# Secretary of State for Air

The Secretary of State for Air was a secretary of state position in the British government that existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by the Under-Secretary of State for Air.

## History

The position was created on 10 January 1919 to manage the Royal Air Force. In 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for Air became formally subordinated to that of Minister of Defence, which had itself been created in 1940 for the co-ordination of defence and security issues. On 1 April 1964, the Air Ministry was incorporated into the newly created united Ministry of Defence, and the position of Secretary of State for Air was abolished.

## List of leaders

Chairman of the Joint War Air Committee, 1916 :
| Chairman | Chairman | Chairman | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party |
| Chairman | Chairman | Chairman | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party |
| | | Edward Stanley 17th Earl of Derby | February 1916 | February 1916 | 7 months and 19 days | Conservative |
| Presidents of the Air Board, 1916–1917 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | President | President | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party |
| President | President | President | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party |
| | | George Curzon 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston | 15 May 1916 | 3 January 1917 | 10 months and 23 days | Conservative |
| | | Weetman Pearson 1st Viscount Cowdray | 3 January 1917 | 26 November 1917 | 10 months and 23 days | Liberal |
| Presidents of the Air Council, 1917–1919 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | President | President | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party |
| President | President | President | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party |
| | | Harold Harmsworth 1st Baron Rothermere | 26 November 1917 | 26 April 1918 | 5 months | |
| | | William Weir 1st Baron Weir | 26 April 1918 | 10 January 1919 | 8 months and 15 days | |
| | | J. E. B. Seely MP for Ilkeston | January 1919 | November 1919 | 9 or 10 months | Conservative |
| Secretaries of State for Air, 1919–1964 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary | Secretary | Secretary | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party |
| Secretary | Secretary | Secretary | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party |
| | | Winston Churchill MP for Dundee | 10 January 1919 | 1 April 1921 | 2 years, 2 months and 22 days | Liberal |
| | | Frederick Edward Guest MP for East Dorset | 1 April 1921 | 19 October 1922 | 1 year, 6 months and 18 days | Liberal |
| | | Sir Samuel Hoare MP for Chelsea | 31 October 1922 | 22 January 1924 | 1 year, 2 months and 22 days | Conservative |
| | | Christopher Thomson 1st Baron Thomson | 22 January 1924 | 3 November 1924 | 9 months and 12 days | Labour |
| | | Sir Samuel Hoare MP for Chelsea | 6 November 1924 | 4 June 1929 | 4 years, 6 months and 29 days | Conservative |
| | | Christopher Thomson 1st Baron Thomson | 7 June 1929 | 5 October 1930† | 1 year, 3 months and 28 days | Labour |
| | | William Mackenzie 1st Baron Amulree | 14 October 1930 | 5 November 1931 | 1 year and 22 days | Labour |
| | | Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart 7th Marquess of Londonderry | 5 November 1931 | 7 June 1935 | 3 years, 7 months and 2 days | Conservative |
| | | Philip Cunliffe-Lister 1st Viscount Swinton | 7 June 1935 | 16 May 1938 | 2 years, 11 months and 9 days | Conservative |
| | | Sir Kingsley Wood MP for Woolwich West | 16 May 1938 | 3 April 1940 | 1 year, 10 months and 18 days | Conservative |
| | | Sir Samuel Hoare MP for Chelsea | 3 April 1940 | 11 May 1940 | 1 month and 8 days | Conservative |
| | | Sir Archibald Sinclair MP for Caithness and Sutherland | 11 May 1940 | 23 May 1945 | 5 years and 12 days | Liberal |
| | | Harold Macmillan MP for Stockton-on-Tees | 25 May 1945 | 26 July 1945 | 2 months and 1 day | Conservative |
| | | William Wedgwood Benn 1st Viscount Stansgate | 3 August 1945 | 4 October 1946 | 1 year, 2 months and 1 day | Labour |
| | | Philip Noel-Baker MP for Derby | 4 October 1946 | 7 October 1947 | 1 year and 3 days | Labour |
| | | Arthur Henderson MP for Kingswinford before 1950 MP for Rowley Regis and Tipton after 1950 | 7 October 1947 | 26 October 1951 | 4 years and 19 days | Labour |
| | | William Sidney 6th Baron De L'Isle and Dudley | 31 October 1951 | 20 December 1955 | 4 years, 1 month and 20 days | Conservative |
| | | Nigel Birch MP for West Flintshire | 20 December 1955 | 16 January 1957 | 1 year and 27 days | Conservative |
| | | George Ward MP for Worcester | 16 January 1957 | 28 October 1960 | 3 years, 9 months and 12 days | Conservative |
| | | Julian Amery MP for Preston North | 28 October 1960 | 16 July 1962 | 1 year, 8 months and 18 days | Conservative |
| | | Hugh Fraser MP for Stafford and Stone | 16 July 1962 | 1 April 1964 | 1 year, 8 months and 16 days | Conservative |