Home Secretary facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United Kingdom Secretary of State for the Home Department
Royal Arms as used by the Home Office
Incumbent Shabana Mahmood since 5 September 2025
Home Office
Style	Home Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
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
Deputy	Minister of State for Security
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022) (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	Home Secretary

The Home Secretary is a very important job in the UK government. Think of it like being the main boss of the Home Office, which is a government department. The person in this role is one of the most powerful ministers and helps make big decisions for the country. They are also part of the British Cabinet and the National Security Council.

This important job started way back in 1782. Over the years, what the Home Secretary is responsible for has changed a lot! Many famous people have held this position, including former Prime Ministers like Winston Churchill and Theresa May. The person who held the job for the longest was Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, for over nine years. The shortest time someone was Home Secretary was Grant Shapps, who served for just six days. In 2007, Jacqui Smith made history as the first woman to become Home Secretary. The current Home Secretary is Shabana Mahmood, who started on 5 September 2025.

The Home Secretary works with other ministers in the Home Office. There's also a "shadow home secretary" from the opposition party, who keeps a close eye on what the Home Secretary is doing. Committees in Parliament also check their work to make sure everything is running smoothly.

What Does the Home Secretary Do?

The Home Secretary's job is a bit like being the chief protector of the country! They are in charge of many important things that keep people safe and the country running well.

• They oversee other ministers in the Home Office.
• They are responsible for policing in England and Wales, and some police matters across the whole UK. This means making sure our police forces have what they need to keep communities safe.
• They handle matters of national security, which means protecting the country from big threats. This includes working on stopping terrorism.
• They manage immigration and border security. This involves deciding who can enter and stay in the UK, and keeping our borders safe.
• They also oversee the Security Service (MI5), which is a secret service that works to protect the UK from threats inside the country.

Before 2007, the Home Secretary was also in charge of prisons and probation. But now, those jobs are handled by the Ministry of Justice.

A Look Back: History of the Role

The idea of a "Secretary of State" in England goes back to the 1600s. The specific job of the Home Secretary was created in 1782. This happened when the British government reorganized some of its departments. Before then, there were "Northern" and "Southern" departments, which were then changed into the Foreign Office (dealing with other countries) and the Home Office (dealing with things inside the country).

Later, in 2007, some of the Home Office's responsibilities, especially those related to criminal justice, were moved to a new department called the Ministry of Justice.

Who Has Been Home Secretary?

This table shows all the people who have held the important job of Home Secretary since it was created. You can see their names, when they served, and which political party they belonged to.

Secretary of State for the Home Department Including constituencies for elected MPs.			Term of office		Party	Ministry	Monarch (Reign)
		William Petty 2nd Earl of Shelburne	27 March 1782	10 July 1782	Whig	Rockingham II	George III (1760–1820)
		Thomas Townsend MP for Whitchurch	10 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig	Shelburne (Whig–Tory)
		Frederick North Lord North MP for Banbury	2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Tory	Fox–North
		George Nugent-Temple-Grenville 3rd Earl Temple	19 December 1783	23 December 1783	Tory	Pitt I
		Thomas Townsend 1st Baron Sydney	23 December 1783	5 June 1789	Whig
		William Grenville 1st Baron Grenville MP for Buckinghamshire (1759–1834)	5 June 1789	8 June 1791	Tory
	Henry Dundas MP for Edinburgh	8 June 1791	11 July 1794	Tory
		William Cavendish-Bentinck 3rd Duke of Portland	11 July 1794	30 July 1801	Tory
						Addington
		Thomas Pelham 4th Baron Pelham of Stanmer	30 July 1801	17 August 1803	Whig
		Charles Philip Yorke MP for Cambridgeshire	17 August 1803	12 May 1804	Tory
		Robert Jenkinson 2nd Baron Hawkesbury	12 May 1804	5 February 1806	Tory	Pitt II
		George Spencer 2nd Earl Spencer	5 February 1806	25 March 1807	Whig	All the Talents (Whig–Tory)
		Robert Jenkinson 2nd Earl of Liverpool	25 March 1807	1 November 1809	Tory	Portland II
		Richard Ryder MP for Tiverton	1 November 1809	8 June 1812	Tory	Perceval
		Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth	11 June 1812	17 January 1822	Tory	Liverpool
							George IV (1820–1830)
		Robert Peel MP for Oxford University	17 January 1822	10 April 1827	Tory
		William Sturges Bourne MP for Ashburton	30 April 1827	16 July 1827	Tory	Canning (Canningite–Whig)
​		Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne	16 July 1827	22 January 1828	Whig
						Goderich
		Robert Peel MP for 3 constituencies respectively (1788–1850)	26 January 1828	22 November 1830	Tory	Wellington–Peel
							William IV (1830–1837)
		William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne	22 November 1830	16 July 1834	Whig	Grey
		John Ponsonby 1st Baron Duncannon	19 July 1834	15 November 1834	Whig	Melbourne I
		Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington	15 November 1834	15 December 1834	Tory	Wellington Caretaker
		Henry Goulburn MP for Cambridge University	15 December 1834	18 April 1835	Conservative	Peel I
		Lord John Russell MP for Stroud	18 April 1835	30 August 1839	Whig	Melbourne II
							Victoria (1837–1901)
		Constantine Phipps 1st Marquess of Normanby	30 August 1839	30 August 1841	Whig
		James Graham MP for Dorchester	6 September 1841	30 June 1846	Conservative	Peel II
		George Grey MP for Devonport → North Northumberland (1799–1882)	8 July 1846	23 February 1852	Whig	Russell I
		Spencer Horatio Walpole MP for Midhurst	27 February 1852	19 December 1852	Conservative	Who? Who?
		Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston MP for Tiverton	28 December 1852	6 February 1855	Whig	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)
		George Grey MP for Morpeth	8 February 1855	26 February 1858	Whig	Palmerston I
		Spencer Horatio Walpole MP for Cambridge University	26 February 1858	3 March 1859	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
		Thomas Henry Sutton Sotheron-Estcourt MP for North Wiltshire	3 March 1859	18 June 1859	Conservative
		George Cornewall Lewis MP for Radnor	18 June 1859	25 July 1861	Liberal	Palmerston II
​		George Grey MP for Morpeth	25 July 1861	28 June 1866	Liberal
						Russell II
		Spencer Horatio Walpole MP for Cambridge University	6 July 1866	17 May 1867	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
		Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy MP for Oxford University	17 May 1867	3 December 1868	Conservative
		Henry Bruce MP for Merthyr Tydfil → Renfrewshire (1815–1895)	9 December 1868	9 August 1873	Liberal	Gladstone I
		Robert Lowe MP for London University	9 August 1873	20 February 1874	Liberal
		R. A. Cross MP for South West Lancashire	21 February 1874	23 April 1880	Conservative	Disraeli II
		William Harcourt MP for Derby	28 April 1880	23 June 1885	Liberal	Gladstone II
		R. A. Cross MP for Newton	24 June 1885	1 February 1886	Conservative	Salisbury I
		Hugh Childers MP for Edinburgh South	6 February 1886	25 July 1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
		Henry Matthews MP for Birmingham East	3 August 1886	15 August 1892	Conservative	Salisbury II
		H. H. Asquith MP for East Fife	18 August 1892	25 June 1895	Liberal	Gladstone IV
						Rosebery
		Matthew White Ridley MP for Blackpool	29 June 1895	12 November 1900	Conservative	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Charles Ritchie MP for Croydon	12 November 1900	11 August 1902	Conservative
							Edward VII (1901–1910)
						Balfour
		Aretas Akers-Douglas MP for St Augustine's	11 August 1902	5 December 1905	Conservative
		Herbert Gladstone MP for Leeds West	11 December 1905	19 February 1910	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
​						Asquith (I–III)
		Winston Churchill MP for Dundee	19 February 1910	24 October 1911	Liberal
							George V (1910–1936)
		Reginald McKenna MP for North Monmouthshire	24 October 1911	27 May 1915	Liberal
		John Simon MP for Walthamstow	27 May 1915	12 January 1916	Liberal	Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–et al.)
		Herbert Samuel MP for Cleveland	12 January 1916	7 December 1916	Liberal
		George Cave 1st Viscount Cave MP for Kingston (1856–1928)	11 December 1916	14 January 1919	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II)
		Edward Shortt MP for Newcastle upon Tyne West	14 January 1919	23 October 1922	Liberal
		William Bridgeman MP for Oswestry	25 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Law
						Baldwin I
		Arthur Henderson MP for Burnley (1863–1935)	23 January 1924	4 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		William Joynson-Hicks MP for Twickenham	7 November 1924	5 June 1929	Conservative	Baldwin II
		John Robert Clynes MP for Manchester Platting	8 June 1929	26 August 1931	Labour	MacDonald II
		Herbert Samuel MP for Darwen	26 August 1931	1 October 1932	Liberal	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–et al.)
​						National II
		John Gilmour MP for Glasgow Pollok	1 October 1932	7 June 1935	Unionist
​		John Simon MP for Spen Valley	7 June 1935	28 May 1937	Liberal National	National III (Con.–N.Lab.–et al.)
							Edward VIII (1936)
​							George VI (1936–1952)
		Samuel Hoare MP for Chelsea	28 May 1937	3 September 1939	Conservative	National IV
​		John Anderson MP for Combined Scottish Universities	4 September 1939	4 October 1940	Independent (National)	Chamberlain War
​						Churchill War (All parties)
		Herbert Morrison MP for Hackney South	4 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour
		Donald Somervell MP for Crewe	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative	Churchill Caretaker (Con.–Lib.N.)
		James Chuter Ede MP for South Shields	3 August 1945	26 October 1951	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		David Maxwell Fyfe MP for Liverpool West Derby	27 October 1951	19 October 1954	Conservative	Churchill III
							Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
​		Gwilym Lloyd George MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North	19 October 1954	14 January 1957	National Liberal & Conservative
						Eden
		Rab Butler MP for Saffron Walden	14 January 1957	13 July 1962	Conservative	Macmillan (I & II)
​		Henry Brooke MP for Hampstead	14 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
						Douglas-Home
		Frank Soskice MP for Newport	18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour	Wilson (I & II)
		Roy Jenkins MP for Birmingham Stechford	23 December 1965	30 November 1967	Labour
		James Callaghan MP for Cardiff South East	30 November 1967	19 June 1970	Labour
		Reginald Maudling MP for Barnet	20 June 1970	18 July 1972	Conservative	Heath
		Robert Carr MP for Carshalton	18 July 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative
		Roy Jenkins MP for Birmingham Stechford	5 March 1974	10 September 1976	Labour	Wilson (III & IV)
​						Callaghan
		Merlyn Rees MP for Leeds South	10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour
		William Whitelaw MP for Penrith and The Border	4 May 1979	11 June 1983	Conservative	Thatcher I
		Leon Brittan MP for Richmond (Yorks)	11 June 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative	Thatcher II
		Douglas Hurd MP for Witney	2 September 1985	26 October 1989	Conservative
						Thatcher III
		David Waddington MP for Ribble Valley	26 October 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative
		Kenneth Baker MP for Mole Valley	28 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative	Major I
		Kenneth Clarke MP for Rushcliffe	10 April 1992	27 May 1993	Conservative	Major II
		Michael Howard MP for Folkestone and Hythe	27 May 1993	2 May 1997	Conservative
		Jack Straw MP for Blackburn	2 May 1997	8 June 2001	Labour	Blair I
		David Blunkett MP for Sheffield Brightside	8 June 2001	15 December 2004	Labour	Blair II
		Charles Clarke MP for Norwich South	15 December 2004	5 May 2006	Labour
						Blair III
		John Reid MP for Airdrie and Shotts	5 May 2006	27 June 2007	Labour
		Jacqui Smith MP for Redditch	28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour	Brown
		Alan Johnson MP for Hull West and Hessle	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
		Theresa May MP for Maidenhead Tenure	12 May 2010	13 July 2016	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)
						Cameron II
		Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye	13 July 2016	29 April 2018	Conservative	May I
​						May II
		Sajid Javid MP for Bromsgrove	30 April 2018	24 July 2019	Conservative
		Priti Patel MP for Witham	24 July 2019	6 September 2022	Conservative	Johnson I
						Johnson II
		Suella Braverman MP for Fareham	6 September 2022	19 October 2022	Conservative	Truss
							Charles III (2022–present)
		Grant Shapps MP for Welwyn Hatfield	19 October 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative
		Suella Braverman MP for Fareham	25 October 2022	13 November 2023	Conservative	Sunak
		James Cleverly MP for Braintree	13 November 2023	5 July 2024	Conservative
		Yvette Cooper MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley	5 July 2024	5 September 2025	Labour	Starmer
		Shabana Mahmood MP for Birmingham Ladywood	5 September 2025	Incumbent	Labour

A Visual History: Timeline of Home Secretaries

See also

In Spanish: Ministro del Interior del Reino Unido para niños

• British government departments
• Cabinet (government)
• Great Offices of State
• Interior minister
• List of British governments
• List of current interior ministers
• List of permanent under secretaries of state of the Home Office
• Ministry of Justice
• Shadow Home Secretary
• Home Office under Theresa May
• Under Secretary of State for the Home Department