Secretary of State for Education

Her Majesty's Principal; Secretary of State for Education
	Royal Arms of Her Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Gavin Williamson; since 24 July 2019
	Department for Education
Style	Education Secretary; (informal); The Right Honourable; (UK and the Commonwealth)
Status	Minister of the Crown
Member of	Cabinet; Privy Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Appointer	The Crown; on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At Her Majesty's Pleasure
Formation	10 April 1992
First holder	William Cowper-Temple; as Committee of the Council on Education (5 February 1857); John Patten; as Secretary of State for Education
Website	www.gov.uk

The Secretary of State for Education, also referred to as the Education Secretary, is a senior Minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of the Department for Education. The office forms part of the British Cabinet.

The current Secretary of State for Education is Gavin Williamson, MP since his appointment by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in July 2019.

Responsibilities

Corresponding to what is generally known as an education minister in many other countries, the Education Secretary's remit is concerned primarily with England. This includes:

Oversight of the national curriculum
Management of academies, free schools, early years, apprenticeships, further education and higher education
Management of teacher recruitment and pay
Oversight of school infrastructure improvement[1]

History

A committee of the Privy Council was appointed in 1839 to supervise the distribution of certain government grants in the education field. The members of the committee were the Lord President of the Council, the Secretaries of State, the First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From 1857 a vice-president was appointed who took responsibility for policy.

On 1 April 1900, the Board of Education Act 1899 abolished the committee and instituted a new board, headed by a president. The members were initially very similar to the old committee and the president of the board was the Lord President of the Council; however, from 1902 this ceased to be the case and the president of the board was appointed separately (although the Marquess of Londonderry happened to hold both jobs from 1903 to 1905).

The Education Act 1944 replaced the Board of Education with a new Ministry of Education.

The Department of Education and Science was created in 1964 with the merger of the offices of Minister of Education and the Minister of Science.

In 1992, the responsibility for science was transferred to Cabinet Office's Office of Public Service, and the department was renamed Department of Education. In 1995 the department merged with the Department of Employment to become the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and in 2001 the employment functions were transferred to a newly created Department for Work and Pensions, with the DfEE becoming the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). In 2007 under Gordon Brown's new premiership, the DfES was split into two new departments; the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and a Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, under two new secretaries of state.

The ministerial office of the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills was, in late 2009, amalgamated into the new ministerial office of the resurgent politician Peter Mandelson, made a peer and given the title Lord Mandelson as the newly created Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills – itself an amalgamation of the responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Innovation, Universities and Skills. The Secretary of State has remit over higher education policy as well as British business and enterprise. From 14 July 2016 to January 8, 2018 the post was held by Justine Greening, as her predecessor, Nicky Morgan, was sacked by Theresa May. Greening resigned after rejecting a reshuffle to the Department for Work and Pensions. [2]

List of office holders

Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education

Colour key (for political parties):
Whig Conservative Liberal

	Term of office		Party
William Cowper	5 February 1857	21 February 1858	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston
Charles Adderley	12 March 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
Robert Lowe	24 June 1859	26 April 1864 (resigned)	Liberal	The Viscount Palmerston
Henry Bruce	26 April 1864	26 June 1866	Liberal	The Viscount Palmerston
Henry Bruce	26 April 1864	26 June 1866	Liberal	The Earl Russell
Henry Lowry-Corry	26 June 1866	19 March 1867	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
Lord Robert Montagu	19 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative	The Earl of Derby
Lord Robert Montagu	19 March 1867	1 December 1868	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli
William Edward Forster	9 December 1868	17 February 1874	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Viscount Sandon	2 March 1874	4 April 1878	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli
Lord George Hamilton	4 April 1878	21 April 1880	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli
A. J. Mundella	3 May 1880	9 June 1885	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Edward Stanhope	24 June 1885	17 September 1885	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury
Sir Henry Holland, Bt	17 September 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury
Sir Lyon Playfair	13 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Sir Henry Holland, Bt	3 August 1886	25 January 1887	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury
Sir William Hart Dyke, Bt	25 January 1887	11 August 1892	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury
Arthur Dyke Acland	25 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone
Arthur Dyke Acland	25 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	The Earl of Rosebery
Sir John Eldon Gorst	4 July 1895	8 August 1902	Conservative	The Marquess of Salisbury (Unionist Coalition)

President of the Board of Education

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

	Term of office		Party
The Duke of Devonshire (also Lord President of the Council)	3 March 1900[3]	8 August 1902	Liberal Unionist	The Marquess of Salisbury (Unionist Coalition)
The Marquess of Londonderry (also Lord President of the Council)	11 August 1902	4 December 1905	Conservative	Arthur Balfour (Unionist Coalition)
Augustine Birrell	10 December 1905	23 January 1907	Liberal	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Reginald McKenna	23 January 1907	12 April 1908	Liberal	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Walter Runciman	12 April 1908	23 October 1911	Liberal	H. H. Asquith
Jack Pease	23 October 1911	25 May 1915	Liberal	H. H. Asquith
Arthur Henderson	25 May 1915	18 August 1916	Labour	H. H. Asquith (Coalition)
The Marquess of Crewe	18 August 1916	10 December 1916	Liberal	H. H. Asquith (Coalition)
Herbert Fisher	10 December 1916	19 October 1922	Liberal	David Lloyd George (Coalition)
Edward Wood (subsequently Lord Irwin and Viscount Halifax)	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Bonar Law
Edward Wood (subsequently Lord Irwin and Viscount Halifax)	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin
Charles Trevelyan	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
Lord Eustace Percy	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin
Sir Charles Trevelyan	7 June 1929	2 March 1931 (resigned)	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
Hastings Lees-Smith	2 March 1931	24 August 1931	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald
Sir Donald Maclean	25 August 1931	15 June 1932 (died in office)	Liberal	Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
The Lord Irwin (Viscount Halifax from 1934)	15 June 1932	7 June 1935	Conservative	Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
Oliver Stanley	7 June 1935	28 May 1937	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.)
The Earl Stanhope	28 May 1937	27 October 1938	Conservative	Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min; War Coalition)
The Earl De La Warr	27 October 1938	3 April 1940	National Labour	Neville Chamberlain (4th National Min; War Coalition)
Herwald Ramsbotham	3 April 1940	20 July 1941	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
R. A. Butler	20 July 1941	3 August 1944	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)

Minister of Education

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour

	Term of office		Party
R. A. Butler	3 August 1944	25 May 1945	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
Richard Law	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative	Winston Churchill (Caretaker Min.)
Ellen Wilkinson	3 August 1945	6 February 1947 (died in office)	Labour	Clement Attlee
George Tomlinson	10 February 1947	26 October 1951	Labour	Clement Attlee
Florence Horsbrugh	2 November 1951	18 October 1954	Conservative	Sir Winston Churchill
David Eccles	18 October 1954	13 January 1957	Conservative	Sir Winston Churchill
David Eccles	18 October 1954	13 January 1957	Conservative	Sir Anthony Eden
The Viscount Hailsham	13 January 1957	17 September 1957	Conservative	Harold Macmillan
Geoffrey Lloyd	17 September 1957	14 October 1959	Conservative
David Eccles	14 October 1959	13 July 1962	Conservative
Sir Edward Boyle, Bt	13 July 1962	1 April 1964	Conservative
Sir Edward Boyle, Bt	13 July 1962	1 April 1964	Conservative	Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Secretary of State for Education and Science

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour

	Term of office		Party
Quintin Hogg (formerly Viscount Hailsham)	1 April 1964	16 October 1964	Conservative	Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Michael Stewart	18 October 1964	22 January 1965	Labour	Harold Wilson
Anthony Crosland	22 January 1965	29 August 1967	Labour
Patrick Gordon Walker	29 August 1967	6 April 1968	Labour
Edward Short	6 April 1968	19 June 1970	Labour
Margaret Thatcher	20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	Edward Heath
Reginald Prentice	5 March 1974	10 June 1975	Labour	Harold Wilson
Fred Mulley	10 June 1975	10 September 1976	Labour	Harold Wilson
Fred Mulley	10 June 1975	10 September 1976	Labour	James Callaghan
Shirley Williams	10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	James Callaghan
Mark Carlisle	5 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
Sir Keith Joseph, Bt	14 September 1981	21 May 1986	Conservative
Kenneth Baker	21 May 1986	24 July 1989	Conservative
John MacGregor	24 July 1989	2 November 1990	Conservative
Kenneth Clarke	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative
Kenneth Clarke	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative	John Major

Secretary of State for Education

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative

Name		Term of office		Party	Prime Minister
	John Patten	10 April 1992	20 July 1994	Conservative		John Major
	Gillian Shephard	20 July 1994	5 July 1995	Conservative		John Major

Secretary of State for Education and Employment

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Party	Prime Minister
	Gillian Shephard		5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative		John Major
	David Blunkett		2 May 1997	8 June 2001	Labour		Tony Blair

Secretary of State for Education and Skills

Colour key (for political parties):
Labour

	Term of office		Party
Estelle Morris	8 June 2001	24 October 2002 (resigned)	Labour	Tony Blair
Charles Clarke	24 October 2002	15 December 2004	Labour
Ruth Kelly	15 December 2004	5 May 2006	Labour
Alan Johnson	5 May 2006	27 June 2007	Labour

Secretaries of State for Children, Schools and Families; and Innovation, Universities and Skills

In 2007, the education portfolio was divided between the Department for Children, Schools and Families (responsible for infant, primary and secondary education), and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (responsible for further, higher and adult education). In 2009, the latter department was merged into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Colour key (for political parties):
Labour Labour Co-operative

Sec.State for Children, Schools and Families			Sec.State for Innovation, Universities and Skills			Term of office		Party	Prime Minister
	Ed Balls			John Denham		28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour Labour Co-op (Balls)		Gordon Brown
	Ed Balls		Post abolished; duties transferred to Sec.State for Business, Innovation and Skills.			5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour Labour Co-op (Balls)		Gordon Brown

Secretary of State for Education

The Department for Education and the post of Secretary of State for Education were recreated in 2010.

Responsibility for higher and adult education remained with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable 2010–2015, Sajid Javid 2015–2016), until reunited with the Department for Education in 2016.

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative

	Term of office		Party
Michael Gove	11 May 2010	15 July 2014	Conservative	David Cameron (Coalition)
Nicky Morgan	15 July 2014	14 July 2016	Conservative	David Cameron (Coalition)
Nicky Morgan	15 July 2014	14 July 2016	Conservative	David Cameron (II)
Justine Greening	14 July 2016	8 January 2018	Conservative	Theresa May (I)
Justine Greening	14 July 2016	8 January 2018	Conservative	Theresa May (II)
Damian Hinds	8 January 2018	24 July 2019	Conservative	Theresa May (II)
Gavin Williamson	24 July 2019	Incumbent	Conservative	Boris Johnson (I & II)

gollark: Lua is very cool but kind of annoying ecosystemwise.

gollark: It is inevitable.

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gollark: Possibly more so since at least it installs into a consistent location.

gollark: I've never really used Java build tools because aaaaaaaaa, but npm is about as easy as pip.

References

https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-education
"Reshuffle: Greening quits government". BBC News. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
"No. 27172". The London Gazette. 9 March 1900. p. 1609.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] ttps://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-education

[2] "Reshuffle: Greening quits government". BBC News. Retrieved 8 January 2018.

[3] "No. 27172". The London Gazette. 9 March 1900. p. 1609.

British Cabinet Portfolios
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
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Also attend Cabinet	Attorney General Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chief Whip Leader of the House of Commons / Lord President of the Council

Education Secretaries of the United Kingdom
Department for Education
Presidents of the Board of Education	Devonshire Londonderry Birrell McKenna Runciman Pease Henderson Crewe Fisher Wood Trevelyan Percy Trevelyan Lees-Smith Maclean Irwin Stanley Stanhope De La Warr Soulbury Butler
Ministers of Education	Butler Law Wilkinson Tomlinson Horsbrugh Eccles Hailsham Lloyd Eccles Boyle
Secretaries of State	Education and Science: Hogg Stewart Crosland Gordon Walker Short Thatcher Prentice Mulley Williams Carlisle Joseph Baker MacGregor Clarke Education: Patten Shephard Education and Employment: Shephard Blunkett Education and Skills: Morris Clarke Kelly Johnson Children, Schools and Families: Balls Innovation, Universities and Skills: Denham Education: Gove Morgan Greening Hinds Williamson