Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also called the Northern Ireland secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom. They are in charge of the Northern Ireland Office. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. They are 17th in the ministerial ranking.

The works with the other Northern Ireland Office ministers. The shadow minister is the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

History
Historically, the main ministers for Irish (and Northern Ireland) affairs in the UK Government were:
 the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (c.1171–1922);
 the Chief Secretary for Ireland (1560–1922); and
 the Home Secretary (1922–1972).

Scotland and Wales have had the  Secretary of State for Scotland (1885) and Secretary of State for Wales (1964) for a long time but Northern Ireland did not have a Secretary. This was caused by the Government of Northern Ireland and Parliament of Northern Ireland. The office of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was created after the Northern Ireland government (at Stormont) was suspended. The government was later ended after civil problems.  The British government was worried that the Parliament of Northern Ireland was losing control of the situation. On 30 March 1972, the country was put under the direct rule of the  british Parliamen. The Secretary of State replced three jobs from the previous government. These were: 
 the Governor of Northern Ireland - The main representative of the British monarch
 the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland - now the First Minister of Northern Ireland and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland 
 the Minister of Home Affairs - Now the Minister of Justice

Direct rule was expected to last for only a short time. Sharing the pwer was preferred as the solution. It has been renewed by a vote in Parliament each year. The Sunningdale Agreement in 1973 created the Northern Ireland Executive from 1 January 1974. It was ended by the Ulster Workers' Council strike on 28 May 1974.  The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–1976) and Northern Ireland Assembly (1982–1986) could not restore the government.  Following the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) on 10 April 1998 removed many of the duties of the Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Office.

Many of the powers of the Secretary have been given to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive. The secretary of state in now limited to representing Northern Ireland in the UK cabinet and controling the operation of the administration. They are also in charge of several other areas. These include security, human rights, some public inquiries and elections.

The secretary of state officially lives in Hillsborough Castle. It was the official home of the governor of Northern Ireland. The castle is still a royal residence of the monarch in Northern Ireland. 

 List of secretaries of state for Northern Ireland 
 Portrait NameTerm of office Length of term PartyPrime Minister75pxWilliam WhitelawMP for Penrith and The Border 24 March 1972 2 December 1973  Conservative Edward Heath 75px Francis PymMP for Cambridgeshire 2 December 1973 4 March 1974  Conservative 75px Merlyn ReesMP for Leeds South 5 March 1974 10 September 1976  Labour Harold Wilson 75px Roy MasonMP for Barnsley 10 September 1976 4 May 1979  Labour James Callaghan  75px Humphrey AtkinsMP for Spelthorne 5 May 1979 14 September 1981  Conservative Margaret Thatcher 75px Jim PriorMP for Lowestoft (until 1983)MP for Waveney (from 1983) 14 September 1981 11 September 1984  Conservative  75px Douglas HurdMP for Witney 11 September 1984 3 September 1985  Conservative 75px Tom KingMP for Bridgwater 3 September 1985 24 July 1989  Conservative 75px Peter BrookeMP for Cities of London and Westminster South 24 July 1989 10 April 1992  ConservativeJohn Major  75px Sir Patrick MayhewMP for Tunbridge Wells 10 April 1992 2 May 1997  Conservative  75px Mo MowlamMP for Redcar 3 May 1997 11 October 1999  LabourTony Blair  75px Peter MandelsonMP for Hartlepool 11 October 1999 24 January 2001  Labour  75px John ReidMP for Hamilton North and Bellshill 25 January 2001 24 October 2002  Labour  75px Paul MurphyMP for Torfaen 24 October 2002 6 May 2005  Labour 75px Peter HainMP for Neath(also Welsh Secretary) 6 May 2005 28 June 2007  Labour 75px Shaun WoodwardMP for St Helens South 28 June 2007 11 May 2010  Labour Gordon Brown 75px Owen PatersonMP for North Shropshire 12 May 2010 4 September 2012  ConservativeDavid Cameron(Coalition) 75px Theresa VilliersMP for Chipping Barnet 4 September 2012 14 July 2016  Conservative David Cameron(II) 75px James BrokenshireMP for Old Bexley and Sidcup 14 July 2016 8 January 2018  Conservative Theresa May 75px Karen BradleyMP for Staffordshire Moorlands 8 January 2018 24 July 2019  Conservative 75px Julian Smith MP for Skipton and Ripon 24 July 2019 13 February 2020  Conservative Boris Johnson75px Brandon Lewis MP for Great Yarmouth 13 February 2020 7 July 2022  Conservative75px Shailesh Vara MP for North West Cambridgeshire 7 July 2022 6 September 2022 Conservative75px Chris Heaton-Harris MP for Daventry 6 September 2022 5 July 2024  Conservative Liz TrussRishi Sunak 75px Hilary BennMP for Leeds South 5 July 2024 Incumbent * Labour Keir Starmer

* Incumbent's length of term last updated: . 

Notes


Category:1972 establishments in the United Kingdom