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, equivalent to an interior minister. 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 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. The longest-serving home secretary is Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, who held the post continuously for 9 years, 221 days. 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. The incumbent home secretary is Shabana Mahmood, who has served since 5 September 2025 and was reappointed on the formation of the Burnham ministry on 20 July 2026.

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 and the Justice and Home Affairs Committee in the House of Lords.

Historically, the role has been regarded as a political dead end for aspiring politicians, due to the numerous potential issues and controversies it tends to involve.

Responsibilities

Corresponding to what is generally known as an interior minister in many other countries, the home secretary's remit includes:

Oversight of Home Office ministers

Law enforcement in England and Wales and UK wide elements of policing, that are not devolved. Matters of national security and counter-terrorism Matters of immigration and border security Oversight of the Security Service (MI5).

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.

From the birth of King Edward VIII in 1894 until the birth of Princess Alexandra of Kent in 1936, the home secretary would be present at all royal births to verify that the baby and potential heir to the throne was a descendent of the monarch, and not an imposter. Prior to this, a wider range of privy counsellors would attend. The practice was abolished by King George VI shortly before the birth of King Charles III.

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 responsibilities of the Northern and Southern Departments were reformed into the Foreign Office and Home Office.

In 2007, the new Ministry of Justice took on the criminal justice functions of the Home Office and its agencies.

List of home secretaries + Secretary of State for the Home Department Term of office Party Ministry Monarch William Petty2nd Earl of Shelburne 27 March 1782 10 July 1782 Whig Rockingham II George III Thomas Townsend 10 July 1782 2 April 1783 Whig Shelburne Frederick NorthLord North 2 April 1783 19 December 1783 Tory Fox–North George Nugent-Temple-Grenville3rd Earl Temple 19 December 1783 23 December 1783 Tory Pitt I Thomas Townsend1st Baron Sydney 23 December 1783 5 June 1789 Whig William Grenville1st Baron Grenville 5 June 1789 8 June 1791 Tory Henry Dundas 8 June 1791 11 July 1794 Tory William Cavendish-Bentinck3rd Duke of Portland 11 July 1794 30 July 1801 Tory Addington Thomas Pelham4th Baron Pelham of Stanmer 30 July 1801 17 August 1803 Whig Charles Philip Yorke 17 August 1803 12 May 1804 Tory Robert Jenkinson2nd Baron Hawkesbury 12 May 1804 5 February 1806 Tory Pitt II George Spencer2nd Earl Spencer 5 February 1806 25 March 1807 Whig All the Talents Robert Jenkinson2nd Earl of Liverpool 25 March 1807 1 November 1809 Tory Portland II Richard Ryder 1 November 1809 8 June 1812 Tory Perceval Henry Addington1st Viscount Sidmouth 11 June 1812 17 January 1822 Tory Liverpool George IV Robert Peel 17 January 1822 10 April 1827 Tory William Sturges Bourne 30 April 1827 16 July 1827 Tory Canning Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice3rd Marquess of Lansdowne 16 July 1827 22 January 1828 Whig Goderich Robert Peel 26 January 1828 22 November 1830 Tory Wellington–Peel William IV William Lamb2nd Viscount Melbourne 22 November 1830 16 July 1834 Whig Grey John Ponsonby1st Baron Duncannon 19 July 1834 15 November 1834 Whig Melbourne I Arthur Wellesley1st Duke of Wellington 15 November 1834 15 December 1834 Tory Wellington Caretaker Henry Goulburn 15 December 1834 18 April 1835 Conservative Peel I Lord John Russell 18 April 1835 30 August 1839 Whig Melbourne II Victoria Constantine Phipps1st Marquess of Normanby 30 August 1839 30 August 1841 Whig Sir James Graham2nd Baronet 6 September 1841 30 June 1846 Conservative Peel II Sir George Grey2nd Baronet 8 July 1846 23 February 1852 Whig Russell I Spencer Horatio Walpole 27 February 1852 19 December 1852 Conservative Who? Who? Henry John Temple3rd Viscount Palmerston 28 December 1852 6 February 1855 Whig Aberdeen Sir George Grey2nd Baronet 8 February 1855 26 February 1858 Whig Palmerston I Spencer Horatio Walpole 26 February 1858 3 March 1859 Conservative Derby–Disraeli II Thomas Henry Sutton Sotheron-Estcourt 3 March 1859 18 June 1859 Conservative George Cornewall Lewis 18 June 1859 25 July 1861 Liberal Palmerston II Sir George Grey2nd Baronet 25 July 1861 28 June 1866 Liberal Russell II Spencer Horatio Walpole 6 July 1866 17 May 1867 Conservative Derby–Disraeli III Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy 17 May 1867 3 December 1868 Conservative Henry Bruce(1815–1895) 9 December 1868 9 August 1873 Liberal Gladstone I Robert Lowe 9 August 1873 20 February 1874 Liberal R. A. Cross 21 February 1874 23 April 1880 Conservative Disraeli II William Harcourt 28 April 1880 23 June 1885 Liberal Gladstone II R. A. Cross 24 June 1885 1 February 1886 Conservative Salisbury I Hugh Childers 6 February 1886 25 July 1886 Liberal Gladstone III Henry Matthews 3 August 1886 15 August 1892 Conservative Salisbury II H. H. Asquith 18 August 1892 25 June 1895 Liberal Gladstone IV Rosebery Matthew White Ridley 29 June 1895 12 November 1900 Conservative Salisbury Charles Ritchie 12 November 1900 11 August 1902 Conservative Edward VII Balfour Aretas Akers-Douglas 11 August 1902 5 December 1905 Conservative Herbert Gladstone 11 December 1905 19 February 1910 Liberal Campbell-Bannerman Asquith Winston Churchill 19 February 1910 24 October 1911 Liberal George V Reginald McKenna 24 October 1911 27 May 1915 Liberal John Simon 27 May 1915 12 January 1916 Liberal Asquith Coalition Herbert Samuel 12 January 1916 7 December 1916 Liberal George Cave1st Viscount Cave 11 December 1916 14 January 1919 Conservative Lloyd George Edward Shortt 14 January 1919 23 October 1922 National Liberal William Bridgeman 25 October 1922 22 January 1924 Conservative Law Baldwin I Arthur Henderson 23 January 1924 4 November 1924 Labour MacDonald I William Joynson-Hicks 7 November 1924 5 June 1929 Conservative Baldwin II John Robert Clynes 8 June 1929 26 August 1931 Labour MacDonald II Herbert Samuel 26 August 1931 1 October 1932 Liberal National I National II Sir John Gilmour2nd Baronet 1 October 1932 7 June 1935 Unionist John Simon 7 June 1935 28 May 1937 Liberal National National III Edward VIII George VI Samuel Hoare 28 May 1937 3 September 1939 Conservative National IV John Anderson 4 September 1939 4 October 1940 Independent Chamberlain War Churchill War Herbert Morrison 4 October 1940 23 May 1945 Labour Donald Somervell 25 May 1945 26 July 1945 Conservative Churchill Caretaker James Chuter Ede 3 August 1945 26 October 1951 Labour Attlee David Maxwell Fyfe 27 October 1951 19 October 1954 Conservative Churchill III Elizabeth II Gwilym Lloyd George 19 October 1954 14 January 1957 National Liberal&Conservative Eden Rab Butler 14 January 1957 13 July 1962 Conservative Macmillan Henry Brooke 14 July 1962 16 October 1964 Conservative Douglas-Home Frank Soskice 18 October 1964 23 December 1965 Labour Wilson Roy Jenkins 23 December 1965 30 November 1967 Labour James Callaghan 30 November 1967 19 June 1970 Labour Reginald Maudling 20 June 1970 18 July 1972 Conservative Heath Robert Carr 18 July 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative Roy Jenkins 5 March 1974 10 September 1976 Labour Wilson Callaghan Merlyn Rees 10 September 1976 4 May 1979 Labour William Whitelaw 4 May 1979 11 June 1983 Conservative Thatcher I Leon Brittan 11 June 1983 2 September 1985 Conservative Thatcher II Douglas Hurd 2 September 1985 26 October 1989 Conservative Thatcher III David Waddington 26 October 1989 28 November 1990 Conservative Kenneth Baker 28 November 1990 10 April 1992 Conservative Major I Kenneth Clarke 10 April 1992 27 May 1993 Conservative Major II Michael Howard 27 May 1993 2 May 1997 Conservative Jack Straw 2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour Blair I David Blunkett 8 June 2001 15 December 2004 LabourBlair II Charles Clarke 15 December 2004 5 May 2006 LabourBlair III John Reid 5 May 2006 28 June 2007 Labour Jacqui Smith 28 June 2007 5 June 2009 Labour Brown Alan Johnson 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour Theresa May 12 May 2010 13 July 2016 Conservative Cameron–Clegg Cameron II Amber Rudd 13 July 2016 29 April 2018 Conservative May I May II Sajid Javid 30 April 2018 24 July 2019 Conservative Priti Patel 24 July 2019 6 September 2022 Conservative Johnson I Johnson II Suella Braverman 6 September 2022 19 October 2022 Conservative Truss Charles III Grant Shapps 19 October 2022 25 October 2022 Conservative Suella Braverman 25 October 2022 13 November 2023 Conservative Sunak James Cleverly 13 November 2023 5 July 2024 Conservative Yvette Cooper 5 July 2024 5 September 2025 Labour Starmer Shabana Mahmood5 September 2025Incumbent Labour Burnham

Timeline

See also British government departments Cabinet (government) Great Offices of State Interior minister List of British governments List of current interior ministers List of permanent under secretaries of state of the Home Office Ministry of Justice Shadow Home Secretary Home Office under Theresa May Under Secretary of State for the Home Department

Notes

References Citations

Sources

Roberts, David. "Lord Palmerston at the Home Office," The Historian (1958) 21#1 pp. 63-81

Smith, David. "Sir George Grey at the Mid-Victorian Home Office." Canadian Journal of History 19.3 (1984): 361-386.

External links

Home Office website