First Secretary of State

First Secretary of State
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Incumbent William Hague since 12 May 2010
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	David Cameron
Inaugural holder	R. A. Butler
Formation	13 July 1962

First Secretary of State is an occasionally used title within the Government of the United Kingdom, principally regarded as purely honorific. 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. It originated as an alternative to the use of the title Deputy Prime Minister, which was opposed by some for constitutional reasons. The principal of these objections was that the title implied some degree of expectation that there would be a right of succession to the Prime Minister's position in the event of the death or resignation of the incumbent.

Significantly, the role exists only when in use; there can be a lengthy period between successive holders of the title.

Current position

The current First Secretary of State is William Hague, who received this title in addition to that of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, upon his appointment by Prime Minister David Cameron on 12 May 2010.

List of First Secretaries of State

Colour key
(for political parties)

  Labour

  Conservative

Name		Picture	Term of Office		Political party and position	Other Ministerial Offices	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	R. A. Butler		13 July 1962	18 October 1963	Conservative	Deputy Prime Minister	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Macmillan
OFFICE NOT IN USE			1963–1964				style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Alec Douglas-Home
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Brown		16 October 1964	11 August 1966	Labour (Deputy Leader)	Economic Secretary	rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Michael Stewart		11 August 1966	6 April 1968	Labour	Economic Secretary (until August 1967) Foreign Secretary (from March 1968)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Barbara Castle		6 April 1968	19 June 1970	Labour	Employment and Productivity Secretary
OFFICE NOT IN USE			1970–1995				style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Heath; Wilson; Callaghan; Thatcher; Major
							style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |
							style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |
							rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Major
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Michael Heseltine		20 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative	Deputy Prime Minister
OFFICE NOT IN USE			1997–2001				rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Tony Blair
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Prescott		8 June 2001	27 June 2007	Labour (Deputy Leader)	Deputy Prime Minister (since 1997)
OFFICE NOT IN USE			2007–2009				rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Gordon Brown
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Lord Mandelson		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour	Business Secretary Lord President of the Council
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	William Hague		12 May 2010	Incumbent	Conservative	Foreign Secretary	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Cameron

See also

• Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom