Secretary of State for Air
Royal Arms as used byHis Majesty's Government
Longest serving Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso 11 May 1940 – 23 May 1945
Air Ministry
Status	Abolished Formerly,Secretary of state
Member of	British Cabinet Privy Council
Seat	Westminster,London
Appointer	TheBritish Monarch on advice of thePrime Minister
Term length	No fixed term
Precursor	President of the Air Council
Formation	10 January 1919
First holder	Winston Churchill
Final holder	Hugh Fraser
Abolished	1 April 1964
Succession	Secretary of State for Defence

TheSecretary of State for Air was asecretary of state position in theBritish government that existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of theAir Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by theUnder-Secretary of State for Air.

The position was created on 10 January 1919 to manage theRoyal Air Force. In 1946, the three posts ofSecretary of State for War,First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for Air became formally subordinated to that ofMinister of Defence, which had itself been created in 1940 for the co-ordination of defence and security issues. On 1 April 1964, the Air Ministry was incorporated into the newly created unitedMinistry of Defence, and the position of Secretary of State for Air was abolished.

Chairman of the Joint War Air Committee, 1916 [edit]
Chairman			Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
		Edward Stanley 17thEarl of Derby	February 1916	February 1916[a]	7 months and 19 days	Conservative
Presidents of the Air Board, 1916–1917 [edit]
President			Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
		George Curzon 1stEarl Curzon of Kedleston	15 May 1916	3 January 1917	10 months and 23 days	Conservative
		Weetman Pearson 1stViscount Cowdray	3 January 1917	26 November 1917	10 months and 23 days	Liberal
Presidents of the Air Council, 1917–1919 [edit]
President			Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
		Harold Harmsworth 1stBaron Rothermere	26 November 1917	26 April 1918	5 months
		William Weir 1stBaron Weir	26 April 1918	10 January 1919	8 months and 15 days
		J. E. B. Seely MP forIlkeston	January 1919	November 1919[a]	9 or 10 months	Conservative
Secretaries of State for Air, 1919–1964 [edit]
Secretary			Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
		Winston Churchill[b] MP forDundee	10 January 1919	1 April 1921	2 years, 2 months and 22 days	Liberal
		Frederick Edward Guest MP forEast Dorset	1 April 1921	19 October 1922	1 year, 6 months and 18 days	Liberal
		SirSamuel Hoare MP forChelsea	31 October 1922	22 January 1924	1 year, 2 months and 22 days	Conservative
		Christopher Thomson 1stBaron Thomson	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	9 months and 12 days	Labour
		SirSamuel Hoare MP forChelsea	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	4 years, 6 months and 29 days	Conservative
		Christopher Thomson 1stBaron Thomson	7 June 1929	5 October 1930†	1 year, 3 months and 28 days	Labour
		William Mackenzie 1stBaron Amulree	14 October 1930	5 November 1931	1 year and 22 days	Labour
		Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart 7thMarquess of Londonderry	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	3 years, 7 months and 2 days	Conservative
		Philip Cunliffe-Lister 1stViscount Swinton	7 June 1935	16 May 1938	2 years, 11 months and 9 days	Conservative
		SirKingsley Wood MP forWoolwich West	16 May 1938	3 April 1940	1 year, 10 months and 18 days	Conservative
		SirSamuel Hoare MP forChelsea	3 April 1940	11 May 1940	1 month and 8 days	Conservative
		SirArchibald Sinclair MP forCaithness and Sutherland	11 May 1940	23 May 1945	5 years and 12 days	Liberal
		Harold Macmillan MP forStockton-on-Tees	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	2 months and 1 day	Conservative
		William Wedgwood Benn 1stViscount Stansgate	3 August 1945	4 October 1946	1 year, 2 months and 1 day	Labour
		Philip Noel-Baker MP forDerby	4 October 1946	7 October 1947	1 year and 3 days	Labour
		Arthur Henderson MP forKingswinford before 1950 MP forRowley Regis and Tipton after 1950	7 October 1947	26 October 1951	4 years and 19 days	Labour
		William Sidney 6thBaron De L'Isle and Dudley	31 October 1951	20 December 1955	4 years, 1 month and 20 days	Conservative
		Nigel Birch MP forWest Flintshire	20 December 1955	16 January 1957	1 year and 27 days	Conservative
		George Ward MP forWorcester	16 January 1957	28 October 1960	3 years, 9 months and 12 days	Conservative
		Julian Amery MP forPreston North	28 October 1960	16 July 1962	1 year, 8 months and 18 days	Conservative
		Hugh Fraser MP forStafford and Stone	16 July 1962	1 April 1964	1 year, 8 months and 16 days	Conservative

• Hansard – Secretary of State for Air

• Secretaries of state for air (UK)
• Ministers of defence of the United Kingdom
• 20th-century history of the Royal Air Force
• 1919 establishments in the United Kingdom
• 1964 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
• Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2019
• Use British English from March 2017
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English