Secretary of State for Work and Pensions facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United Kingdom Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Liz Kendall since 5 July 2024
Department for Work and Pensions
Style	Work and Pensions Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Member of	Cabinet Privy 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	10 December 1916: (as Minister for Pensions) 8 June 2001: (as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions)
First holder	George Barnes (as Minister for Pensions)
Deputy	Minister of State for Employment
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022) (including £86,584 MP salary)

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a very important job in the Government of the United Kingdom. This person is in charge of the Department for Work and Pensions. They make sure that the department helps people with jobs, money, and support.

The person holding this job is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Cabinet is a group of senior ministers who help the Prime Minister make big decisions. The Secretary works with other ministers in the department. There is also a "shadow minister" from the opposition party. This person checks what the Secretary of State is doing.

Currently, Liz Kendall holds this important role.

What Does the Secretary Do?

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is like a "labour minister" in other countries. Their main tasks include:

• Helping people who are old enough to work find jobs.
• Making sure employers follow rules and that pensions are managed well. Pensions are regular payments to people after they retire.
• Managing government spending related to work and pensions.
• Giving support to people with disabilities.
• Providing help and support for families and children.

A Brief History of the Role

The job of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions was created on 8 June 2001. It brought together parts of two older government departments. These were the Employment section of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.

Before this, there were different roles that handled similar tasks:

• Minister for Pensions (1916-1953): This role was created in 1916. It helped pay pensions to soldiers and their families after wars.
• Minister of National Insurance (1944-1953): This role was formed in 1944. It dealt with national insurance, which is a system for social security.
• Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1953-1966): These two roles merged in 1953.
• Minister of Social Security (1966-1968): The name changed in 1966.
• Secretary of State for Health and Social Services (1968-1988): This department combined social security with health.
• Secretary of State for Social Security (1988-2001): In 1988, the health and social security parts split again.

Finally, in 2001, the role became the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, as we know it today.

Who Has Held This Role?

Many different people have held this important government job over the years. They come from different political parties. The table below shows some of the people who have been in charge of these areas. It also shows when they held the job and which Prime Minister they worked under.

Colour key (for political parties):
      Labour /       Conservative /       Liberal /       National Labour /       National Independent

Minister of Pensions (1916–1953)
Minister			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		George Nicoll Barnes	10 December 1916	17 August 1917	Labour		David Lloyd George (Coalition)
		John Hodge	17 August 1917	10 January 1919	Labour
		Laming Worthington-Evans	10 January 1919	2 April 1920	Conservative
		Ian Macpherson	2 April 1920	19 October 1922	Liberal
		George Tryon	31 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative		Bonar Law
							Stanley Baldwin
		Frederick Roberts	23 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
		George Tryon	11 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin
		Frederick Roberts	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
		George Tryon	3 September 1931	18 June 1935	Conservative		Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
		Robert Hudson	18 June 1935	30 July 1936	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.)
		Herwald Ramsbotham	30 July 1936	7 June 1939	Conservative
							Neville Chamberlain (4th Nat.Min.; War Coalition)
		Walter Womersley	7 June 1939	26 July 1945	Conservative
							Winston Churchill (War Coalition; Caretaker Min.)
		Wilfred Paling	3 August 1945	17 April 1947	Labour		Clement Attlee
		John Burns Hynd	17 April 1947	7 October 1947	Labour
		George Buchanan	7 October 1947	2 July 1948	Labour
		Hilary Marquand	2 July 1948	17 January 1951	Labour
		George Isaacs	17 January 1951	26 October 1951	Labour
		Derick Heathcoat-Amory	5 November 1951	3 September 1953	Conservative		Winston Churchill
Minister of Social Insurance/National Insurance (1944–1953)
Minister			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		William Jowitt	8 October 1944	23 May 1945	Labour		Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
		Leslie Hore-Belisha	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	National Independent		Winston Churchill (Caretaker Min.)
		Jim Griffiths	4 August 1945	28 February 1950	Labour		Clement Attlee
		Edith Summerskill	28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour
		Osbert Peake	31 October 1951	3 September 1953	Conservative		Winston Churchill
Posts of Minister of Pensions and Minister of National Insurance merged in 1953.
Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1953–1966)
Minister			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		Osbert Peake	3 September 1953	20 December 1955	Conservative		Winston Churchill
							Anthony Eden
		John Boyd-Carpenter	20 December 1955	16 July 1962	Conservative
							Harold Macmillan
		Niall Macpherson	16 July 1962	21 October 1963	Conservative
		Richard Wood	21 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative		Alec Douglas-Home
		Margaret Herbison	18 October 1964	6 August 1966	Labour		Harold Wilson
Minister of Social Security (1966–1968)
Minister			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		Margaret Herbison	6 August 1966	26 July 1967	Labour		Harold Wilson
		Judith Hart	26 July 1967	1 November 1968	Labour
Secretary of State for Health and Social Services (1968–1988)
Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		Richard Crossman	1 November 1968	19 June 1970	Labour		Harold Wilson
		Keith Joseph	20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative		Edward Heath
		Barbara Castle	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour		Harold Wilson
		David Ennals	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour		James Callaghan
		Patrick Jenkin	5 May 1979	13 September 1981	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
		Norman Fowler	14 September 1981	13 June 1987	Conservative
		John Moore	13 June 1987	24 July 1988	Conservative
Post split into the Secretary of State for Social Security and the Secretary of State for Health in 1988.
Secretary of State for Social Security (1988–2001)
Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		John Moore	25 July 1988	22 July 1989	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
		Tony Newton	23 July 1989	9 April 1992	Conservative
							John Major
		Peter Lilley	10 April 1992	1 May 1997	Conservative
		Harriet Harman	1 May 1997	27 July 1998	Labour		Tony Blair
		Alistair Darling	27 July 1998	8 June 2001	Labour
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2001–present)
Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		Alistair Darling	8 June 2001	29 May 2002	Labour		Tony Blair
		Andrew Smith	29 May 2002	8 September 2004	Labour
		Alan Johnson	8 September 2004	6 May 2005	Labour
		David Blunkett	6 May 2005	2 November 2005	Labour
		John Hutton	2 November 2005	28 June 2007	Labour
		Peter Hain	28 June 2007	24 January 2008	Labour		Gordon Brown
		James Purnell MP for Stalybridge and Hyde	24 January 2008	5 June 2009	Labour
		Yvette Cooper MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford	6 June 2009	6 May 2010	Labour
		Iain Duncan Smith MP for Chingford and Woodford Green	12 May 2010	18 March 2016	Conservative		David Cameron (Coalition)
			Duncan Smith's tenure				David Cameron (II)
		Stephen Crabb MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire	19 March 2016	14 July 2016	Conservative
		Damian Green MP for Ashford	14 July 2016	11 June 2017	Conservative		Theresa May (I)
		David Gauke MP for South West Hertfordshire	11 June 2017	8 January 2018	Conservative		Theresa May (II)
		Esther McVey MP for Tatton	8 January 2018	15 November 2018	Conservative
		Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye	16 November 2018	7 September 2019	Conservative
							Boris Johnson (I)
		Thérèse Coffey MP for Coastal Suffolk	8 September 2019	6 September 2022	Conservative
							Boris Johnson (II)
		Chloe Smith MP for Norwich North	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative		Liz Truss (I)
		Mel Stride MP for Central Devon	25 October 2022	5 July 2024	Conservative		Rishi Sunak (I)
		Liz Kendall MP for Leicester West	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour		Keir Starmer (I)

* Incumbent's length of term last updated: 22 June 2025.

Images for kids

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  George Nicoll Barnes

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  John Hodge

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  Barbara Castle

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  John Moore

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  Tony Newton

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  Peter Lilley

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  Harriet Harman

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  Alistair Darling

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  Andrew Smith

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  Alan Johnson

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  David Blunkett

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  John Hutton

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  Peter Hain

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  James Purnell

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  Yvette Cooper

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  Iain Duncan Smith

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  Stephen Crabb

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  Damian Green

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  David Gauke

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  Esther McVey

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  Amber Rudd

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  Thérèse Coffey

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  Chloe Smith

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  Mel Stride

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  Liz Kendall