Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

United Kingdom
Secretary of State
for Health and Social Care
United Kingdom; Secretary of State; for Health and Social Care
	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Wes Streeting; since 5 July 2024
	Department of Health and Social Care
Style	Health Secretary; (informal); The Right Honourable; (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State
Member of	Cabinet; Privy Council;
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch; (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	14 October 1854:; (as President of the Board of Health); 8 January 2018:; (as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care);
First holder	Benjamin Hall; (as President of the Board of Health)
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022); (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-health-and-social-care

The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care.^[3] The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The position can trace its roots back to the nineteenth century, and has been a secretary of state position since 1968. For 30 years, from 1988 to 2018, the position was titled Secretary of State for Health, before Prime Minister Theresa May added "and Social Care" to the designation in the 2018 British cabinet reshuffle.^[4]

The officeholder works alongside other health and social care ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for health and social care, and the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Health and Social Care Select Committee.^[5]

The position is currently held by Wes Streeting, who has served since 5 July 2024.

Responsibilities

Corresponding to what is generally known as a health minister in many other countries, the health secretary's remit includes the following:

Oversight of England's National Health Service, including:
- Delivery of care
- Performance
- Fiscal consolidation
- Financial management^[6]
Matters concerning England's social care policy (although responsibility is shared with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding adult social care, and the Department for Education concerning children's social care).
Matters concerning England's national public health.
Relations with international health partnerships, including the WHO.

History

The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in the Council dated 21 June, 14 November, and 21 November 1831. In 1848, a General Board of Health was established with lay members in leadership roles^[7] and the first commissioner of woods and forests as its president. In 1854, this board was reconstituted, and the president was appointed separately. However, the board was abolished in 1858, and its function of overseeing local boards was transferred to a new Local Government Act Office within the Home Office. From 1871, that function was transferred to the new Local Government Board.^{[citation needed]}

The Ministry of Health was created by the Ministry of Health Act 1919 as a reconstruction of the Local Government Board. Local government functions were eventually transferred to the minister of housing and local government, leaving the Health Ministry in charge of health matters.

From 1968, it was amalgamated with the Ministry of Social Security under the secretary of state for social services, until the de-merger of the Department of Health and Social Security on 25 July 1988.

Since devolution in 1999, the position holder's responsibility for the NHS is mainly restricted to the health service in England, while the holders' counterparts in Scotland and Wales are responsible for the NHS in Scotland and Wales. Prior to devolution, the secretaries of state for Scotland and Wales had those respective responsibilities, but the Department of Health played a larger role than it does now in the coordination of health policy across Great Britain. Health services in Northern Ireland have always had separate arrangements from the rest of the UK and are currently the responsibility of the health minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

A small number of health issues remain reserved matters, meaning they are not devolved.

According to Jeremy Hunt, the department receives more letters than any other government department, and there are 50 officials in the correspondence unit.^[8]

List of ministers

Colour key (for political parties):
Whig Conservative Radical Peelite Liberal Labour Unionist National Labour National Liberal

President of the Board of Health (1848–1858)

President of the Board		Term of office		Political party
As First Commissioner of Woods and Forests					Lord John Russell
	The Earl of Carlisle	1848	17 April 1849	Whig
	Lord Seymour MP for Totnes	17 April 1849	1 August 1851	Whig
As First Commissioner of Works
	Lord Seymour MP for Totnes	1 August 1851	21 February 1852	Whig
	Lord John Manners MP for Colchester	4 March 1852	17 December 1852	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
	William Molesworth MP for Southwark	5 January 1853	14 October 1854	Radical	The Earl of Aberdeen (Coalition)
President of the Board of Health
	Benjamin Hall MP for Marylebone	14 October 1854	13 August 1855	Whig
	Benjamin Hall MP for Marylebone	14 October 1854	13 August 1855	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston
	William Cowper MP for Hertford	13 August 1855	9 February 1857	Whig
	William Monsell MP for County Limerick	9 February 1857	24 September 1857	Whig
	William Cowper MP for Hertford	24 September 1857	21 February 1858	Whig
	Charles Adderley MP for Staffordshire Northern	8 March 1858	1 September 1858	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
Board of Health abolished in 1858; responsibilities transferred to the Privy Council (1858–1871), then the Local Government Board (1871–1919).

Minister of Health (1919–1968)

Minister		Term of office		Political party	Ministry
	Christopher Addison MP for Shoreditch	24 June 1919	1 April 1921	Liberal	Lloyd George II
	Alfred Mond MP for Swansea West	1 April 1921	19 October 1922	Liberal	Lloyd George II
	Arthur Griffith-Boscawen MP for Taunton	24 October 1922	7 March 1923 (Lost seat 1922)	Conservative	Law
	Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Ladywood	7 March 1923	27 August 1923	Conservative	Law
	Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Ladywood	7 March 1923	27 August 1923	Conservative	Baldwin I
	William Joynson-Hicks MP for Twickenham	27 August 1923	22 January 1924	Conservative	Baldwin I
	John Wheatley MP for Glasgow Shettleston	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
	Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Ladywood then Birmingham Edgbaston	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	Baldwin II
	Arthur Greenwood MP for Nelson and Colne	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	Macdonald II
	Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Edgbaston	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	Conservative	National I
	Hilton Young MP for Sevenoaks	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	Conservative	National II
	Kingsley Wood MP for Woolwich West	7 June 1935	16 May 1938	Conservative	National III
	Kingsley Wood MP for Woolwich West	7 June 1935	16 May 1938	Conservative	National IV
	Walter Elliot MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove	16 May 1938	13 May 1940	Unionist	National IV
	Walter Elliot MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove	16 May 1938	13 May 1940	Unionist	Chamberlain War
	Malcolm MacDonald MP for Ross and Cromarty	13 May 1940	8 February 1941	National Labour	Churchill War
	Ernest Brown MP for Leith	8 February 1941	11 November 1943	National Liberal
	Henry Willink MP for Croydon North	11 November 1943	26 July 1945	Conservative
	Henry Willink MP for Croydon North	11 November 1943	26 July 1945	Conservative	Churchill Caretaker
	Aneurin Bevan MP for Ebbw Vale	3 August 1945	17 January 1951	Labour	Attlee I
	Aneurin Bevan MP for Ebbw Vale	3 August 1945	17 January 1951	Labour	Attlee II
	Hilary Marquand MP for Middlesbrough East	17 January 1951	26 October 1951	Labour	Attlee II
	Harry Crookshank MP for Gainsborough	30 October 1951	7 May 1952	Conservative	Churchill III
	Iain Macleod MP for Enfield West	7 May 1952	20 December 1955	Conservative	Churchill III
	Iain Macleod MP for Enfield West	7 May 1952	20 December 1955	Conservative	Eden
	Robin Turton MP for Thirsk and Malton	20 December 1955	16 January 1957	Conservative	Eden
	Dennis Vosper MP for Runcorn	16 January 1957	17 September 1957	Conservative	Macmillan I
	Derek Walker-Smith MP for East Hertfordshire	17 September 1957	27 July 1960	Conservative	Macmillan I
	Derek Walker-Smith MP for East Hertfordshire	17 September 1957	27 July 1960	Conservative	Macmillan II
	Enoch Powell MP for Wolverhampton South West	27 July 1960	20 October 1963	Conservative	Macmillan II
	Anthony Barber MP for Doncaster then Altrincham and Sale	20 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative	Douglas-Home
	Kenneth Robinson MP for St. Pancras North	18 October 1964	1 November 1968	Labour	Wilson I
Post merged with Ministry for Social Security in 1968.

Secretary of State for Social Services (1968–1988)

Secretary of State		Term of office		Political party	Ministry
	Richard Crossman MP for Coventry East	1 November 1968	19 June 1970	Labour	Wilson II
	Keith Joseph MP for Leeds North East	20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	Heath
	Barbara Castle MP for Blackburn	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	Wilson III
	David Ennals MP for Norwich North	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	Callaghan
	Patrick Jenkin MP for Wanstead and Woodford	5 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative	Thatcher I
	Norman Fowler MP for Sutton Coldfield	14 September 1981	13 June 1987	Conservative	Thatcher I
	Norman Fowler MP for Sutton Coldfield	14 September 1981	13 June 1987	Conservative	Thatcher II
	John Moore MP for Croydon Central	13 June 1987	25 July 1988	Conservative	Thatcher III
Post split into Secretary of State for Social Security and Secretary of State for Health in 1988.

Secretary of State for Health (1988–2018)

	Term of office		Political party	Ministry
Kenneth Clarke MP for Rushcliffe	25 July 1988	2 November 1990	Conservative	Thatcher III
William Waldegrave MP for Bristol West	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative	Thatcher III
William Waldegrave MP for Bristol West	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative	Major I
Virginia Bottomley MP for South West Surrey	10 April 1992	5 July 1995	Conservative	Major II
Stephen Dorrell MP for Loughborough then Charnwood	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative	Major II
Frank Dobson MP for Holborn and St. Pancras	3 May 1997	11 October 1999	Labour	Blair I
Alan Milburn MP for Darlington	11 October 1999	13 June 2003	Labour	Blair I
Alan Milburn MP for Darlington	11 October 1999	13 June 2003	Labour	Blair II
John Reid MP for Hamilton North and Bellshill then Airdrie and Shotts	13 June 2003	6 May 2005	Labour	Blair II
Patricia Hewitt MP for Leicester West	6 May 2005	28 June 2007	Labour	Blair III
Alan Johnson MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle	28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour	Brown
Andy Burnham MP for Leigh	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour	Brown
Andrew Lansley MP for South Cambridgeshire	11 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)
Jeremy Hunt MP for South West Surrey	4 September 2012	8 January 2018	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)
				Cameron II
				May I
				May II