View source for First Secretary of State

{{Short description|Senior ministerial office of the United Kingdom}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = {{small|[[United Kingdom]]}} <br/> First Secretary of State
| body = the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| flag = 
| flagsize = 
| flagcaption = 
| insignia = Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
| insigniacaption = [[Royal arms of the United Kingdom|Royal Arms]] of [[Government of the United Kingdom|His Majesty's Government]]
| image = 
| status = 
| incumbent = Vacant
| incumbentsince = 15 September 2021
| department = [[Government of the United Kingdom]]
| style = [[The Right Honourable]] (formal)<br>[[Excellency|His/Her Excellency]] (diplomatic)
| residence = ''None, may use [[grace and favour]] residences''
| nominator = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]]
| reports_to = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]]
| seat = 
| appointer = [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|The King]] (on the advice of the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]])
| termlength = [[At His Majesty's pleasure]]
| member_of = {{ubl|[[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] |[[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]]||[[National Security Council (United Kingdom)|National Security Council]]}}
| inaugural = [[Rab Butler]]
| formation = {{start date and age|df=y|1962|7|13}}
| salary = £153,022 per annum<br>(including £81,932 MP salary)<ref>{{cite web |title=Salaries of Members of Her Majesty's Government from 1st April 2019 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811042/Salaries_of_Members_of_Her_Majesty_s_Government_April_2019.pdf |access-date=10 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710181627/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811042/Salaries_of_Members_of_Her_Majesty_s_Government_April_2019.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2021 |language=English |date=1 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> (2019)
| website = 
}}
{{uk-gov-positions}}
{{PoliticsUK}}'''First Secretary of State''' is an office that is sometimes held by a [[minister of the Crown]] in the [[Government of the United Kingdom]]. The office indicates seniority,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010|title=The Cabinet Manual|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60641/cabinet-manual.pdf|access-date=3 June 2021|website=[[gov.uk]]|at=3.12}}</ref> including over all other [[Secretary of State (United Kingdom)|secretaries of state]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Nicholas|last=Watt|date=8 May 2015|title=George Osborne made first secretary of state in cabinet reshuffle|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/08/george-osborne-made-first-secretary-of-state-in-cabinet-reshuffle|access-date=8 May 2015}}</ref> The office is not always in use, so there have sometimes been extended gaps between successive holders. 

The office frequently serves the same political functions as that of [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|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). The office is currently vacant. The most recent person to hold the title was [[Dominic Raab]] from 2019 to 2021, which ended when the title was swapped for Deputy Prime Minister instead in 2022.

== Constitutional position ==
Like the [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|deputy prime minister]], the first secretary enjoys no right of automatic succession to the office of [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Norton|first=Philip|title=Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution|publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=9-781526-145451|pages=152}}</ref> However, 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."<ref>{{Cite web|date=6 April 2020|title=Statement from Downing Street: 6 April 2020|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-from-downing-street-6-april-2020|access-date=3 June 2021|website=[[gov.uk]]|language=}}</ref>

The office temporarily enjoyed some greater constitutional footing between when it was incorporated as a [[corporation sole]] in 2002<ref>[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2626/article/3/made The Transfer of Functions (Transport, Local Government and the Regions) Order 2002], art 3(1).</ref> and having all of its remaining functions transferred in 2008.<ref>[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1034/made The Transfer of Functions (Miscellaneous) Order 2008], art 7</ref> During most of this time, [[John Prescott]] was First Secretary.

==History==
In [[Night of the Long Knives (1962)|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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|url=|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-260307-4|edition=|location=|pages=74–5|oclc=}}</ref> The office gave Butler ministerial superiority over the rest of the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|url=|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-260307-4|edition=|location=|pages=75|oclc=}}</ref> and indicated that he was second-in-command.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last1=Seldon|first1=Anthony|title=The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister|last2=Meakin|first2=Jonathan|last3=Thoms|first3=Illias|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2021|isbn=9781316515327|pages=171|author-link=Anthony Seldon}}</ref> [[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."<ref name=":02" />

Later, [[Michael Heseltine]] and John Prescott held the office alongside being Deputy Prime Minister.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|url=|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-260307-4|edition=|location=|pages=77|oclc=}}</ref> The two offices have only existed concurrently with different holders in [[David Cameron]]'s [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|coalition government]], wherein [[Leader of the Liberal Democrats|Liberal Democrat Leader]] [[Nick Clegg]] was appointed Deputy Prime Minister while Conservative [[William Hague]] was First Secretary.<ref name=":0" />

== Responsibilities ==
The office is currently listed on the [[gov.uk]] website as bringing no additional responsibilities.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=First Secretary of State|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/first-secretary-of-state--2|url-status=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=3 June 2021|website=[[gov.uk]]}}</ref> However, [[Philip Norton, Baron Norton of Louth|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 [[United Kingdom cabinet committee|committees]] and, secondly, it enables the prime minister to send a signal as to the status of the holder.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Norton|first=Philip|title=Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution|publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=9-781526-145451|pages=149–50}}</ref> 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",<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thornton|first=Stephen|title=From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State|journal=[[Parliamentary Affairs]]|year=2023 |volume=2021|pages=186–210|doi=10.1093/pa/gsab038 |doi-access=free}}</ref> but in certain circumstances the office "can assume acute importance and real power" and it may yet become an office of substance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Thornton|first1=Stephen|last2=Kirkup|first2=Jonathan|title=From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State|journal=[[Parliamentary Affairs]]|year=2023 |volume=2021|pages=186–210|doi=10.1093/pa/gsab038 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

== List of First Secretaries of State ==
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:Center;"
! colspan=3 | First Secretary of State
! colspan=2 | Term of office
! Other ministerial offices
! Party
! Ministry

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Rab Butler in 1963 (3x4 cropped).jpg|75px]]
| [[Rab Butler|'''R. A. Butler''']]<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Saffron Walden (UK Parliament constituency)|Saffron Walden]]}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Howard |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWhZRJI-yOgC&q=%22first+secretary+of+state%22+r.a.+butler&pg=PT255 |title=RAB: The Life of R.A. Butler |date=February 7, 2013 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=9781448210824 }}</ref><ref name="Butler&Butler">David Butler and Gareth Butler, British Political Facts 1900–1994 (7th edn, Macmillan 1994) 62.</ref>
| {{Small|13 July}}<br/>1962
| {{Small|18 October}}<br/>1963
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |[[Conservative government, 1957–1964|Macmillan II]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:GeorgeBrown1967 (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|'''George Brown''']]<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Belper (UK Parliament constituency)|Belper]]}}<ref name="Butler&Butler"/>
| {{Small|16 October}}<br/>1964
| {{Small|11 August}}<br/>1966
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Secretary of State for Economic Affairs]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Labour}} |[[Labour government, 1964–1970|Wilson<br/>{{Small|(I & II)}}]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Michael Stewart (1966).jpg|75px]]
| [[Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham|'''Michael Stewart''']]<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Fulham (UK Parliament constituency)|Fulham]]}}<ref name="Butler&Butler"/>
| {{Small|11 August}}<br/>1966
| {{Small|6 April}}<br/>1968
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Secretary of State for Economic Affairs]]{{Efn|Served as Secretary of State for Economic Affairs until August 1967}}
* [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]{{Efn|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from March 1968}}
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:1657535162180 OP002 CASTLE 001 MOBILE.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Barbara Castle]]'''<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackburn]]}}<ref name="Butler&Butler"/>
| {{Small|6 April}}<br/>1968
| {{Small|19 June}}<br/>1970
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Secretary of State for Employment|Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Lord Heseltine (6969083278).jpg|113x113px]]
| '''[[Michael Heseltine]]'''<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Henley (UK Parliament constituency)|Henley]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-heseltine/94 |title=Lord Heseltine |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
| {{Small|20 July}}<br/>1995
| {{Small|2 May}}<br/>1997
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |[[Second Major ministry|Major II]]

|- style="height:1em"
| rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | [[File:John Prescott official portrait (cropped) (fixed).png|75px]]
| rowspan=2 | '''[[John Prescott]]'''<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Kingston upon Hull East (UK Parliament constituency)|Kingston upon Hull East]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-prescott/374 |title=Lord Prescott |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
| rowspan=2 | {{Small|8 June}}<br/>2001
| rowspan=2 | {{Small|27 June}}<br/>2007
| rowspan=2 style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]]{{Efn|Deputy Prime Minister from May 1997}}
| rowspan=2 | [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| {{Party shading/Labour}} |[[Second Blair ministry|Blair II]]
|-
| {{Party shading/Labour}} |[[Third Blair ministry|Blair III]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Peter Mandelson, Member of the EC (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| [[Peter Mandelson|'''The Lord Mandelson''']]
| {{Small|5 June}}<br/>2009
| {{Small|11 May}}<br/>2010
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Lord President of the Council]]
* [[Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy|Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills]]
* [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| {{Party shading/Labour}} |[[Brown ministry|Brown]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:William Hague (2010).jpg|75px]]
| '''[[William Hague]]'''<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Richmond (Yorks) (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond (Yorks)]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-hague-of-richmond/379 |title=Lord Hague of Richmond |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
| {{Small|12 May}}<br/>2010
| {{Small|8 May}}<br/>2015
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]{{Efn|Served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until July 2014|name=|group=}}
* [[Leader of the House of Commons]]{{Efn|Served as Leader of the House of Commons from July 2014}}
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} |[[Cameron–Clegg coalition|Cameron–Clegg]]<br/>{{Small|(''[[Conservative Party (UK)|Con.]]–[[Liberal Democrats (UK)|L.D.]]'')}}

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Osborne 2015.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[George Osborne]]'''<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)|Tatton]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/george-osborne/1458 |title=Rt Hon George Osborne |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
| {{Small|8 May}}<br/>2015
| {{Small|13 July}}<br/>2016
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |[[Second Cameron ministry|Cameron II]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File:Official portrait of Damian Green crop 2.jpg|100x100px]]
| '''[[Damian Green]]'''<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Ashford (UK Parliament constituency)|Ashford]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/damian-green/76 |title=Rt Hon Damian Green MP |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref>
| {{Small|11 June}}<br/>2017
| [[Second May ministry#Changes|{{Small|20 December}}<br/>2017]]
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
* [[Minister for the Cabinet Office]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |[[Second May ministry|May II]]

|- style="height:1em"
| style="background-color:{{Party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[File: Official portrait of Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP crop 2.jpg|75px]]
| '''[[Dominic Raab]]'''<br/>{{Small|MP for [[Esher and Walton (UK Parliament constituency)|Esher and Walton]]}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dominic Raab |url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/4007/career |access-date=28 April 2022 |website=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]}}</ref>
| {{Small|24 July}}<br/>2019
| {{Small|15 September}}<br/>2021
| style="background:#EAECF0; font-size:90%" |
*[[Secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]{{Efn|Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until September 2020}}
*[[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs]]{{Efn|Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs from September 2020}}
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |[[Boris Johnson|Johnson]]<br/>{{Small|([[First Johnson ministry|I]] & [[Second Johnson ministry|II]])}}
|}

==Timeline==
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:1050 height:auto barincrement:15
PlotArea  = top:10 bottom:60 right:130 left:20
AlignBars = late

Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

DateFormat=dd/mm/yyyy
Period     = from:01/01/1960 till:31/12/{{#time:Y|+1}}
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1960
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1960

Colors =
  id:con    value:rgb(0.094,0.525,0.8)       legend:Conservative
  id:lab    value:rgb(0.937,0.094,0.129) legend:Labour

Legend     = columns:2 left:125 top:28 columnwidth:100

TextData =
  pos:(25,30) textcolor:black fontsize:M
  text:"Political parties:"

BarData =
  bar:Butler
  bar:Brown
  bar:Stewart
  bar:Castle
  bar:Heseltine
  bar:Prescott
  bar:Mandelson
  bar:Hague
  bar:Osborne
  bar:Green
  bar:Raab

PlotData=
  width:5 align:left fontsize:s shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

 bar:Butler
 from: 13/07/1962 till: 18/10/1963 color:con text:"[[Rab Butler]]"
 bar:Brown
 from: 16/10/1964 till: 11/08/1966 color:lab text:"[[George Brown]]"
 bar:Stewart
 from: 11/08/1966 till: 06/04/1968 color:lab text:"[[Michael Stewart]]"
 bar:Castle
 from: 06/04/1968 till: 19/06/1970 color:lab text:"[[Barbara Castle]]"
 bar:Heseltine
 from: 20/07/1995 till: 02/05/1997 color:con text:"[[Michael Heseltine]]"
 bar:Prescott
 from: 08/06/2001 till: 27/07/2007 color:lab text:"[[John Prescott]]"
 bar:Mandelson
 from: 05/06/2009 till: 11/05/2010 color:lab text:"[[Peter Mandelson]]"
 bar:Hague
 from: 12/05/2010 till: 08/05/2015 color:con text:"[[William Hague]]"
 bar:Osborne
 from: 08/05/2015 till: 13/07/2016 color:con text:"[[George Osborne]]"
 bar:Green
 from: 11/06/2017 till: 20/12/2017 color:con text:"[[Damian Green]]"
 bar:Raab
 from: 24/07/2019 till: 15/09/2021 color:con text:"[[Dominic Raab]]"
}}

==See also==
*[[Ministerial ranking]] - the "pecking order" or relative importance of senior ministers in the [[Government of the United Kingdom|UK government]].
*[[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], a similar position, sometimes used as an alternative to the First Secretary

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{First Secretary of State}}

{{Downing Street}}

[[Category:Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Honorary titles of the United Kingdom]]

[[sv:First Secretary of State]]