First Secretary of State

United Kingdom
First Secretary of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent
Louise Haigh
since 20 July 2026
Government of the United Kingdom
Cabinet Office
StyleThe Right Honourable (formal)
Her Excellency (diplomatic)
Member of
Reports toPrime Minister
ResidenceNone, may use grace and favour residences
NominatorPrime Minister
Appointer
Term length
Inaugural holderRab Butler
Formation13 July 1962; 64 years ago (1962-07-13)
Salary£153,022 per annum
(including £81,932 MP salary) (2019)
Websitewww.gov.uk/government/ministers/first-secretary-of-state

First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom held by the most senior secretary of state. The office is not always in use, but is usually the designated deputy of the prime minister making them the second highest ranking minister, unless a Deputy Prime Minister has been appointed.

The office frequently serves the same political functions as that of Deputy Prime Minister, and while there have been occasions when the two titles have existed at the same time, Prime Ministers historically have tended to designate one or the other (or neither). As of July 2026, the office is held by Louise Haigh, last having been held by Dominic Raab from 2019 to 2021, which ended when the title was swapped for Deputy Prime Minister in 2021.

Constitutional position

Like the deputy prime minister, the first secretary enjoys no right of automatic succession to the office of Prime Minister. When Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit on 6 April 2020, after contracting COVID-19, First Secretary Dominic Raab was asked "to deputise for him where necessary."

The office temporarily enjoyed some greater constitutional footing between when it was incorporated as a corporation sole in 2002 and having all of its remaining functions transferred in 2008. During most of this time, John Prescott was First Secretary.

History

In 1962, R.A. Butler was the first person to be appointed to the office, in part to avoid earlier royal objections to the office of Deputy Prime Minister. The office gave Butler ministerial superiority over the rest of the Cabinet and indicated that he was second-in-command. Harold Wilson appointed three people to the office between 1964 and 1970, but it has been noted by Anthony Seldon et al. that the office may have caught on "more as an ego-massager than for functional reasons."

Later, Michael Heseltine and John Prescott held the office and also that of Deputy Prime Minister. The two offices have only existed concurrently with different holders in David Cameron's coalition government, in which Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg was appointed Deputy Prime Minister while Conservative William Hague was First Secretary.

Responsibilities

The gov.uk website states the offices responsibilities as.

Additionally, Lord Norton says that there are two benefits to a prime minister in appointing a first secretary: firstly, it leaves a senior minister free to perform correlation and co-ordination and to chair committees and, secondly, it enables the prime minister to send a signal as to the status of the holder. Stephen Thornton and Jonathan Kirkup have said that "the Office of First Secretary of State is only as important as the person holding that office is perceived to be important", but in certain circumstances the office "can assume acute importance and real power" and it may yet become an office of substance.

List of First Secretaries of State

First Secretary of State Term of office Duration Other ministerial offices Party Ministry
Rab Butler
MP for Saffron Walden		 13 July
1962		 18 October
1963		 1 year, 98 days Conservative Macmillan II
Office vacant 18 October
1963		 16 October
1964		 365 days
George Brown
MP for Belper		 16 October
1964		 11 August
1966		 1 year, 300 days Labour Wilson
(I & II)
Michael Stewart
MP for Fulham		 11 August
1966		 6 April
1968		 1 year, 240 days Labour
Barbara Castle
MP for Blackburn		 6 April
1968		 19 June
1970		 2 years, 75 days Labour
Office vacant 19 June
1970		 20 July
1995		 25 years, 32 days
Michael Heseltine
MP for Henley		 20 July
1995		 2 May
1997		 1 year, 287 days Conservative Major II
Office vacant 2 May
1997		 8 June
2001		 4 years, 38 days
John Prescott
MP for Kingston upon Hull East		 8 June
2001		 27 June
2007		 6 years, 20 days Labour Blair II
Blair III
Office vacant 27 June
2007		 5 June
2009		 1 year, 344 days
Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson 5 June
2009		 11 May
2010		 341 days Labour Brown
William Hague
MP for Richmond (Yorks)		 12 May
2010		 8 May
2015		 4 years, 362 days Conservative Cameron–Clegg
(Con.–L.D.)
George Osborne
MP for Tatton		 8 May
2015		 13 July
2016		 1 year, 67 days Conservative Cameron II
Office vacant 13 July
2016		 11 June
2017		 334 days
Damian Green
MP for Ashford		 11 June
2017		 20 December
2017		 193 days Conservative May II
Office vacant 20 December
2017		 24 July
2019		 1 year, 217 days
Dominic Raab
MP for Esher and Walton		 24 July
2019		 15 September
2021		 2 years, 54 days Conservative Johnson
(I & II)
Office vacant 15 September
2021		 20 July
2026		 4 years, 309 days
Louise Haigh
MP for Sheffield Heeley		 20 July
2026		 Incumbent 97 days Labour Burnham

Timeline

Louise HaighDominic RaabDamian GreenGeorge OsborneWilliam HaguePeter MandelsonJohn PrescottMichael HeseltineBarbara CastleMichael StewartGeorge BrownRab Butler

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Served as Secretary of State for Economic Affairs until August 1967
  2. ↑ Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from March 1968
  3. ↑ from May 1997
  4. ↑ between 29 May 2002 and 5 May 2006
  5. ↑ Served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until July 2014
  6. ↑ Served as Leader of the House of Commons from July 2014
  7. ↑ Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until September 2020
  8. ↑ Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs from September 2020

References

  1. ↑ "Salaries of Members of Her Majesty's Government from 1st April 2019" (PDF). 1 April 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Watt, Nicholas (8 May 2015). "George Osborne made first secretary of state in cabinet reshuffle". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Cabinet Manual" (PDF). gov.uk. 2010. 3.12. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  4. ↑ Norton, Philip (2020). Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution. Manchester University Press. p. 152. ISBN 9-781526-145451.
  5. ↑ "Statement from Downing Street: 6 April 2020". gov.uk. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. ↑ The Transfer of Functions (Transport, Local Government and the Regions) Order 2002, art 3(1).
  7. ↑ The Transfer of Functions (Miscellaneous) Order 2008, art 7
  8. ↑ Brazier, Rodney (2020). Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain. Oxford University Press. pp. 74–5. ISBN 978-0-19-260307-4.
  9. ↑ Brazier, Rodney (2020). Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-19-260307-4.
  10. 1 2 Seldon, Anthony; Meakin, Jonathan; Thoms, Illias (2021). The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister. Cambridge University Press. p. 171. ISBN 9781316515327.
  11. 1 2 Brazier, Rodney (2020). Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-19-260307-4.
  12. ↑ "First Secretary of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
  13. ↑ Norton, Philip (2020). Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution. Manchester University Press. pp. 149–50. ISBN 9-781526-145451.
  14. ↑ Thornton, Stephen (2023). "From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State". Parliamentary Affairs. 2021: 186–210. doi:10.1093/pa/gsab038.
  15. ↑ Thornton, Stephen; Kirkup, Jonathan (2023). "From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State". Parliamentary Affairs. 2021: 186–210. doi:10.1093/pa/gsab038.
  16. ↑ Howard, Anthony (February 7, 2013). RAB: The Life of R.A. Butler. A&C Black. ISBN 9781448210824.
  17. 1 2 3 4 David Butler and Gareth Butler, British Political Facts 1900–1994 (7th edn, Macmillan 1994) 62.
  18. ↑ "Lord Heseltine". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  20. ↑ "Lord Hague of Richmond". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  21. ↑ "Rt Hon George Osborne". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  22. ↑ "Rt Hon Damian Green MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  23. ↑ "Dominic Raab". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  24. ↑ "Parliamentary career for Louise Haigh". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 July 2026.