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.
| United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
|---|---|
Royal Arms as used by the Home Office
| |
James Cleverly since 13 November 2023 | |
| 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 |
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 James Cleverly.
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]
Corresponding to what is generally known as an interior minister in many other countries, the home secretary's remit includes:
Formerly, the home secretary was the minister responsible for prisons and probation in England and Wales; however in 2007 those responsibilities were transferred to the Ministry of Justice under the lord chancellor.
The title Secretary of State in the government of England dates back to the early 17th century.[10] The position of Secretary of State for the Home Department was created in the British governmental reorganisation of 1782, in which the responsibilities of the Northern and Southern Departments were reformed into the Foreign Office and Home Office.[10]
In 2007, the new Ministry of Justice took on the criminal justice functions of the Home Office and its agencies.[11]
The post of Home Secretary was created in 1782 with the formation of the Home Office
Jacqui Smith has become Britain's first female home secretary
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.
The Justice and Home Affairs Committee will be questioning the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Priti Patel MP.
At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments. ... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.
