Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

United Kingdom Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Flag of the United Kingdom
Incumbent Iain Duncan Smith since 12 May 2010
Department for Work and Pensions
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	Elizabeth II
Inaugural holder	George Barnes
Formation	10 December 1916
Website	Work and Pensions

Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment division of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.

The Ministry of Pensions was created in 1916 to handle the payment of war pensions to former members of the Armed Forces and their dependants. In 1944 a separate Ministry of National Insurance (initially titled the Ministry of Social Insurance, it changed its name on 17 November 1944) was formed; the two merged in 1953 as the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. In 1966 the Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Social Security, but this was short-lived, as the Ministry merged with the Ministry of Health in 1968 to form the Department of Health and Social Security. Confusingly, the Secretary of State responsible for this Department was titled the Secretary of State for Social Services. The Department was de-merged in 1988, creating the separate Department of Health and Department of Social Security.

Ministers and Secretaries of State

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

Minister of Pensions (1916–1953)
Name		Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Nicoll Barnes	10 December 1916	17 August 1917	Labour	rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Lloyd George (Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Hodge	17 August 1917	10 January 1919	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, Bt	10 January 1919	2 April 1920	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Ian Macpherson	2 April 1920	19 October 1922	Liberal
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Tryon	31 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Frederick Roberts	23 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Tryon	11 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Stanley Baldwin
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Frederick Roberts	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Ramsay MacDonald
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Tryon	3 September 1931	18 June 1935	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:National Labour Organisation/meta/color" |	Ramsay MacDonald (1st & 2nd National Min.)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Robert Hudson	18 June 1935	30 July 1936	Conservative	rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Stanley Baldwin (3rd National Min.) Neville Chamberlain (4th Nat.Min.; War Coalition) Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herwald Ramsbotham	30 July 1936	7 June 1939	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Walter Womersley	7 June 1939	26 July 1945	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Wilfred Paling	3 August 1945	17 April 1947	Labour	rowspan=5 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Clement Attlee
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Burns Hynd	17 April 1947	7 October 1947	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Buchanan	7 October 1947	2 July 1948	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Hilary Marquand	2 July 1948	17 January 1951	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	George Isaacs	17 January 1951	26 October 1951	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Derick Heathcoat-Amory	5 November 1951	3 September 1953	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Winston Churchill

Minister of Social Insurance/National Insurance (1944–1953)
Name		Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir William Jowitt	8 October 1944	23 May 1945	Labour	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:National Independent/meta/color" |	Leslie Hore-Belisha	25 May 1945	26 July 1945	National Independent	Winston Churchill (Caretaker Min.)
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Jim Griffiths	4 August 1945	28 February 1950	Labour	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Clement Attlee
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Edith Summerskill	28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Osbert Peake	31 October 1951	3 September 1953	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Winston Churchill

Posts of Minister of Pensions and Minister of National Insurance merged in 1953.

Ministers of Pensions and National Insurance (1953–1966)
Name			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Osbert Peake		3 September 1953	20 December 1955	Conservative	rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Winston Churchill Sir Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Boyd-Carpenter		20 December 1955	16 July 1962	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Niall Macpherson		16 July 1962	21 October 1963	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Richard Wood		21 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Alec Douglas-Home
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Margaret Herbison		18 October 1964	6 August 1966	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Wilson
Ministers of Social Security (1966–1968)
Name			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Margaret Herbison		6 August 1966	26 July 1967	Labour	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Judith Hart		26 July 1967	1 November 1968	Labour
Secretaries of State for Health and Social Services (1968–1988)
Name			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Richard Crossman		1 November 1968	19 June 1970	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Keith Joseph		20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Edward Heath
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Barbara Castle		5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harold Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Ennals		8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	James Callaghan
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Patrick Jenkin		5 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative	rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Margaret Thatcher
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Norman Fowler		14 September 1981	13 June 1987	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Moore		13 June 1987	25 July 1988	Conservative
Post split into the Secretary of State for Social Security and the Secretary of State for Health in 1988.
Secretaries of State for Social Security (1988–2001)
Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Moore		25 July 1988	23 July 1989	Conservative	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Margaret Thatcher
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Tony Newton		23 July 1989	10 April 1992	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Peter Lilley			10 April 1992	2 May 1997	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Major
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Harriet Harman			3 May 1997	27 July 1998	Labour	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Tony Blair
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Alistair Darling			27 July 1998	8 June 2001	Labour
Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions (2001–present)
Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Alistair Darling		8 June 2001	29 May 2002	Labour	rowspan=5 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Tony Blair
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Andrew Smith		29 May 2002	8 September 2004	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Alan Johnson		8 September 2004	6 May 2005	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Blunkett		6 May 2005	2 November 2005	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Hutton		2 November 2005	27 June 2007	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Peter Hain		28 June 2007	24 January 2008	Labour	rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Gordon Brown
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	James Purnell		24 January 2008	4 June 2009	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Yvette Cooper		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Iain Duncan Smith		12 May 2010	Incumbent	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Cameron (Coalition)

See also

• Secretary of State for Employment