Secretary of State for Defence
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox official post <templatestyles src="Hlist/styles.css" />Script error: No such module "Sidebar". The secretary of state for defence, also known as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence.[1] As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
The post of secretary of state for defence was created on 1 April 1964, replacing the positions of minister of defence, first lord of the admiralty, secretary of state for war, and secretary of state for air, while the individual offices of the British Armed Forces were abolished and their functions transferred to the Ministry of Defence. In 2019, Penny Mordaunt became the UK's first female defence secretary.[2]
The secretary of state is supported by the other ministers in the Defence Ministerial Team and the MOD permanent secretary. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for defence, and the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee.[3]
The current secretary of state for defence is John Healey, who was appointed on 5 July 2024 following the 2024 United Kingdom general election.[4]
Responsibilities
In contrast to what is generally known as a defence minister in many other countries, the Defence Secretary's remit includes:
- Strategic military and defensive operations. The postholder is a member of the National Security Council, and chair of the Defence Council, to which the monarch has given the power to command the Armed Forces.
- Oversight of Defence Intelligence
- Relations with international partnerships, including NATO
- Defence policy (Trident nuclear weapons programme), resourcing and planning
- Communications on defence[5]
History
Template:Principal political leaders of the British Armed Forces
Minister for Co-ordination of Defence (1936–1940)
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The position of minister for co-ordination of defence was a British Cabinet-level position established in 1936 to oversee and co-ordinate the rearmament of Britain's defences. It was established by the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, in response to criticism that Britain's armed forces were understrength compared to those of Nazi Germany. When the Second World War broke out, the new prime minister Neville Chamberlain formed a small War Cabinet and it was expected that the minister would serve as a spokesperson for the three service ministers, the secretary of state for war, the first lord of the admiralty and the secretary of state for air; however, political considerations resulted in all three posts being included in the Cabinet, and this role proved increasingly redundant. In April 1940 the position was formally wound up and the functions transferred to other ministers.
| Minister | Term of office | Party | Ministry | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | File:Thomas Inskip.jpg | Thomas Inskip MP for Fareham (1876–1947)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
13 March 1936 | 29 January 1939 | rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) |Conservative | Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) |Baldwin III |
| rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) |Chamberlain I | ||||||
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | File:Echatfield.jpg | Ernle Chatfield 1st Baron Chatfield (1873–1967)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
29 January 1939 | 3 April 1940 | rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) |Independent (National) | |
| Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) |Chamberlain War | ||||||
Minister of Defence (1940–1964)
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
The post of minister of defence was responsible for co-ordination of defence and security from its creation in 1940 until its abolition in 1964. The post was a Cabinet level post and generally ranked above the three service ministers, some of whom, however, continued to also serve in Cabinet.
On his appointment as prime minister in May 1940, Winston Churchill created for himself the new post of minister of defence. The post was created in response to previous criticism that there had been no clear single minister in charge of the prosecution of World War II. In 1946, the post became the only cabinet-level post representing the military, with the three service ministers – the secretary of state for war, the first lord of the admiralty, and the secretary of state for air, now formally subordinated to the minister of defence.
Secretary of State for Defence (1964–present)
The post was created in 1964 as successor to the posts of minister for coordination of defence and minister of defence. It replaced the positions of first lord of the admiralty, secretary of state for war and secretary of state for air, as the Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry were merged into the Ministry of Defence (the secretary of state for war had already ceased to be a cabinet position in 1946, with the creation of the cabinet-level minister of defence).
Secretaries of state for defence (1964–present)
Timeline
<timeline>ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto barincrement:13 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late PlotArea = width:90% left:10 top:10 bottom:50 Legend = columns:1 left:120 top:20 columnwidth:175
Define $today = 20/12/2025
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1935 till:31/12/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
Colors =
id:conservative value:rgb(0,0.53,0.86) legend: Conservative_and_Unionist_Party id:labour value:rgb(0.86,0.08,0.18) legend: Labour_Party id:independent value:rgb(0.6,0.6,0.6) legend: Independent_or_no_party id:liteline value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) id:line value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1940 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:liteline unit:year increment:2 start:1936
TextData =
pos:(20,25) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"
BarData =
bar:Inskip bar:Chatfield bar:Churchill bar:Attlee bar:Alexander bar:Shinwell bar:Tunis bar:Macmillan bar:LLoyd bar:Monckton bar:Head bar:Sandys bar:Watkinson bar:Thorneycroft bar:Healey bar:Carrington bar:Gilmour bar:Mason bar:Mulley bar:Pym bar:Nott bar:Heseltine bar:Younger bar:King bar:Rifkind bar:Portillo bar:Robertson bar:Hoon bar:Reid bar:Browne bar:Hutton bar:Ainsworth bar:Fox bar:Hammond bar:Fallon bar:Williamson bar:Mordaunt bar:Wallace bar:Shapps bar:Healey2
PlotData=
width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Inskip from: 13/03/1936 till: 29/01/1939 color:Conservative text:"Thomas Inskip" bar:Chatfield from: 29/01/1939 till: 03/04/1940 color:Independent text:"Ernle Chatfield" bar:Churchill from: 10/05/1940 till: 27/07/1945 color:Conservative from: 29/10/1951 till: 01/03/1952 color:Conservative text:"Winston Churchill" bar:Attlee from: 27/07/1945 till: 20/12/1946 color:Labour text:"Clement Attlee" bar:Alexander from: 20/12/1946 till: 28/02/1950 color:Labour text:"A. V. Alexander" bar:Shinwell from: 28/02/1950 till: 26/10/1951 color:Labour text:"Emanuel Shinwell" bar:Tunis from: 01/03/1952 till: 18/10/1954 color:Independent text:"Harold Alexander" bar:Macmillan from: 18/10/1954 till: 07/04/1955 color:Conservative text:"Harold Macmillan" bar:LLoyd from: 07/04/1955 till: 20/12/1955 color:Conservative text:"Selwyn Lloyd" bar:Monckton from: 20/12/1955 till: 18/10/1956 color:Conservative text:"Walter Monckton" bar:Head from: 18/10/1956 till: 09/01/1957 color:Conservative text:"Antony Head" bar:Sandys from: 13/01/1957 till: 14/10/1959 color:Conservative text:"Duncan Sandys" bar:Watkinson from: 14/10/1959 till: 13/07/1962 color:Conservative text:"Harold Watkinson" bar:Thorneycroft from: 13/07/1962 till: 16/10/1964 color:Conservative text:"Peter Thorneycraft" bar:Healey from: 16/10/1964 till: 19/06/1970 color:Labour text:"Denis Healey" bar:Carrington from: 20/06/1970 till: 08/01/1974 color:Conservative text:"Peter Carrington" bar:Gilmour from: 08/01/1974 till: 04/03/1974 color:Conservative text:"Ian Gilmour" bar:Mason from: 05/03/1974 till: 09/09/1976 color:Labour text:"Roy Mason" bar:Mulley from: 10/09/1976 till: 04/05/1979 color:Labour text:"Fred Mulley" bar:Pym from: 05/05/1979 till: 04/01/1981 color:Conservative text:"Francis Pym" bar:Nott from: 05/01/1981 till: 05/01/1983 color:Conservative text:"John Nott" bar:Heseltine from: 06/01/1983 till: 08/01/1986 color:Conservative text:"Michael Heseltine" bar:Younger from: 09/01/1986 till: 23/07/1989 color:Conservative text:"George Younger" bar:King from: 28/07/1989 till: 09/04/1992 color:Conservative text:"Tom King" bar:Rifkind from: 10/04/1992 till: 04/07/1995 color:Conservative text:"Malcom Rifkind" bar:Portillo from: 05/07/1995 till: 02/05/1997 color:Conservative text:"Michael Portillo" bar:Robertson from: 03/05/1997 till: 11/10/1999 color:Labour text:"George Robertson" bar:Hoon from: 11/10/1999 till: 06/05/2005 color:Labour text:"Geoff Hoon" bar:Reid from: 06/05/2005 till: 05/05/2006 color:Labour text:"John Reid" bar:Browne from: 05/05/2006 till: 03/10/2008 color:Labour text:"Des Browne" bar:Hutton from: 03/10/2008 till: 05/06/2009 color:Labour text:"John Hutton" bar:Ainsworth from: 05/06/2009 till: 11/05/2010 color:Labour text:"Bob Ainsworth" bar:Fox from: 12/05/2010 till: 14/10/2011 color:Conservative text:"Liam Fox" bar:Hammond from: 14/10/2011 till: 15/07/2014 color:Conservative text:"Philip Hammond" bar:Fallon from: 15/07/2014 till: 01/11/2017 color:Conservative text:"Michael Fallon" bar:Williamson from: 02/11/2017 till: 01/05/2019 color:Conservative text:"Gavin Williamson" bar:Mordaunt from: 01/05/2019 till: 24/07/2019 color:Conservative text:"Penny Mordaunt" bar:Wallace from: 24/07/2019 till: 31/08/2023 color:Conservative text:"Ben Wallace" bar:Shapps from: 31/08/2023 till: 05/07/2024 color:Conservative text:"Grant Shapps" bar:Healey2 from: 05/07/2024 till: $today color:Labour text:"John Healey"
</timeline>
References
External links
Template:Secretary of State for Defence Template:United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Template:Cabinet positions in the United Kingdom
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Cbignore
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".