Secretary of State for Health and Social Care facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent James Murray since 14 May 2026
Department of Health and Social Care (England)
Style	Health Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth) His/Her excellency (diplomatic)
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	14 October 1854: (as President of the Board of Health) 8 January 2018: (as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care)
First holder	Benjamin Hall (as President of the Board of Health)
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022) (including £86,584 MP salary)

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is a very important government official in the United Kingdom. People often call this person the Health Secretary. Their main job is to look after the Department of Health and Social Care. This department makes sure that health services and social care in England work well. The Health Secretary is also a member of the Cabinet, which is a group of senior ministers who make big decisions for the country.

Since 1999, when more power was given to different parts of the UK (this is called devolution), the Health Secretary mostly focuses on the health service in England. Other parts of the UK, like Scotland and Wales, have their own ministers who look after their health services. For example, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in Scotland is in charge of NHS Scotland. The role of Health Secretary has a long history, going back to the 1800s. It became a Secretary of State position in 1968. In 2018, the title changed to include "and Social Care" to show its wider responsibilities.

The person holding this job works with other ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care. There is also a "shadow minister" from the opposition party who watches their work closely. The current Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is James Murray, who started on 14 May 2026.

What the Health Secretary Does

The Health Secretary is like a health minister in many other countries. Their job involves several key areas:

• Looking after the NHS in England: This includes making sure people get good care. It also means checking how well the health service is doing. They also manage its money carefully.
• Social Care Policy: They help create rules and plans for social care in England. This includes care for adults and children. They work with other government departments on these plans.
• Public Health: They are responsible for keeping the public healthy across England. This means dealing with things like preventing diseases.
• International Health: They work with health organisations around the world. This includes groups like the WHO (World Health Organization).

A Look at History

The idea of a government role for health started a long time ago. The first Boards of Health were set up in 1831. In 1848, a General Board of Health was created. It had a president who led its work. This board was later closed in 1858. Its duties moved to other government offices.

In 1919, the Ministry of Health was officially formed. It took over many health-related tasks. Over time, its focus became purely on health matters.

From 1968 to 1988, the health role was combined with social security. It was called the Secretary of State for Social Services. Then, in 1988, the roles were separated again. This created the Secretary of State for Health.

After 1999, when devolution happened, the Health Secretary's job changed. They mainly focused on health services in England. Scotland and Wales got their own health ministers. Before this, the UK Department of Health had a bigger role across Great Britain. Health services in Northern Ireland have always had their own separate system.

Who Has Held the Role

Colour key (for political parties):
       Whig        Conservative        Radical        Peelite        Liberal        Labour        Unionist        National Labour        National Liberal

President of the Board of Health (1848–1858)

President of the Board			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
As First Commissioner of Woods and Forests							Lord John Russell
		The Earl of Carlisle	1848	17 April 1849	Whig
		Lord Seymour	17 April 1849	1 August 1851	Whig
As First Commissioner of Works
		Lord Seymour	1 August 1851	21 February 1852	Whig
		Lord John Manners	4 March 1852	17 December 1852	Conservative		The Earl of Derby
		William Molesworth	5 January 1853	14 October 1854	Radical		The Earl of Aberdeen (Coalition)
President of the Board of Health
		Benjamin Hall	14 October 1854	13 August 1855	Whig
							The Viscount Palmerston
		William Cowper	13 August 1855	9 February 1857	Whig
		William Monsell	9 February 1857	24 September 1857	Whig
		William Cowper	24 September 1857	21 February 1858	Whig
		Charles Adderley	8 March 1858	1 September 1858	Conservative		The Earl of Derby
The Board of Health was closed in 1858. Its duties moved to other government groups.

Minister of Health (1919–1968)

Minister			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Christopher Addison	24 June 1919	1 April 1921	Liberal	Lloyd George II
		Alfred Mond	1 April 1921	19 October 1922	Liberal
		Arthur Griffith-Boscawen	24 October 1922	7 March 1923	Conservative	Law
		Neville Chamberlain	7 March 1923	27 August 1923	Conservative
						Baldwin I
		William Joynson-Hicks	27 August 1923	22 January 1924	Conservative
		John Wheatley	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		Neville Chamberlain	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	Baldwin II
		Arthur Greenwood	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	Macdonald II
		Neville Chamberlain	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	Conservative	National I
		Hilton Young	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	Conservative	National II
		Kingsley Wood	7 June 1935	16 May 1938	Conservative	National III
						National IV
		Walter Elliot	16 May 1938	13 May 1940	Unionist
						Chamberlain War
		Malcolm MacDonald	13 May 1940	8 February 1941	National Labour	Churchill War
		Ernest Brown	8 February 1941	11 November 1943	National Liberal
		Henry Willink	11 November 1943	26 July 1945	Conservative
						Churchill Caretaker
		Aneurin Bevan	3 August 1945	17 January 1951	Labour	Attlee I
						Attlee II
		Hilary Marquand	17 January 1951	26 October 1951	Labour
		Harry Crookshank	30 October 1951	7 May 1952	Conservative	Churchill III
		Iain Macleod	7 May 1952	20 December 1955	Conservative
						Eden
		Robin Turton	20 December 1955	16 January 1957	Conservative
		Dennis Vosper	16 January 1957	17 September 1957	Conservative	Macmillan I
		Derek Walker-Smith	17 September 1957	27 July 1960	Conservative
						Macmillan II
		Enoch Powell	27 July 1960	20 October 1963	Conservative
		Anthony Barber	20 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative	Douglas-Home
		Kenneth Robinson	18 October 1964	1 November 1968	Labour	Wilson I
This job was combined with the Ministry for Social Security in 1968.

Secretary of State for Social Services (1968–1988)

Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Richard Crossman	1 November 1968	19 June 1970	Labour	Wilson II
		Keith Joseph	20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	Heath
		Barbara Castle	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	Wilson III
		David Ennals	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	Callaghan
		Patrick Jenkin	5 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative	Thatcher I
		Norman Fowler	14 September 1981	13 June 1987	Conservative
						Thatcher II
		John Moore	13 June 1987	25 July 1988	Conservative	Thatcher III
This job was split into two new roles in 1988: Secretary of State for Social Security and Secretary of State for Health.

Secretary of State for Health (1988–2018)

Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Kenneth Clarke	25 July 1988	2 November 1990	Conservative	Thatcher III
		William Waldegrave	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative
						Major I
		Virginia Bottomley	10 April 1992	5 July 1995	Conservative	Major II
		Stephen Dorrell	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative
		Frank Dobson	3 May 1997	11 October 1999	Labour	Blair I
		Alan Milburn	11 October 1999	13 June 2003	Labour
						Blair II
		John Reid	13 June 2003	6 May 2005	Labour
		Patricia Hewitt	6 May 2005	28 June 2007	Labour	Blair III
		Alan Johnson	28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour	Brown
		Andy Burnham	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
		Andrew Lansley	11 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)
		Jeremy Hunt	4 September 2012	8 January 2018	Conservative
						Cameron II
						May I
						May II

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2018–present)

Secretary of State			Term of office		Political party	Ministry
		Jeremy Hunt	8 January 2018	9 July 2018	Conservative	May II
		Matt Hancock	9 July 2018	26 June 2021	Conservative
						Johnson I
						Johnson II
		Sajid Javid	26 June 2021	5 July 2022	Conservative
		Steve Barclay	5 July 2022	6 September 2022	Conservative
		Thérèse Coffey	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative	Truss
		Steve Barclay	25 October 2022	13 November 2023	Conservative	Sunak
		Victoria Atkins	13 November 2023	5 July 2024	Conservative
		Wes Streeting	5 July 2024	14 May 2026	Labour	Starmer
		James Murray	14 May 2026		Labour

Timeline of Health Secretaries

See also

• Health and Social Care minister
• Minister of Health