Secretary of State for Defence | |
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Royal Arms of Her Majesty's Government | |
Flag of the Secretary of Defence | |
Ministry of Defence | |
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Status | Minister of the Crown |
Member of |
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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.gov.uk |
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 post of Secretary of State for Defence was created on 1 April 1964 replacing the three separate Cabinet positions of 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.
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 nuclear weapons programme), 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).
Minister 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. 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. The criticism had been led by Winston Churchill and many expected him to be appointed as the new minister. Baldwin's choice of the Attorney General Sir Thomas Inskip for the post provoked widespread astonishment. 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.
Minister 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.
Secretaries of State for Defence (1964–present)[]
Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Length of term | Party | Ministry | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Right Honourable Peter Thorneycroft MP for Monmouth (1909–1994)[3] |
1 April 1964 |
16 October 1964 |
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Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative | Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Douglas-Home | ||
The Right Honourable Denis Healey MBE MP for Leeds East (1917–2015)[4] |
16 October 1964 |
19 June 1970 |
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The Right Honourable Peter Carrington 6th Baron Carrington KCMG MC PC DL]] (1919-2018) |
20 June 1970 |
8 January 1974 |
Expression error: Unrecognized word "january". | Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative | rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Heath | ||
The Right Honourable Ian Gilmour MP for Central Norfolk (1926–2007)[5] |
8 January 1974 |
4 March 1974 |
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The Right Honourable Roy Mason MP for Barnsley (1924–2015)[6] |
5 March 1974 |
10 September 1976 |
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The Right Honourable Fred Mulley MP for Sheffield Park (1918–1995)[7] |
10 September 1976 |
4 May 1979 |
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The Right Honourable Francis Pym MC]] MP for Cambridgeshire (1922–2008)[8] |
5 May 1979 |
5 January 1981 |
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The Right Honourable John Nott MP for St Ives (born 1932)[9] |
5 January 1981 |
6 January 1983 |
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The Right Honourable Michael Heseltine MP for Henley (born 1933)[10] |
6 January 1983 |
7 January 1986 |
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The Right Honourable George Younger TD MP for Ayr (1931–2003)[11] [12] |
7 January 1986 |
24 July 1989 |
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rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Thatcher III | |||||||
The Right Honourable Tom King MP for Bridgwater (born 1933)[13] |
24 July 1989 |
10 April 1992 |
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Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Major I | |||||||
The Right Honourable Malcolm Rifkind QC MP for Edinburgh Pentlands (born 1946)[14] |
10 April 1992 |
5 July 1995 |
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The Right Honourable Michael Portillo MP for Enfield Southgate (born 1953)[15] |
5 July 1995 |
2 May 1997 |
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The Right Honourable George Robertson MP for Hamilton South (born 1946)[16] |
3 May 1997 |
11 October 1999 |
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The Right Honourable Geoff Hoon MP for Ashfield (born 1953)[17] |
11 October 1999 |
6 May 2005 |
Expression error: Unrecognized word "may". | rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Labour | Labour | |||
Template:Party shading/Labour | Blair II | |||||||
The Right Honourable John Reid MP for Airdrie and Shotts (born 1947)[18] |
6 May 2005 |
5 May 2006 |
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The Right Honourable Des Browne MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (born 1952)[19] |
5 May 2006 |
3 October 2008 |
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rowspan=3 Template:Party shading/Labour | Brown | |||||||
The Right Honourable John Hutton MP for Barrow and Furness (born 1955)[20] |
3 October 2008 |
5 June 2009 |
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The Right Honourable Bob Ainsworth MP for Coventry North East (born 1952)[21] |
5 June 2009 |
11 May 2010 |
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The Right Honourable Liam Fox MP for North Somerset (born 1961)[22] [23] |
12 May 2010 |
14 October 2011 |
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The Right Honourable Philip Hammond MP for Runnymede and Weybridge (born 1955)[24] [25] |
14 October 2011 |
15 July 2014 |
Expression error: Unrecognized word "july". | Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative | |||
The Right Honourable Sir Michael Fallon KCB MP for Sevenoaks (born 1952)[26] [27] |
15 July 2014 |
1 November 2017 |
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Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Cameron II | |||||||
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | May I | |||||||
rowspan="3" Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | May II | |||||||
The Right Honourable Gavin Williamson CBE MP for South Staffordshire (born 1976)[28] [29] |
2 November 2017 |
1 May 2019 |
Expression error: Unrecognized word "may". | Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative | |||
The Right Honourable Penny Mordaunt MP for Portsmouth North (born 1973)[30] |
1 May 2019 |
24 July 2019 |
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The Right Honourable Ben Wallace MP for Wyre and Preston North (born 1970)[1] |
24 July 2019 |
Incumbent | Expression error: Unrecognized word "november".* | rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative | Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Johnson I | ||
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Johnson II |
* Incumbent's length of term last updated: 2 November 2024.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ben Wallace Named New Defence Secretary". 24 July 2019. https://www.forces.net/news/politics/breaking-penny-mordaunt-leaves-role-defence-secretary.
- ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-defence
- ↑ "Mr Peter Thorneycroft". UK Parliament. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/people/mr-peter-thorneycroft/.
- ↑ "Lord Healey". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-healey/979.
- ↑ "Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/Lords/member/2606.
- ↑ "Lord Mason of Barnsley". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-mason-of-barnsley/1062.
- ↑ "Lord Mulley". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/Lords/member/2977.
- ↑ "Lord Pym". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/Lords/member/3257.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Sir John Nott". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/Commons/member/926.
- ↑ "Lord Heseltine". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-heseltine/94.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Sir George Younger". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/Commons/member/969.
- ↑ George Jones (27 January 2003). "Thatcher's ally George Younger dies at 71". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1420172/Thatchers-ally-George-Younger-dies-at-71.html.
- ↑ "Lord King of Bridgwater". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-king-of-bridgwater/254.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind QC". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/Sir-Malcolm-Rifkind/1191.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Michael Portillo". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/Commons/member/187.
- ↑ "Lord Robertson of Port Ellen". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-robertson-of-port-ellen/672.
- ↑ "Mr Geoffrey Hoon". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/Commons/member/357.
- ↑ "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-reid-of-cardowan/617.
- ↑ "Lord Browne of Ladyton". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-browne-of-ladyton/620.
- ↑ "Lord Hutton of Furness". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-hutton-of-furness/494.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/bob-ainsworth/306.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/dr-liam-fox/223.
- ↑ "Who's who in the coalition cabinet". The Guardian. 13 May 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/13/coalition-cabinet-list-profiles.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/philip-hammond/105.
- ↑ "Liam Fox quits as defence secretary". BBC News. 14 October 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15300751.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Sir Michael Fallon MP". UK Parliament. http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/sir-michael-fallon/88.
- ↑ "Reshuffle at-a-glance: In, out and moved about". BBC News. 15 July 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28303854.
- ↑ "Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP". UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/gavin-williamson/4108.
- ↑ "Gavin Williamson replaces Michael Fallon as defence secretary". BBC News. 2 November 2017. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41844320.
- ↑ "Gavin Williamson sacked over Huawei leak" (in en-GB). 2019-05-01. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126974.
External links[]
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