In legislation, the term "Secretary of State" is interpreted under theInterpretation Act 1978[1] as referring to any one of the secretaries of state in use; in practice, such secretaries of state are each allocated a portfolio by the prime minister, and only exercise the powers in that portfolio.[2] For example, theSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been appointed to manage national parks, but could theoretically exercise the powers of, for example, thesecretary of state for Scotland at any time.[citation needed] There are exceptions, in that legislation sometimes refers to particular secretaries of state.[3]
Secretaries of state and other government ministers are appointed by themonarch exercisingroyal prerogative on the advice of the government.[5] By convention, secretaries of state must be a member of either theHouse of Commons or theHouse of Lords, but the prime minister can advise the monarch to confer apeerage to satisfy this requirement.[6]
Most secretaries of state are incorporated as a "corporation sole". This gives the minister a separate legal personality, allowing continuity in areas such as the ownership of property between office-holder changes.[7]
In 1782, the responsibilities of these offices were changed, so that one would be responsible for foreign affairs and one for domestic affairs, thus establishing the embryonic offices offoreign secretary andhome secretary.[8][10] Over time, the number of secretaries of states grew, so that there were five in 1900 and 14 by 1996.[8] There are currently 17 secretaries of state.[11]
The secretaries of state that have been used for the matters of health, education, work, business, energy, environment, transport and the regions are shown in the graphic below. It shows how portfolios of responsibilities have been broadly passed down from one secretary of state position to the position(s) directly below it. However, it is impossible for such a graphic to be completely accurate; it cannot show smaller changes, or gains or losses of responsibilities within a position due to changes of responsibilities for the UK Government (for example, due todevolution orBrexit). It is not to scale. In the gaps, and before the first of these secretaries of state, relevant responsibilities were taken on by ministers not titled 'Secretary of State'.
^"Cabinet Manual".The Cabinet Manual. Cabinet Office. 14 December 2010.3.27 It is also the well-established practice for each secretary of state to be allocated responsibility by the Prime Minister for a particular department (for example health, foreign affairs, defence, transport, education etc.) and, accordingly, for each Secretary of State, in practice, to exercise only those functions that are within that department.
^"Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, Schedule 1, Part V, Paragraph 2".legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved1 February 2021.In the case of the following offices a salary may be paid to more than one holder of the office at the same time, subject to the limitations expressed below, that is to say— (a) Secretary of State, so long as not more than 21 salaries are paid at the same time in accordance with Part I above;
^"Cabinet Manual".The Cabinet Manual. Cabinet Office. 14 December 2010.3.28 Most secretaries of state are incorporated as 'corporations sole'. This gives the minister a separate legal personality. This is administratively convenient, for example as regards the ownership of property, because it facilitates continuity when the officeholder changes.
^abSainty, J. C. (1973). "Introduction".Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782. University of London. pp. 1–21 – via British History Online.At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments. ... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.
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