First Secretary of State

First Secretary of State
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Incumbent George Osborne since 8 May 2015
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	Elizabeth II
Inaugural holder	Rab Butler
Formation	13 July 1962

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First Secretary of State is an honorific title occasionally used within the Government of the United Kingdom. The title, which implies seniority over all other Secretaries of State, has no specific powers or authority attached to it beyond that of any other Secretary of State.

The title is not always in use, and there have been lengthy periods between successive holders of the title.

Relationship with Deputy Prime Minister

The post of Deputy Prime Minister had been created in 1942 for Clement Attlee, the leader of the Labour Party in Winston Churchill's wartime coalition ministry. The post indicated that the holder ranked second in government, after the Prime Minister, but did not confer cabinet rank and did not pay a salary. For this reason, the Deputy Prime Minister concurrently held other offices, entitling him to a place in cabinet.

The title First Secretary of State indicated the holder's rank as a Secretary of State, with a place in cabinet. The title was created in 1962 for Deputy Prime Minister R. A. Butler, granting him a place in cabinet despite not holding a specific cabinet portfolio. Michael Heseltine and John Prescott were also relieved of their cabinet portfolios when serving as Deputy Prime Minister, and were therefore additionally appointed First Secretary of State. In 1964, Prime Minister Harold Wilson established the alternative usage, appointing a First Secretary of State among the cabinet without appointing a Deputy Prime Minister.

The two titles have only existed concurrently with different holders in one government: in David Cameron's coalition ministry of 2010–15, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, and William Hague was appointed First Secretary of State.

Current holder

The current First Secretary of State is George Osborne, who first received the title from Prime Minister David Cameron in addition to his reappointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer immediately following the 2015 General Election.

List of First Secretaries of State

Colour key (for political parties)
Labour   Conservative

Name		Portrait	Concurrent office(s)	Tenure	Political party (Party position)	Prime Minister
	Rab Butler		Deputy Prime Minister	13 July 1962 – 18 October 1963	Conservative		Harold Macmillan
Office not in use				1963–1964			Alec Douglas-Home
	George Brown		Economic Secretary	16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966	Labour (Deputy Leader)		Harold Wilson
	Michael Stewart		Economic Secretary (until August 1967) Foreign Secretary (from March 1968)	11 August 1966 – 6 April 1968	Labour
	Barbara Castle		Employment and Productivity Secretary	6 April 1968 – 19 June 1970	Labour
Office not in use				1970–1995			Edward Heath
							Harold Wilson
							James Callaghan
							Margaret Thatcher
							John Major
	Michael Heseltine		Deputy Prime Minister	20 July 1995 – 2 May 1997	Conservative
Office not in use				1997–2001			Tony Blair
	John Prescott		Deputy Prime Minister (from May 1997)	8 June 2001 – 27 June 2007	Labour (Deputy Leader)
Office not in use				2007–2009			Gordon Brown
	Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson		Business Secretary Lord President of the Council	5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010	Labour
	William Hague		Foreign Secretary (until July 2014) Leader of the House of Commons (from July 2014)	12 May 2010 – 8 May 2015	Conservative		David Cameron (Coalition)
	George Osborne		Chancellor of the Exchequer	8 May 2015 – present	Conservative		David Cameron (II)

See also

• Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom