For the position in the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, see Home Secretary (India).
United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Home Department
Royal Arms as used by the Home Office
Incumbent 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
Cabinet
Privy Council
National Security Council
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
Constitution
Magna Carta
Bill of Rights
Treaty of Union (Acts of Union)
Parliamentary sovereignty
Rule of law
Separation of powers
Other constitutional principles
The Crown
The Monarch (list)
Charles III
Heir apparent
William, Prince of Wales
Royal family
Succession
Prerogative
Counsellors of State
Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Executive
Privy Council
Charles III (King-in-Council)
HM Government
Cabinet (list)
Sunak ministry (C)
Prime Minister (list)
Rishi Sunak (C)
Deputy Prime Minister
Oliver Dowden (C)
Departments
Ministers
Agencies
Legislature
UK Parliament
(King-in-Parliament)
King
Charles III
House of Lords
Lord Speaker
The Lord McFall of Alcluith
House of Commons
Speaker
Sir Lindsay Hoyle
Leader of the Opposition
Sir Keir Starmer (L)
58th Parliament
Opposition
MPs
List of MPs
Judiciary
Charles III (King-on-the-Bench)
Supreme Court
President
The Lord Reed of Allermuir
Deputy President
Lord Hodge
Justices of the Supreme Court
United Kingdom
England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Bank of England
Governor
Andrew Bailey
Deputy governors
Monetary Policy Committee
Currencies
Banknotes
Coins
Elections and referendums
UK Parliament constituencies (2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies)
Political parties
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022
Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions
Senedd constituencies and electoral regions
UK general elections
1801 co-option
1802
1806
1807
1812
1818
1820
1826
1830
1831
1832–33
1835
1837
1841
1847
1852
1857
1859
1865
1868
1874
1880
1885
1886
1892
1895
1900
1906
1910 (Jan–Feb)
1910 (Dec)
1918
1922
1923
1924
1929
1931
1935
1945
1950
1951
1955
1959
1964
1966
1970
1974 (Feb)
1974 (Oct)
1979
1983
1987
1992
1997
2001
2005
2010
2015
2017
2019
Next
European Parliament elections (1979–2019)
1979
1984
1989
1994
1999
2004
2009
2014
2019
Scottish Parliament elections
1999
2003
2007
2011
2016
2021
Next
Northern Ireland Assembly elections
1998
2003
2007
2011
2016
2017
2022
Next
Senedd elections
1999
2003
2007
2011
2016
2021
Next
UK referendums
1975
2011
2016
Devolution
Intergovernmental relations in the United Kingdom
Legislative consent motions
England
Governance of England
English votes for English laws
Greater London Authority
1998 referendum
Greater London Authority Act 1999 (2007 Act)
Mayor of London
Sadiq Khan
Mayoral cabinet
London Assembly
London Plan
Combined authorities
Metro mayors
Cornwall Council
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Act 1998 (2006 Act)
First Minister
Michelle O'Neill
deputy First Minister
Emma Little-Pengelly
Executive
Assembly
Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Law of Northern Ireland
Scotland
Scottish devolution
1997 referendum
Scotland Act 1998 (2012 Act, 2016 Act)
First Minister
Humza Yousaf
Government
Scottish Parliament
Act of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish statutory instrument
Scots law
Wales
Welsh devolution
1997 referendum (2011 referendum on law-making powers)
Government of Wales Act 1998 (2006 Act, Wales Act 2014, Wales Act 2017)
First Minister
Vaughan Gething
Government
Senedd
Measure of the National Assembly for Wales (1999–2011)
Act of Senedd Cymru
Welsh law
Administration
England
History
Subdivisions: Regions
Ceremonial counties (list)
Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties
Metropolitan county
Non-metropolitan county
Greater London
Unitary authorities (list)
Districts (list)
Metropolitan Borough
Non-metropolitan District
London Borough
Civil parishes (list)
Historic counties
Northern Ireland
History
Subdivisions: Counties
Districts
Scotland
History
Subdivisions: Sheriffdoms
Council areas
Community council areas
Civil parishes
Shires of Scotland
Wales
History
Preserved counties
Principal areas
Communities (list)
Historic counties
Crown Dependencies
Bailiwick of Guernsey
(Guernsey
Alderney
Sark)
Bailiwick of Jersey
Isle of Man
British Islands
Common Travel Area
UK-CD Customs Union
Overseas Territories
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (Saint Helena
Ascension Island
Tristan da Cunha)
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands
British Overseas Territories citizen
Visa requirements
Visa policies
British Overseas Territories Act 2002
UK-OT JMC
Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute
Gibraltar sovereignty dispute
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
Foreign relations
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Foreign policy (history)
Diplomatic missions of / in the United Kingdom
UK passport
British National (Overseas) passport
Visa requirements
UK–CD Customs Union
Visa policy
Free trade agreements
Australia
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Brunei
Canada
China
Hong Kong
Cyprus
Denmark
France
Germany
India
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kenya
Malaysia
Malta
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Spain
South Africa
Palestine
Pakistan
Poland
Portugal
United States
Zimbabwe
Ireland
politics of Northern Ireland
Good Friday Agreement
UK–Ireland border
Northern Ireland Protocol
British–Irish Council
European Union (history)
Brexit
Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union
UK–EU withdrawal agreement
The Commonwealth
member states
United Kingdom and the United Nations
United Nations Security Council
P5
NATO
G20
G7
United Kingdom portal
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Other countries
v
t
e
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 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]
^"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.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, more commonly known as the HomeSecretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the...
HomeSecretary (formally known as the Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department) is the person within the shadow cabinet who shadows the Home...
The homesecretary is one of the most senior and influential ministers in the UK Government, and the holder of a Great Office of State. The home secretary's...
A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56 (also known as the Belmarsh 9 case) is a UK human rights case heard before the...
The HomeSecretary is a four-act play by R. C. Carton, first produced in 1895 in the West End of London. The play was first given at the Criterion Theatre...
the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as HomeSecretary from 2010 to 2016. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead...
Permanent Under-Secretary of State of the Home Office. The expenditure, administration, and policy of the Home Office are scrutinised by the Home Affairs Select...
born 3 April 1980) is a British politician and barrister who served as HomeSecretary from 6 September 2022 to 19 October 2022, and again from 25 October...
residing in Rwanda. It was signed for a duration of five years by British homesecretary Priti Patel and Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta on 13 April...
Prior to his appointment as Cabinet Secretary, he was HomeSecretary of India. His tenure as the Cabinet Secretary of India has been extended 4 times by...
Chen v HomeSecretary was a decision of the European Court of Justice which decided that a minor who is a national of a European Union member state has...
deportation by the Home Office. Linked by commentators to the "hostile environment policy" instituted by Theresa May during her time as HomeSecretary, the scandal...
Baroness Stedman-Scott steps down from the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. 5 January – The UK government confirms...
still be released on compassionate grounds at the discretion of the HomeSecretary. Whole life orders are usually imposed for aggravated murder, and can...
secretaries are the head of the ministries of the government and hold positions such as Finance Secretary, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Home...
authority of the HomeSecretary within the Cabinet. The service is headed by a Director General (DG) at the grade of a Permanent Secretary of the Civil Service...
Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow HomeSecretary under Keir Starmer since 2021, having also served in the position under...
United Kingdom, the position of Secretary of State for the Home Department, normally referred to as the "HomeSecretary", was created in the British governmental...
Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1964 to 1967, HomeSecretary from 1967 to 1970 and Foreign Secretary from 1974 to 1976. He was a Member of Parliament...
The secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the foreign secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government...
Begum v HomeSecretary [2021] UKSC 7 is the short name of three closely connected proceedings considered together in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom...
Syria by war correspondent Anthony Loyd. The following day, British HomeSecretary, Sajid Javid, revoked her British citizenship. The British government...
(SDP) and the Liberal Democrats, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and HomeSecretary under the Wilson and Callaghan Governments. The son of Arthur Jenkins...