First Secretary of State

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First Secretary of State is an honorific title occasionally used within the Government of the United Kingdom. The title, which implies seniority over all other Secretaries of State,^[1] has no specific powers or authority attached to it beyond that of any other Secretary of State.

The title is not always in use, so there have sometimes been extended gaps between successive holders of the title, the most lengthy of which being the 25 years between 1970 and 1995. The last holder was George Osborne, having held the post from May 2015 until July 2016.

Relationship with Deputy Prime Minister

The post of Deputy Prime Minister had been created in 1942 for Clement Attlee, the leader of the Labour Party in Winston Churchill's wartime coalition ministry. The post indicated that the holder ranked second in government, after the Prime Minister, but did not confer cabinet rank and did not pay a salary. For this reason, the Deputy Prime Minister concurrently held other offices, entitling him to a place in cabinet.

The title First Secretary of State indicated the holder's rank as a Secretary of State, with a place in cabinet. The title was created in 1962 for Deputy Prime Minister R. A. Butler, granting him a place in cabinet despite not holding a specific cabinet portfolio. Michael Heseltine and John Prescott were also relieved of their cabinet portfolios when serving as Deputy Prime Minister, and were therefore additionally appointed First Secretary of State. In 1964, Prime Minister Harold Wilson established the alternative usage, appointing a First Secretary of State among the cabinet without appointing a Deputy Prime Minister.

The two titles have only existed concurrently with different holders in one government: in David Cameron's coalition ministry of 2010–15, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, and William Hague was appointed First Secretary of State.

Most recent holder

The most recent First Secretary of State was George Osborne, who first received the title from Prime Minister David Cameron in addition to his reappointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer^[2] immediately following the 2015 General Election, and held it until he left cabinet in July 2016.

List of First Secretaries of State

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Concurrent office(s)	Political party (Party position)	Prime Minister
	Rab Butler[3]		13 July 1962	18 October 1963	Deputy Prime Minister	Conservative		Harold Macmillan
Office not in use			1963–1964					Alec Douglas-Home
	George Brown		16 October 1964	11 August 1966	Economic Secretary	Labour (Deputy Leader)		Harold Wilson
	Michael Stewart		11 August 1966	6 April 1968	Economic Secretary (until August 1967) Foreign Secretary (from March 1968)	Labour
	Barbara Castle		6 April 1968	19 June 1970	Employment and Productivity Secretary	Labour
Office not in use			1970–1995					Edward Heath
								Harold Wilson
								James Callaghan
								Margaret Thatcher
								John Major
	Michael Heseltine		20 July 1995	2 May 1997	Deputy Prime Minister	Conservative
Office not in use			1997–2001					Tony Blair
	John Prescott		8 June 2001	27 June 2007	Deputy Prime Minister (from May 1997)	Labour (Deputy Leader)
Office not in use			2007–2009					Gordon Brown
	The Lord Mandelson		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Business Secretary Lord President of the Council	Labour
	William Hague		12 May 2010	8 May 2015	Foreign Secretary (until July 2014) Leader of the House of Commons (from July 2014)	Conservative		David Cameron (I)
	George Osborne		8 May 2015	13 July 2016	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative		David Cameron (II)
Office not in use			2016–present					Theresa May

See also

• Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

References

First Secretaries of State of the United Kingdom
Rab Butler (1962–1963) George Brown (1964–1966) Michael Stewart (1966–1968) Barbara Castle (1968–1970) Michael Heseltine (1995–1997) John Prescott (2001–2007) The Lord Mandelson (2009–2010) William Hague (2010–2015) George Osborne (2015–2016)