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{{Short description|Senior ministerial office of the United Kingdom}}

factoids

First Secretary of State| body = the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland| flag = | flagsize = | flagcaption = | insignia = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svgRoyal arms of the United Kingdom>Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government| image = | status = | incumbent = Vacant| incumbentsince = 15 September 2021| department = Government of the United KingdomThe Right Honourable (formal)Excellency>His/Her Excellency (diplomatic)| residence = None, may use grace and favour residencesPrime Minister of the United Kingdom>Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United Kingdom>Prime Minister| seat = Monarchy of the United Kingdom>The King (on the advice of the prime minister)| termlength = At His Majesty's pleasureCabinet of the United Kingdom >Privy Council of the United Kingdom>National Security Council (United Kingdom)>National Security Council}}| inaugural = Rab ButlerACCESS-DATE=10 JULY 2021 ARCHIVE-DATE=10 JULY 2021 DATE=1 APRIL 2019, live, (2019)| website = }}{{uk-gov-positions}}{{PoliticsUK}}First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The office indicates seniority,WEB, 2010, The Cabinet Manual,weblink 3 June 2021, gov.uk, 3.12, including over all other secretaries of state.NEWS, Nicholas, Watt, 8 May 2015, George Osborne made first secretary of state in cabinet reshuffle, The Guardian,weblink 8 May 2015, The office is not always in use, so there have sometimes been extended gaps between successive holders. Dominic Raab most recently held the position between July 2019 and September 2021, making it vacant at the moment.

Constitutional position

Like the deputy prime minister, the first secretary enjoys no right of automatic succession to the office of Prime Minister.BOOK, Norton, Philip, Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution, Manchester University Press, 2020, 9-781526-145451, 152, However, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit on 6 April 2020, after contracting COVID-19, First Secretary Dominic Raab was asked "to deputise for him where necessary."WEB, 6 April 2020, Statement from Downing Street: 6 April 2020,weblink 3 June 2021, gov.uk, The office temporarily enjoyed some greater constitutional footing between when it was incorporated as a corporation sole in 2002The Transfer of Functions (Transport, Local Government and the Regions) Order 2002, art 3(1). and having all of its remaining functions transferred in 2008.The Transfer of Functions (Miscellaneous) Order 2008, art 7 During most of this time, John Prescott was First Secretary.

History

In 1962, R.A. Butler was the first person to be appointed to the office, in part to avoid earlier royal objections to the office of Deputy Prime Minister.BOOK, Brazier, Rodney, Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain, Oxford University Press, 2020, 978-0-19-260307-4, 74–5, The office gave Butler ministerial superiority over the rest of the CabinetBOOK, Brazier, Rodney, Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain, Oxford University Press, 2020, 978-0-19-260307-4, 75, and indicated that he was second-in-command.BOOK, Seldon, Anthony, The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister, Meakin, Jonathan, Thoms, Illias, Cambridge University Press, 2021, 9781316515327, 171, Anthony Seldon, Harold Wilson appointed three people to the office between 1964 and 1970, but it has been noted by Anthony Seldon et al. that the office may have caught on "more as an ego-massager than for functional reasons."Later, Michael Heseltine and John Prescott held the office alongside being Deputy Prime Minister.BOOK, Brazier, Rodney, Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain, Oxford University Press, 2020, 978-0-19-260307-4, 77, The two offices have only existed concurrently with different holders in David Cameron's coalition government, wherein Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg was appointed Deputy Prime Minister while Conservative William Hague was First Secretary.

Responsibilities

The office is currently listed on the gov.uk website as bringing no additional responsibilities.WEB, First Secretary of State,weblink 3 June 2021, gov.uk, However, Lord Norton says that there are two benefits to a prime minister in appointing a first secretary: firstly, it leaves a senior minister free to perform correlation and co-ordination and to chair committees and, secondly, it enables the prime minister to send a signal as to the status of the holder.BOOK, Norton, Philip, Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution, Manchester University Press, 2020, 9-781526-145451, 149–50, Stephen Thornton and Jonathan Kirkup have said that "the Office of First Secretary of State is only as important as the person holding that office is perceived to be important",JOURNAL, Thornton, Stephen, From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State, Parliamentary Affairs, 2023, 2021, 186–210, 10.1093/pa/gsab038, free, but in certain circumstances the office "can assume acute importance and real power" and it may yet become an office of substance.JOURNAL, Thornton, Stephen, Kirkup, Jonathan, From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State, Parliamentary Affairs, 2023, 2021, 186–210, 10.1093/pa/gsab038, free,

List of first secretaries of state {|class"wikitable" style"text-align:Center;"

! colspan=3 | First Secretary of State! colspan=2 | Term of office! Other ministerial offices! Party! Ministry style="height:1em"75px)Rab Butler>R. A. Butler{{SmallSaffron Walden (UK Parliament constituency)>Saffron Walden}}HOWARD >FIRST=ANTHONY TITLE=RAB: THE LIFE OF R.A. BUTLER PUBLISHER=A&C BLACK, 9781448210824, David Butler and Gareth Butler, British Political Facts 1900–1994 (7th edn, Macmillan 1994) 62.13 July}}196218 October}}1963Conservative Party (UK)>ConservativeMacmillan II style="height:1em"75px)George Brown, Baron George-Brown>George Brown{{SmallBelper (UK Parliament constituency)>Belper}}16 October}}196411 August}}1966

• Secretary of State for Economic Affairs

Labour Party (UK)>LabourLabour government, 1964–1970(I & II)}} style="height:1em"75px)Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham>Michael Stewart{{SmallFulham (UK Parliament constituency)>Fulham}}11 August}}19666 April}}1968

• Secretary of State for Economic Affairs{{Efn|Served as Secretary of State for Economic Affairs until August 1967}}
• Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs{{Efn|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from March 1968}}

Labour Party (UK)>Labour style="height:1em"75px)Barbara Castle{{Small>MP for Blackburn}}6 April}}196819 June}}1970

• Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity

Labour Party (UK)>Labour style="height:1em"75px)Michael Heseltine{{Small>MP for Henley (UK Parliament constituency)}}HTTP://WWW.PARLIAMENT.UK/BIOGRAPHIES/LORDS/LORD-HESELTINE/94 PUBLISHER=UK PARLIAMENT, 21 December 2017, 20 July}}19952 May}}1997

• Deputy Prime Minister

Conservative Party (UK)>ConservativeMajor II style="height:1em" (File:John Prescott on his last day as Deputy Prime Minister, June 2007.jpg|75px) John Prescott{{SmallKingston upon Hull East (UK Parliament constituency)>Kingston upon Hull East}}HTTPS://WWW.PARLIAMENT.UK/BIOGRAPHIES/LORDS/LORD-PRESCOTT/374 >TITLE=LORD PRESCOTT ACCESS-DATE=21 DECEMBER 2017, {{Small|8 June}}2001 {{Small|27 June}}2007

• Deputy Prime Minister{{Efn|Deputy Prime Minister from May 1997}}

LabourBlair II Blair III style="height:1em"75px)Peter Mandelson>The Lord Mandelson{{Small|(born 1953)}}5 June}}200911 May}}2010

• Lord President of the Council
• Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
• President of the Board of Trade

Labour Party (UK)>LabourBrown style="height:1em"75px)William Hague{{Small>MP for Richmond (Yorks) (UK Parliament constituency)}}HTTPS://WWW.PARLIAMENT.UK/BIOGRAPHIES/LORDS/LORD-HAGUE-OF-RICHMOND/379 PUBLISHER=UK PARLIAMENT, 21 December 2017, 12 May}}20108 May}}2015

• Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs{{Efn|Served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until July 2014|name=|group=}}
• Leader of the House of Commons{{Efn|Served as Leader of the House of Commons from July 2014}}

Conservative Party (UK)>ConservativeCameron–Clegg coalition{{Small>(''Conservative Party (UK)–Liberal Democrats (UK)>L.D.'')}} style="height:1em"75px)George Osborne{{Small>MP for Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)}}HTTPS://WWW.PARLIAMENT.UK/BIOGRAPHIES/COMMONS/GEORGE-OSBORNE/1458 PUBLISHER=UK PARLIAMENT, 21 December 2017, 8 May}}201513 July}}2016

• Chancellor of the Exchequer

Conservative Party (UK)>ConservativeCameron II style="height:1em"75px)Damian Green{{Small>MP for Ashford (UK Parliament constituency)}}HTTPS://WWW.PARLIAMENT.UK/BIOGRAPHIES/COMMONS/DAMIAN-GREEN/76 PUBLISHER=UK PARLIAMENT, 21 December 2017, 11 June}}201720 December}}2017

• Minister for the Cabinet Office

Conservative Party (UK)>ConservativeMay II style="height:1em"75px)Dominic Raab{{Small>MP for Esher and Walton (UK Parliament constituency)}}DOMINIC RAAB ACCESS-DATE=28 APRIL 2022, Parliament of the United Kingdom, 24 July}}201915 September}}2021

• Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs{{Efn|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until September 2020}}
• Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs{{Efn|Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs from September 2020}}

Conservative Party (UK)>ConservativeBoris Johnson{{Small>(First Johnson ministry & Second Johnson ministry>II)}}

Timeline

{{#tag:timeline|ImageSize = width:700 height:auto barincrement:15PlotArea = top:10 bottom:60 right:130 left:20AlignBars = lateDefine $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}DateFormat=dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1960 till:01/01/2025TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1960ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1960Colors = Legend = columns:2 left:125 top:28 columnwidth:100TextData = BarData = PlotData=

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See also

• Ministerial ranking - the "pecking order" or relative importance of senior ministers in the UK government.

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}{{First Secretary of State}}{{Downing Street}}