Secretary of State for Employment

(Redirected from Department of Employment)

The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions were hived off and transferred to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Minister of Labour (1916–1940)

NamePortraitTerm of officePolitical PartyPrime Minister
John Hodge 10 December 191617 August 1917LabourDavid Lloyd George
(Coalition)
George Henry Roberts 17 August 191710 January 1919Labour
Sir Robert Horne 10 January 191919 March 1920Unionist
Thomas James Macnamara 19 March 192019 October 1922Liberal
Sir Anderson Montague-Barlow 31 October 192222 January 1924ConservativeBonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Tom Shaw 22 January 19243 November 1924LabourRamsay MacDonald
Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland, Bt 6 November 19244 June 1929ConservativeStanley Baldwin
Margaret Bondfield 7 June 192924 August 1931
(lost seat 1931)
LabourRamsay MacDonald
Sir Henry Betterton, Bt25 August 193129 June 1934ConservativeRamsay MacDonald
(1st & 2nd National Min.)
Oliver Stanley 29 June 19347 June 1935Conservative
Ernest Brown 7 June 193513 May 1940Liberal NationalStanley Baldwin
(3rd National Min.)
Neville Chamberlain
(4th Nat.Min.; War Coalition)

Minister of Labour and National Service (1940–1959)

NamePortraitTerm of officePolitical PartyPrime Minister
Ernest Bevin 13 May 194023 May 1945LabourWinston Churchill
(War Coalition)
R. A. Butler 25 May 194526 July 1945ConservativeWinston Churchill
(Caretaker Min.)
George Isaacs 3 August 194517 January 1951LabourClement Attlee
Aneurin Bevan 17 January 195123 April 1951
(resigned)
Labour
Alfred Robens 24 April 195126 October 1951Labour
Walter Monckton28 October 195120 December 1955ConservativeSir Winston Churchill
Sir Anthony Eden
Iain Macleod 20 December 195514 October 1959Conservative
Harold Macmillan
Edward Heath 14 October 195912 November 1959Conservative

Minister of Labour (1959–1968)

NameTerm of officePolitical PartyPrime Minister
Edward Heath12 November 195927 July 1960ConservativeHarold Macmillan
John Hare27 July 196020 October 1963Conservative
Joseph Godber20 October 196316 October 1964ConservativeSir Alec Douglas-Home
Ray Gunter18 October 19646 April 1968LabourHarold Wilson

Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity (1968–1970)

NamePortraitTerm of officePolitical PartyPrime Minister
Barbara Castle 6 April 196819 June 1970LabourHarold Wilson

Secretary of State for Employment (1970–1995)

NameTerm of officePolitical PartyPrime Minister
Robert Carr20 June 19707 April 1972ConservativeEdward Heath
Maurice Macmillan7 April 19722 December 1973Conservative
William Whitelaw2 December 19734 March 1974Conservative
Michael Foot5 March 19748 April 1976LabourHarold Wilson
Albert Booth8 April 19764 May 1979LabourJames Callaghan
James Prior5 May 197914 September 1981ConservativeMargaret Thatcher
Norman Tebbit14 September 198116 October 1983Conservative
Tom King16 October 19832 September 1985Conservative
The Lord Young of Graffham2 September 198513 June 1987Conservative
Norman Fowler13 June 19873 January 1990Conservative
Michael Howard3 January 199011 April 1992Conservative
John Major
Gillian Shephard11 April 199227 May 1993Conservative
David Hunt27 May 199320 July 1994Conservative
Michael Portillo20 July 19945 July 1995Conservative

Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1995–2001)

NameTerm of officePolitical PartyPrime Minister
Gillian Shephard5 July 19952 May 1997ConservativeJohn Major
David Blunkett2 May 19978 June 2001LabourTony Blair

The office was merged with the Department of Social Security to form the Department for Work and Pensions in 2001.