British Offices and Honours
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Name Entered office Left office Party Notes
The Earl of Shelburne 27 March 1782 10 July 1782 Whig
Thomas Townshend later 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 Wyndham Grenville later 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 later
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 later Sir Robert Peel, Bt. 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 Robert George Graham, Bt. 6 September 1841 30 June 1846 Conservative
Sir George Grey, Bt. 6 July 1846 23 February 1852 Whig
Spencer Horatio Walpole 27 February 1852 19 December 1852 Conservative
The Viscount Palmerston 28 December 1852 6 February 1855 Whig
Sir George Grey, Bt. 8 February 1855 26 February 1858 Whig
Spencer Walpole 26 February 1858 3 March 1859 Conservative
Thomas Henry Sutton Sotheron Estcourt 3 March 1859 18 June 1859 Conservative
Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt. 18 June 1859 25 July 1861 Liberal
Sir George Grey, Bt. 25 July 1861 28 June 1866 Liberal
Spencer Horatio Walpole 6 July 1866 17 May 1867 Conservative
Gathorne Hardy 17 May 1867 3 December 1868 Conservative
Henry Austin Bruce 9 December 1868 9 August 1873 Liberal
Robert Lowe 9 August 1873 20 February 1874 Liberal
Richard Assheton Cross 21 February 1874 23 April 1880 Conservative
Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt 28 April 1880 23 June 1885 Liberal
Sir Richard Assheton Cross 24 June 1885 1 February 1886 Conservative
Hugh Culling Eardley 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 White Ridley, Bt. 29 June 1895 12 November 1900 Conservative
Charles Thomson Ritchie 12 November 1900 12 July 1902 Conservative/Unionist
Aretas Akers-Douglas 12 July 1902 5 December 1905 Unionist
Herbert John Gladstone 11 December 1905 19 February 1910 Liberal
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill 19 February 1910 24 October 1911 Liberal
Reginald McKenna 24 October 1911 27 May 1915 Liberal
Sir John Allsebrook Simon 27 May 1915 12 January 1916 Liberal
Herbert Louis Samuel 12 January 1916 7 December 1916 Liberal
Sir George Cave later The Viscount Cave 11 December 1916 14 January 1919 Unionist
Edward Shortt 14 January 1919 23 October 1922 Liberal
William Clive 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 Robert Clynes 8 June 1929 26 August 1931 Labour
Sir Herbert Louis Samuel 26 August 1931 1 October 1932 Liberal
Sir John Gilmour, Bt. 1 October 1932 7 June 1935 Conservative
Sir John Allsebrook Simon 7 June 1935 28 May 1937 National Liberal
Sir Samuel John Gurney Hoare, Bt. 28 May 1937 3 September 1939 Conservative
Sir John Anderson 4 September 1939 4 October 1940 Non-party
Herbert Stanley Morrison 4 October 1940 23 May 1945 Labour
Sir Donald Bradley Somervell 25 May 1945 26 July 1945 Conservative
James Chuter Ede 3 August 1945 26 October 1951 Labour
Sir David Patrick Maxwell-Fyfe 27 October 1951 19 October 1954 Conservative
Gwilym Lloyd George 19 October 1954 14 January 1957 Conservative
Richard Austen 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 Harris 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 Harris 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 11 May 2010 Labour
Theresa May 11 May 2010 Conservative
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