Secretary of State for the Home Department

From British Offices and Honours

Name	Entered office	Left office	Party	Notes
The Earl of Shelburne	27 March 1782	10 July 1782	Whig
Thomas Townshend after 1783, the Lord Sydney	10 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig
Lord North	2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Tory
The Earl Temple	19 December 1783	23 December 1783	Pittite
The Lord Sydney	23 December 1783	5 June 1789	Pittite/Tory
William Grenville after 1790, the Lord Grenville	5 June 1789	8 June 1791	Tory
Henry Dundas	8 June 1791	11 July 1794	Tory
The Duke of Portland	11 July 1794	30 July 1801	Portlandite Whig/Tory
The Lord Pelham	30 July 1801	17 August 1803	Tory
Charles Philip Yorke	17 August 1803	12 May 1804	Tory
The Lord Hawkesbury	12 May 1804	5 February 1806	Tory
The Earl Spencer	5 February 1806	25 March 1807	Whig
The Lord Hawkesbury from 1808, the Earl of Liverpool	25 March 1807	1 November 1809	Tory
Richard Ryder	1 November 1809	8 June 1812	Tory
The Viscount Sidmouth	11 June 1812	17 January 1822	Tory
Robert Peel	17 January 1822	10 April 1827	Tory
William Sturges Bourne	30 April 1827	16 July 1827	Tory
The Marquess of Lansdowne	16 July 1827	22 January 1828	Whig
Robert Peel after 1830, Sir Robert Peel	26 January 1828	22 November 1830	Tory
The Viscount Melbourne	22 November 1830	16 July 1834	Whig
Viscount Duncannon	19 July 1834	15 November 1834	Whig
The Duke of Wellington	15 November 1834	15 December 1834	Conservative	Wellington served as caretaker Secretary of State
Henry Goulburn	15 December 1834	18 April 1835	Conservative
Lord John Russell	18 April 1835	30 August 1839	Whig
The Marquess of Normanby	30 August 1839	30 August 1841	Whig
Sir James Graham	6 September 1841	30 June 1846	Conservative
Sir George Grey	6 July 1846	23 February 1852	Whig
Spencer Walpole	27 February 1852	19 December 1852	Conservative
The Viscount Palmerston	28 December 1852	6 February 1855	Whig
Sir George Grey	8 February 1855	26 February 1858	Whig
Spencer Walpole	26 February 1858	3 March 1859	Conservative
Thomas Sotheron Estcourt	3 March 1859	18 June 1859	Conservative
Sir George Lewis	18 June 1859	25 July 1861	Liberal
Sir George Grey	25 July 1861	28 June 1866	Liberal
Spencer Walpole	6 July 1866	17 May 1867	Conservative
Gathorne Hardy	17 May 1867	3 December 1868	Conservative
Henry Bruce	9 December 1868	9 August 1873	Liberal
Robert Lowe	9 August 1873	20 February 1874	Liberal
Richard Cross	21 February 1874	23 April 1880	Conservative
Sir William Harcourt	28 April 1880	23 June 1885	Liberal
Richard Cross	24 June 1885	1 February 1886	Conservative
Hugh Childers	6 February 1886	25 July 1886	Liberal
Henry Matthews	3 August 1886	15 August 1892	Conservative
Herbert Henry Asquith	18 August 1892	25 June 1895	Liberal
Sir Matthew Ridley	29 June 1895	12 November 1900	Conservative
Charles Ritchie	12 November 1900	12 July 1902	Conservative/Unionist
Aretas Akers-Douglas	12 July 1902	5 December 1905	Unionist
Herbert Gladstone	11 December 1905	19 February 1910	Liberal
Winston Churchill	19 February 1910	24 October 1911	Liberal
Reginald McKenna	24 October 1911	27 May 1915	Liberal
Sir John Simon	27 May 1915	12 January 1916	Liberal
Herbert Samuel	12 January 1916	7 December 1916	Liberal
Sir George Cave from 1918, the Viscount Cave	11 December 1916	14 January 1919	Unionist
Edward Shortt	14 January 1919	23 October 1922	Liberal
William Bridgeman	25 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative
Arthur Henderson	23 January 1924	4 November 1924	Labour
Sir William Joynson-Hicks	7 November 1924	5 June 1929	Conservative
John Clynes	8 June 1929	26 August 1931	Labour
Sir Herbert Samuel	26 August 1931	1 October 1932	Liberal
Sir John Gilmour	1 October 1932	7 June 1935	Conservative
Sir John Simon	7 June 1935	28 May 1937	National Liberal
Sir Samuel Hoare	28 May 1937	3 September 1939	Conservative
Sir John Anderson	4 September 1939	4 October 1940	Non-party
Herbert Morrison	4 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour
Sir Donald Somervell	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative
James Chuter Ede	3 August 1945	26 October 1951	Labour
Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe	27 October 1951	19 October 1954	Conservative
Gwilym Lloyd George	19 October 1954	14 January 1957	Conservative
Rab Butler	14 January 1957	13 July 1962	Conservative
Henry Brooke	13 July 1962	16 October 1964	Conservative
Sir Frank Soskice	18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour
Roy Jenkins	23 December 1965	30 November 1967	Labour
James Callaghan	30 November 1967	19 June 1970	Labour
Reginald Maudling	20 June 1970	18 July 1972	Conservative
Robert Carr	18 July 1972	5 March 1974	Conservative
Roy Jenkins	5 March 1974	10 September 1976	Labour
Merlyn Rees	10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour
William Whitelaw	5 May 1979	11 June 1983	Conservative
Leon Brittan	11 June 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative
Douglas Hurd	2 September 1985	26 October 1989	Conservative
David Waddington	26 October 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative
Kenneth Baker	28 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative
Kenneth Clarke	10 April 1992	27 May 1993	Conservative
Michael Howard	27 May 1993	2 May 1997	Conservative
Jack Straw	2 May 1997	8 June 2001	Labour
David Blunkett	8 June 2001	15 December 2004	Labour
Charles Clarke	15 December 2004	5 May 2006	Labour
John Reid	5 May 2006	27 June 2007	Labour
Jacqui Smith	28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour
Alan Johnson	5 June 2009	incumbent	Labour