First Secretary of State

Constitutional position

Like the deputy prime minister, the first secretary enjoys no right of automatic succession to the office of Prime Minister. However, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit on 6 April 2020, after contracting COVID-19, First Secretary Dominic Raab was asked "to deputise for him where necessary."

The office temporarily enjoyed some greater constitutional footing between when it was incorporated as a corporation sole in 2002 and having all of its remaining functions transferred in 2008. During most of this time, John Prescott was First Secretary.

History

In 1962, R.A. Butler was the first person to be appointed to the office, in part to avoid earlier royal objections to the office of Deputy Prime Minister. The office gave Butler ministerial superiority over the rest of the Cabinet and indicated that he was second-in-command. Harold Wilson appointed three people to the office between 1964 and 1970, but it has been noted by Anthony Seldon et al. that the office may have caught on "more as an ego-massager than for functional reasons."

Later, Michael Heseltine and John Prescott held the office alongside being Deputy Prime Minister. The two offices have only existed concurrently with different holders in David Cameron's coalition government, wherein Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg was appointed Deputy Prime Minister while Conservative William Hague was First Secretary.

Responsibilities

The office is currently listed on the gov.uk website as bringing no additional responsibilities. However, Lord Norton says that there are two benefits to a prime minister in appointing a first secretary: firstly, it leaves a senior minister free to perform correlation and co-ordination and to chair committees and, secondly, it enables the prime minister to send a signal as to the status of the holder. Stephen Thornton and Jonathan Kirkup have said that "the Office of First Secretary of State is only as important as the person holding that office is perceived to be important", but in certain circumstances the office "can assume acute importance and real power" and it may yet become an office of substance.

List of First Secretaries of State

Timeline

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DateFormat=dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1960 till:31/12/ TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1960 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1960

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bar:Butler from: 13/07/1962 till: 18/10/1963 color:con text:"Rab Butler" bar:Brown from: 16/10/1964 till: 11/08/1966 color:lab text:"George Brown" bar:Stewart from: 11/08/1966 till: 06/04/1968 color:lab text:"Michael Stewart" bar:Castle from: 06/04/1968 till: 19/06/1970 color:lab text:"Barbara Castle" bar:Heseltine from: 20/07/1995 till: 02/05/1997 color:con text:"Michael Heseltine" bar:Prescott from: 08/06/2001 till: 27/07/2007 color:lab text:"John Prescott" bar:Mandelson from: 05/06/2009 till: 11/05/2010 color:lab text:"Peter Mandelson" bar:Hague from: 12/05/2010 till: 08/05/2015 color:con text:"William Hague" bar:Osborne from: 08/05/2015 till: 13/07/2016 color:con text:"George Osborne" bar:Green from: 11/06/2017 till: 20/12/2017 color:con text:"Damian Green" bar:Raab from: 24/07/2019 till: 15/09/2021 color:con text:"Dominic Raab"

Notes

References

sv:First Secretary of State

References

1. (1 April 2019). "Salaries of Members of Her Majesty's Government from 1st April 2019".
2. (2010). "The Cabinet Manual".
3. Watt, Nicholas. (8 May 2015). "George Osborne made first secretary of state in cabinet reshuffle". [[The Guardian]].
4. Norton, Philip. (2020). "Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution". [[Manchester University Press]].
5. (6 April 2020). "Statement from Downing Street: 6 April 2020".
6. [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2626/article/3/made The Transfer of Functions (Transport, Local Government and the Regions) Order 2002], art 3(1).
7. [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1034/made The Transfer of Functions (Miscellaneous) Order 2008], art 7
8. Brazier, Rodney. (2020). "Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain". [[Oxford University Press]].
9. Brazier, Rodney. (2020). "Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain". [[Oxford University Press]].
10. (2021). "The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister". [[Cambridge University Press]].
11. Brazier, Rodney. (2020). "Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain". [[Oxford University Press]].
12. "First Secretary of State".
13. Norton, Philip. (2020). "Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution". [[Manchester University Press]].
14. Thornton, Stephen. (2023). "From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State". [[Parliamentary Affairs]].
15. (2023). "From Rab to Raab: The Construction of the Office of First Secretary of State". [[Parliamentary Affairs]].
16. Howard, Anthony. (February 7, 2013). "RAB: The Life of R.A. Butler". A&C Black.
17. David Butler and Gareth Butler, British Political Facts 1900–1994 (7th edn, Macmillan 1994) 62.
18. "Lord Heseltine". UK Parliament.
19. "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament.
20. "Lord Hague of Richmond". UK Parliament.
21. "Rt Hon George Osborne". UK Parliament.
22. "Rt Hon Damian Green MP". UK Parliament.
23. "Dominic Raab".