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| United Kingdom Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
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| Office of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
| Style |
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| Type | Minister of the Crown |
| Status | Secretary of State |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister |
| Residence | Hillsborough Castle |
| Seat | Westminster |
| Nominator | The Prime Minister |
| Appointer | The Monarch {(on the advice of thePrime Minister) |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Precursor | |
| Formation | 24 March 1972 |
| First holder | William Whitelaw |
| Deputy | Minister of State for Northern Ireland |
| Salary | £159,038 per annum (2022)[1] (including £86,584MP salary)[2] |
| Website | www |
| This article is part ofa series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
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Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland |
Thesecretary of state for Northern Ireland (Irish:Rúnaí Stáit Thuaisceart Éireann;Scots:Secretar o State for Norlin Airlan),[3][4] also referred to asNorthern Ireland Secretary orSoSNI, is asecretary of state in theGovernment of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for theNorthern Ireland Office.[5] The officeholder is a member of theCabinet of the United Kingdom. The incumbent secretary of state for Northern Ireland isHilary Benn.
The officeholder works alongside the otherNorthern Ireland Office ministers. The correspondingshadow minister is theshadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
Historically, the principal ministers for Irish (and subsequentlyNorthern Ireland) affairs in theUK Government and its predecessors were:
In August 1969, for example,Home SecretaryJames Callaghan approved the sending ofBritish Army soldiers to Northern Ireland.[7] Scotland and Wales were represented by the roles ofSecretary of State for Scotland andSecretary of State for Wales from 1885 and 1964 respectively, but Northern Ireland remained separate, owing to the devolvedGovernment of Northern Ireland andParliament of Northern Ireland.
The office of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was created after the Northern Ireland government (atStormont) was first suspended and then abolished following widespread civil strife. The British government was increasingly concerned that Stormont was losing control of the situation. On 30 March 1972, direct rule fromWestminster was introduced.[8] The secretary of state filled three roles which existed under the previous Stormont regime:[9]
Direct rule was seen as a temporary measure, with a power-sharing devolution preferred as the solution, and was annually renewed by a vote in Parliament.
TheSunningdale Agreement in 1973 resulted in the brief existence of a power-sharingNorthern Ireland Executive from 1 January 1974, which was ended by theloyalistUlster Workers' Council strike on 28 May 1974. The strikers opposed the power-sharing andall-Ireland aspects of the new administration.
TheNorthern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–1976) andNorthern Ireland Assembly (1982–1986) were unsuccessful in restoring devolved government. After theAnglo-Irish Agreement on 15 November 1985, the UK Government and Irish Government co-operated more closely on security and political matters.
Following theBelfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) on 10 April 1998, devolution returned to Northern Ireland on 2 December 1999. This removed many of the duties of the secretary of state and his Northern Ireland Office colleagues and devolved them to those locally elected politicians who constitute theNorthern Ireland Executive.
Formerly holding a large portfolio overhome affairs in Northern Ireland, the currentdevolution settlement has lessened the secretary of state's role, granting many of the former powers to theNorthern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive. The secretary of state is now generally limited to representing Northern Ireland in theUK cabinet, overseeing the operation of the devolved administration and a number ofreserved and excepted matters which remain the sole competence of the UK Government e.g.security,human rights, certain public inquiries and the administration of elections.[10]
Created in 1972, the position has switched between members of Parliament from theConservative Party andLabour Party. As Labour has not fielded candidates in Northern Ireland, and the Conservatives have not had candidates elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly or forHouse of Commons seats in the region, those appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland have not represented a constituency in Northern Ireland. This contrasts with the secretaries of state for Scotland and Wales.
The secretary of state officially resides inHillsborough Castle, which was previously the official residence of thegovernor of Northern Ireland, and remains theroyal residence of themonarch in Northern Ireland. The secretary of state exercises their duties through, and is administratively supported by, theNorthern Ireland Office (NIO).
The devolved administration was suspended several times (especially between 15 October 2002 and 8 May 2007) because theUlster Unionist Party andDemocratic Unionist Party were uncomfortable being in government withSinn Féin when theProvisional Irish Republican Army had failed to decommission its arms fully and continued its criminal activities. On each of these occasions, the responsibilities of the ministers in the Executive then returned to the secretary of state and his ministers. During these periods, in addition to administration of the region, the secretary of state was also heavily involved in the negotiations with all parties to restore devolved government.
Power was again devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007. The secretary of state retained responsibility for policing and justice until most of those powers were devolved on 12 April 2010.[11] Robert Hazell has suggested merging the offices of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for Scotland and for Wales into one secretary of state for the Union,[12] in a department into whichRodney Brazier has suggested adding a minister of state for England with responsibility forEnglish local government.[13]
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