 Secretary of State for Defence | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
 | |
| Ministry of Defence | |
| Style |
|
| Status | Minister of the Crown |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister |
| Seat | Westminster |
| Appointer | The Crown on advice of the Prime Minister |
| Term length | At Her Majesty's Pleasure |
| Constituting instrument | Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act 1964 section 1(1)(a) |
| Formation | 1 April 1964 |
| First holder | Peter Thorneycroft |
| Deputy | Minister of State for the Armed Forces |
| Website | www |
The Secretary of State for Defence, also referred to as the Defence Secretary, is a senior Minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The office forms part of the British Cabinet.
The current Secretary of State for Defence is Ben Wallace, MP. since his appointment by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in July 2019.[1]
Responsibilities
Corresponding to what is generally known as a defence minister in many other countries, the Defence Secretary's remit includes:
- Strategic military and defensive operations
- Relations with international partnerships, including NATO
- Defence policy (Trident), resourcing and planning
- Communications on defence[2]
History
The post was created in 1964 as successor to the posts of Minister for Coordination of Defence (1936-1940) and Ministry of Defence (1947-1964). 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).
List of officeholders
Ministers for Co-ordination of Defence (1936-1940)
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.
The position 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. This campaign had been led by Winston Churchill and many expected him to be appointed as the new minister, though nearly every other senior figure in the National Government was also speculated upon by politicians and commentators. Despite this, Baldwin's choice of the Attorney General Sir Thomas Inskip provoked widespread astonishment. A famous comment made in response to Inskip's appointment was "This is the most cynical appointment since Caligula made his horse a consul".[3] The appointment is now regarded as a sign of caution by Baldwin who did not wish to appoint someone like Churchill who would have been interpreted by foreign powers as a sign of the United Kingdom preparing for war, as well as a desire to avoid taking on board a controversial and radical minister.
In 1939 Inskip was succeeded by First Sea Lord Lord Chatfield. When the Second World War broke out, the new Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain formed a small War Cabinet and it was expected that Chatfield 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 Chatfield's role proved increasingly redundant. In April 1940 the position was formally wound up and the functions transferred to other Ministers.
| Portrait | Name (Birth-Death) |
Term of office | Length of term | Party | Ministry | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Right Honourable Sir Thomas Inskip CBE KC MP for Fareham (1876-1947) |
13 March 1936 |
29 January 1939 |
2 years, 10 months and 16 days | Conservative | National III (Con.-N.Lab.-Lib.N.) | ||
| National IV (Con.-N.Lab.-Lib.N.) | ||||||||
|
The Right Honourable Ernle Chatfield 1st Baron Chatfield GCB OM KCMG CVO PC (1873-1967) |
29 January 1939 |
3 April 1940 |
1 year, 2 months and 5 days | Independent (National) | |||
| Chamberlain War (Con.-N.Lab.-Lib.N.) | ||||||||
Ministers of Defence (1940-1964)
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.
| Portrait | Name (birth-death) |
Term of office | Length of term | Party | Ministry | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Right Honourable Winston Churchill CH TD FRS MP for Epping (1874-1965) |
10 May 1940 |
27 July 1945 |
5 years, 2 months and 17 days | Conservative | Churchill War (All parties) | ||
| Churchill Caretaker (Con.-N.Lib.) | ||||||||
|
The Right Honourable Clement Attlee CH MP for Limehouse (1883-1967) |
27 July 1945 |
20 December 1946 |
1 year, 4 months and 23 days | Labour | Attlee (I & II) | ||
|
The Right Honourable A. V. Alexander CH MP for Sheffield Hillsborough (1885-1965) |
20 December 1946 |
28 February 1950 |
3 years, 2 months and 8 days | Labour (Co-op) | |||
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|
The Right Honourable Emanuel Shinwell MP for Easington (1884-1986) |
28 February 1950 |
26 October 1951 |
1 year, 7 months and 28 days | Labour | |||
|
The Right Honourable Winston Churchill OM CH TD DL FRS RA MP for Woodford (1874-1965) |
28 October 1951 |
1 March 1952 |
4 months and 2 days | Conservative | Churchill III | ||
|
Field Marshal The Right Honourable Harold Alexander 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis KG GCB GCMG CSI DSO MC CD PC (1891-1969) |
1 March 1952 |
18 October 1954 |
2 years, 7 months and 17 days | Independent | |||
|
The Right Honourable Harold Macmillan MP for Bromley (1894-1986) |
18 October 1954 |
7 April 1955 |
5 months and 20 days | Conservative | |||
|
The Right Honourable Selwyn Lloyd CBE QC MP for Wirral (1904-1978) |
7 April 1955 |
20 December 1955 |
8 months and 13 days | Conservative | Eden | ||
|
The Right Honourable Sir Walter Monckton GCVO KCMG MC MP for Bristol West (1891-1965) |
20 December 1955 |
18 October 1956 |
9 months and 28 days | Conservative | |||
| The Right Honourable Antony Head MC MP for Carshalton (1906-1983) |
18 October 1956 |
9 January 1957 |
2 months and 22 days | Conservative | ||||
|
The Right Honourable Duncan Sandys MP for Streatham (1908-1987) |
13 January 1957 |
14 October 1959 |
2 years, 9 months and 1 day | Conservative | Macmillan (I & II) | ||
| The Right Honourable Harold Watkinson MP for Woking (1910-1995) |
14 October 1959 |
13 July 1962 |
2 years, 8 months and 29 days | Conservative | ||||
|
The Right Honourable Peter Thorneycroft MP for Monmouth (1909-1994) |
13 July 1962 |
1 April 1964 |
1 year, 8 months and 19 days (Cont. below) |
Conservative | |||
| Douglas-Home | ||||||||
Secretaries of State for Defence (1964-present)
The post of Secretary of State for Defence was created on 1 April 1964. The former Cabinet positions of First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air (responsible for the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force respectively) were incorporated into it and the offices of the Admiralty, War Office and the Air Ministry were abolished and their functions transferred to an expanded Ministry of Defence.
| Portrait | Name (Birth-Death) |
Term of office | Length of term | Party | Ministry | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
The Right Honourable Peter Thorneycroft MP for Monmouth (1909-1994) |
1 April 1964 |
16 October 1964 |
6 months and 15 days (Cont. from above) |
Conservative | Douglas-Home | [4] | |
|
The Right Honourable Denis Healey MBE MP for Leeds East (1917-2015) |
16 October 1964 |
19 June 1970 |
5 years, 8 months and 3 days | Labour | Wilson (I & II) |
[5] | |
|
The Right Honourable Peter Carrington 6th Baron Carrington KCMG MC PC DL (1919-2018) |
20 June 1970 |
8 January 1974 |
3 years, 6 months and 19 days | Conservative | Heath | ||
| The Right Honourable Ian Gilmour MP for Central Norfolk (1926-2007) |
8 January 1974 |
4 March 1974 |
1 month and 24 days | Conservative | [6] | |||
| The Right Honourable Roy Mason MP for Barnsley (1924-2015) |
5 March 1974 |
10 September 1976 |
2 years, 6 months and 5 days | Labour | Wilson (III & IV) |
[7] | ||
|
The Right Honourable Fred Mulley MP for Sheffield Park (1918-1995) |
10 September 1976 |
4 May 1979 |
2 years, 7 months and 24 days | Labour | Callaghan | [8] | |
.jpg)
|
The Right Honourable Francis Pym MC MP for Cambridgeshire (1922-2008) |
5 May 1979 |
5 January 1981 |
1 year and 8 months | Conservative | Thatcher I | [9] | |
|
The Right Honourable John Nott MP for St Ives (born 1932) |
5 January 1981 |
6 January 1983 |
2 years and 1 day | Conservative | [10] | ||
.jpg)
|
The Right Honourable Michael Heseltine MP for Henley (born 1933) |
6 January 1983 |
7 January 1986 |
3 years and 1 day | Conservative | Thatcher II | [11] | |
|
The Right Honourable George Younger TD MP for Ayr (1931-2003) |
7 January 1986 |
24 July 1989 |
3 years, 6 months and 17 days | Conservative | [12] [13] | ||
| Thatcher III | ||||||||
|
The Right Honourable Tom King MP for Bridgwater (born 1933) |
24 July 1989 |
10 April 1992 |
2 years, 8 months and 17 days | Conservative | [14] | ||
| Major I | ||||||||
|
The Right Honourable Malcolm Rifkind QC MP for Edinburgh Pentlands (born 1946) |
10 April 1992 |
5 July 1995 |
3 years, 2 months and 25 days | Conservative | Major II | [15] | |
|
The Right Honourable Michael Portillo MP for Enfield Southgate (born 1953) |
5 July 1995 |
2 May 1997 |
1 year, 9 months and 27 days | Conservative | [16] | ||
|
The Right Honourable George Robertson MP for Hamilton South (born 1946) |
3 May 1997 |
11 October 1999 |
2 years, 5 months and 8 days | Labour | Blair I | [17] | |
|
The Right Honourable Geoff Hoon MP for Ashfield (born 1953) |
11 October 1999 |
6 May 2005 |
5 years, 6 months and 25 days | Labour | [18] | ||
| Blair II | ||||||||
|
The Right Honourable John Reid MP for Airdrie and Shotts (born 1947) |
6 May 2005 |
5 May 2006 |
11 months and 29 days | Labour | Blair III | [19] | |
|
The Right Honourable Des Browne MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (born 1952) |
5 May 2006 |
3 October 2008 |
2 years, 4 months and 28 days | Labour | [20] | ||
| Brown | ||||||||
|
The Right Honourable John Hutton MP for Barrow and Furness (born 1955) |
3 October 2008 |
5 June 2009 |
8 months and 2 days | Labour | [21] | ||
.jpg)
|
The Right Honourable Bob Ainsworth MP for Coventry North East (born 1952) |
5 June 2009 |
11 May 2010 |
11 months and 6 days | Labour | [22] | ||
.jpg)
|
The Right Honourable Liam Fox MP for North Somerset (born 1961) |
12 May 2010 |
14 October 2011 |
1 year, 5 months and 3 days | Conservative | Cameron-Clegg (Con.-L.D.) |
[23] [24] | |
|
The Right Honourable Philip Hammond MP for Runnymede and Weybridge (born 1955) |
14 October 2011 |
15 July 2014 |
2 years, 9 months and 1 day | Conservative | [25] [26] | ||
|
The Right Honourable Sir Michael Fallon KCB MP for Sevenoaks (born 1952) |
15 July 2014 |
1 November 2017 |
3 years, 3 months and 17 days | Conservative | [27] [28] | ||
| Cameron II | ||||||||
| May I | ||||||||
| May II | ||||||||
|
The Right Honourable Gavin Williamson CBE MP for South Staffordshire (born 1976) |
2 November 2017 |
1 May 2019 |
1 year, 5 months and 29 days | Conservative | [29] [30] | ||
|
The Right Honourable Penny Mordaunt MP for Portsmouth North (born 1973) |
1 May 2019 |
24 July 2019 |
2 months and 23 days | Conservative | [31] | ||
|
The Right Honourable Ben Wallace MP for Wyre and Preston North (born 1970) |
24 July 2019 |
Incumbent | 1 year, 5 months and 20 days* | Conservative | Johnson I | [1] | |
| Johnson II | ||||||||
* Incumbent's length of term last updated: 13 January 2021.
References
- ^ a b "Ben Wallace Named New Defence Secretary". Forces Network. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 2019.
- ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-defence
- ^ This quote has been made on many occasions and the original source is unclear. The highly influential polemic Guilty Men (whose relevant chapter is entitled "Caligula's Horse") attributes it to a "great statesman" (page 74), whom some have surmised was Churchill. However Stewart, Graham Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party (London; Phoenix, 1999) (ISBN 0-7538-1060-3), page 487 attributes the originator of the quote to Churchill's non-politician friend Professor Frederick Lindemann.
- ^ "Mr Peter Thorneycroft". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Healey". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Mason of Barnsley". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Mulley". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Pym". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Sir John Nott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Heseltine". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Sir George Younger". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ George Jones (27 January 2003). "Thatcher's ally George Younger dies at 71". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord King of Bridgwater". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind QC". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Michael Portillo". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Robertson of Port Ellen". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Mr Geoffrey Hoon". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Browne of Ladyton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Lord Hutton of Furness". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Who's who in the coalition cabinet". The Guardian. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Liam Fox quits as defence secretary". BBC News. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Sir Michael Fallon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Reshuffle at-a-glance: In, out and moved about". BBC News. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Gavin Williamson replaces Michael Fallon as defence secretary". BBC News. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2017.
- ^ "Gavin Williamson sacked over Huawei leak". 1 May 2019. Retrieved 2019.
External links
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