January 22, 1828)
• Sir Robert Peel (January 26, 1828 - November 22, 1830)
• William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (November 22, 1830 - July 16, 1834)
• John Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon (July 19, 1834 - November 15, 1834)
• The Duke of Wellington served as a Secretary of State pro tem (November 15, 1834 - December 15, 1834)
• Henry Goulburn (December 15, 1834 - April 18, 1835)
• Lord John Russell (April 18, 1835 - August 30, 1839)
• Constantine Henry Phipps, 1st Marquess of Normanby (August 30, 1839 - August 30, 1841)
• Sir James Graham, Bt (September 6, 1841 - June 30, 1846)
• Sir George Grey, Bt (July 6, 1846 - February 23, 1852)
• Spencer Horatio Walpole (February 27, 1852 - December 19, 1852)
• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (December 28, 1852- February 6, 1855)
• Sir George Grey, Bt (February 8, 1855 - February 26, 1858)
• Spencer Horatio Walpole (February 26, 1858 - March 3, 1859)
• Thomas Sotheron-Estcourt (March 3, 1859 - June 18, 1859)
• Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt (June 18, 1859 - July 25, 1861)
• Sir George Grey, Bt (July 25, 1861 - June 28, 1866)
• Spencer Horatio Walpole (July 6, 1866 - May 17, 1867)
• Gathorne Hardy (May 17, 1867 - December 3, 1868)
• Henry Austin Bruce (December 9, 1868 - August 9, 1873)
• Robert Lowe (August 9, 1873 - February 20, 1874)
• Sir Richard Assheton Cross (February 21, 1874 - April 23, 1880)
• Sir William Vernon Harcourt (April 28, 1880 - June 23, 1885)
• Sir Richard Assheton Cross (June 24, 1885 - February 1, 1886)
• Hugh Childers (February 6, 1886 - July 25, 1886)
• Henry Matthews (August 3, 1886 - August 15, 1892)
• Herbert Henry Asquith (August 18, 1892 - June 25, 1895)
• Sir Matthew White Ridley (June 29, 1895 - November 12, 1900)
• Charles Thomson Ritchie (November 12, 1900 - July 12, 1902)
• Aretas Akers-Douglas (July 12, 1902 - December 5, 1905)
• Herbert John Gladstone (December 11, 1905 - February 19, 1910)
• Winston Churchill (February 19, 1910 - October 24, 1911)
• Reginald McKenna (October 24, 1911 - May 27, 1915)
• Sir John Allsebrook Simon (May 27, 1915 - January 12, 1916)
• Herbert Samuel (January 12, 1916 - December 7, 1916)
• George Cave, 1st Viscount Cave (December 11, 1916 - January 14, 1919)
• Edward Shortt (January 14, 1919 - October 23, 1922)
• William Clive Bridgeman (October 25, 1922 - January 22, 1924)
• Arthur Henderson (January 23, 1924 - November 4, 1924)
• Sir William Joynson-Hicks (November 7, 1924 - June 5, 1929)
• John Robert Clynes (June 8, 1929 - August 26, 1931)
• Sir Herbert Samuel (August 26, 1931 - October 1 1932) (Resigned)
• Sir John Gilmour (October 1 1932 - June 7, 1935)
• Sir John Simon (June 7, 1935 - May 28, 1937)
• Sir Samuel Hoare (May 28, 1937 - September 3, 1939)
• Sir John Anderson (September 4, 1939 - October 4, 1940)
• Herbert Stanley Morrison (October 4, 1940 - May 23, 1945)
• Sir Donald Bradley Somervell (May 25, 1945 - July 26, 1945)
• James Chuter Ede (August 3, 1945 - October 26, 1951)
• Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe (October 27, 1951 - October 19 1954)
• Gwilym Lloyd George (October 19, 1954 - January 14, 1957)
• Richard Austen Butler (January 14, 1957 - July 13, 1962)
• Henry Brooke (July 13, 1962 - October 16, 1964)
• Sir Frank Soskice (October 18, 1964 - December 23, 1965)
• Roy Jenkins (December 23, 1965 - November 30, 1967)
• James Callaghan (November 30, 1967 - June 19, 1970)
• Reginald Maudling (June 20, 1970 - July 18 1972) (Resigned)
• Robert Carr (July 18, 1972 - March 4, 1974)
• Roy Jenkins (March 5 1974 - September 10, 1976)
• Merlyn Rees (September 10, 1976 - May 4, 1979)
• William Whitelaw (May 5, 1979 - June 11, 1983)
• Leon Brittan (June 11, 1983 - September 2, 1985)
• Douglas Hurd (September 2, 1985 - October 26, 1989)
• David Waddington (October 26, 1989- November 28, 1990)
• Kenneth Baker (November 28, 1990 - April 10, 1992)
• Kenneth Clarke (April 10, 1992 - May 27, 1993)
• Michael Howard (May 27, 1993 - May 2, 1997)
• Jack Straw (May 2, 1997 - June 8, 2001)
• David Blunkett (June 8, 2001 - December 15, 2004) (Resigned)
• Charles Clarke (December 15, 2004 -)