| United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
|---|---|
.svg) Royal Arms as used by the Home Office | |
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| Home Office | |
| Style | Home Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth) |
| Type | Minister of the Crown |
| Status | Secretary of State Great Office of State |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister |
| Seat | Westminster |
| Nominator | The Prime Minister |
| Appointer | The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister) |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation | 27 March 1782 |
| First holder | Earl of Shelburne |
| Salary | £159,038 per annum (2022)[1] (including £86,584 MP salary)[2] |
| Website | Home Secretary |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Politics of the United Kingdom |
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The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office.[3] The position is a Great Office of State, making the home secretary one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council.
The position, which may be known as interior minister in other nations, was created in 1782,[4] though its responsibilities have changed many times.[5] 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. The longest-serving home secretary is Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, who held the post continuously for 9 years, 221 days.[6] The shortest-serving home secretary is Grant Shapps, who served in the position for the final six days of the premiership of Liz Truss. In 2007, Jacqui Smith became the first female home secretary.[7] The incumbent home secretary is Yvette Cooper.
The office holder works alongside the other Home Office ministers and the permanent under-secretary of state of the Home Office. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow home secretary, and the performance of the home secretary is also scrutinized by the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons[8] and the Justice and Home Affairs Committee in the House of Lords.[9]
Historically, the role has a reputation for being a graveyard for aspiring politicians, owing to the large number of potential issues and controversies that can arise.[10][11][12]
- ^ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
- ^ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ "Secretary of State for the Home Department". gov.uk. Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "The Cabinet Papers: Senior Cabinet posts". The National Archives. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
The post of Home Secretary was created in 1782 with the formation of the Home Office
- ^ "Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies". The National Archives. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ Reginald Beer (15 January 2019). "Henry Addington was a Prime Minister and an 'East Indiaman'". Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ "First female boss for Home Office". BBC News. 28 June 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
Jacqui Smith has become Britain's first female home secretary
- ^ "The work of the Home Secretary". Parliament.UK. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
The Committee holds regular evidence sessions with the Home Secretary, the Permanent Secretary and other officials to ask questions about the policies and priorities of the department.
- ^ "Home Secretary Priti Patel to appear before Lords Committee". Parliament.UK. 26 October 2021. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
The Justice and Home Affairs Committee will be questioning the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Priti Patel MP.
- ^ "Five reasons the Home Office is so tough for ministers to run". BBC News. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
The Home Office is the arm of government where at any given moment the political equivalent of a grenade can go off without notice, potentially destroying the careers of ambitious ministers - and occasionally their officials too.
- ^ "Home Truths". The Times. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
The Home Office used to be regarded as a political graveyard, such was its propensity for abruptly ending ministerial careers. Those days were thought to be over when the department was stripped of some of its most troublesome responsibilities, including prisons.
- ^ Mindell, Jeremy (8 June 2022). "Why chancellors rarely become prime ministers". Tax Journal. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
The home secretary's job is generally seen as a political graveyard given the number of potential issues that can occur to damage any home secretary's reputation.