Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, often called the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care. They are a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.  The first one was in 1968. For 30 years, from 1988 to 2018, it  was called Secretary of State for Health.  Before 1988 the department was the Department of Health and Social Security.

Since devolution in 1999, the  responsibility for the NHS is mostly the health service in England, with the ministers in Scotland and Wales responsible for the NHS in Scotland and Wales.

The current health secretary is Wes Streeting who was appointed by Keir Starmer on 5 July 2024.

List of ministers

Colour key (for political parties):

President of the Board of Health (1848–1858)
 President of the Board Term of office Political party Prime Minister  Lord John Russell 60px The Earl of Carlisle 1848 17 April 1849 Whig 60px Lord Seymour 17 April 1849 1 August 1851 Whig  60px Lord Seymour 1 August 1851 21 February 1852 Whig 60px Lord John Manners 4 March 1852 17 December 1852 Conservative The Earl of Derby 60px William Molesworth 5 January 1853 14 October 1854 Radical The Earl of Aberdeen  60px Benjamin Hall 14 October 1854 13 August 1855 Whig The Viscount Palmerston 60px William Cowper 13 August 1855 9 February 1857 Whig 60px William Monsell 9 February 1857 24 September 1857 Whig 60px William Cowper 24 September 1857 21 February 1858 Whig 60px Charles Adderley 8 March 1858 1 September 1858 Conservative The Earl of Derby Board of Health abolished in 1858; responsibilities transferred tothe Privy Council (1858–1871), then the Local Government Board (1871–1919).

Minister of Health (1919–1968)
 Minister Term of office Political partyMinistry 60px Christopher Addison 24 June 1919 1 April 1921 LiberalLloyd George II 60px Alfred Mond 1 April 1921 19 October 1922 Liberal 60px Arthur Griffith-Boscawen 24 October 1922 7 March 1923 ConservativeLaw 60px Neville Chamberlain 7 March 1923 27 August 1923 ConservativeBaldwin I 60px William Joynson-Hicks 27 August 1923 22 January 1924 Conservative 60px John Wheatley 22 January 1924 3 November 1924 LabourMacDonald I 60px Neville Chamberlain 6 November 1924 4 June 1929 ConservativeBaldwin II 60px Arthur Greenwood 7 June 1929 24 August 1931 LabourMacdonald II 60px Neville Chamberlain 25 August 1931 5 November 1931 ConservativeNational I 60px Hilton Young 5 November 1931 7 June 1935 ConservativeNational II 60px Kingsley Wood 7 June 1935 16 May 1938 ConservativeNational IIINational IV 60px Walter Elliot 16 May 1938 13 May 1940 UnionistChamberlain War 60px Malcolm MacDonald 13 May 1940 8 February 1941 National LabourChurchill War 60px Ernest Brown 8 February 1941 11 November 1943 National Liberal 60px Henry Willink 11 November 1943 26 July 1945 ConservativeChurchill Caretaker 60px Aneurin Bevan 3 August 1945 17 January 1951 LabourAttlee IAttlee II 60px Hilary Marquand 17 January 1951 26 October 1951 Labour 60px Harry Crookshank 30 October 1951 7 May 1952 ConservativeChurchill III 60px Iain Macleod 7 May 1952 20 December 1955 ConservativeEden 60px Robin Turton 20 December 1955 16 January 1957 Conservative 60px Dennis Vosper 16 January 1957 17 September 1957 ConservativeMacmillan I60pxDerek Walker-Smith17 September 195727 July 1960ConservativeMacmillan II 60px Enoch Powell 27 July 1960 20 October 1963 Conservative 60px Anthony Barber 20 October 1963 16 October 1964 ConservativeDouglas-Home 60px Kenneth Robinson 18 October 1964 1 November 1968 LabourWilson I Post merged with Ministry for Social Security in 1968.

Secretary of State for Social Services (1968–1988)

 Secretary of State Term of office Political party Ministry 60px Richard Crossman 1 November 1968 19 June 1970 LabourWilson II Keith Joseph 20 June 1970 4 March 1974 ConservativeHeath 60px Barbara Castle 5 March 1974 8 April 1976 LabourWilson III 60px David Ennals 8 April 1976 4 May 1979 LabourCallaghan Patrick Jenkin 5 May 1979 14 September 1981 ConservativeThatcher I 60px Norman Fowler 14 September 1981 13 June 1987 ConservativeThatcher II 60px John Moore 13 June 1987 25 July 1988 ConservativeThatcher III Post split into Secretary of State for Social Security and Secretary of State for Health in 1988.

Secretary of State for Health (1988–2018)
 Secretary of State Term of office Political party Ministry 60px Kenneth Clarke 25 July 1988 2 November 1990 ConservativeThatcher III 60px William Waldegrave 2 November 1990 10 April 1992 ConservativeMajor I 60px Virginia Bottomley 10 April 1992 5 July 1995 ConservativeMajor II 60px Stephen Dorrell 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative 60px Frank Dobson 3 May 1997 11 October 1999 LabourBlair I 60px Alan Milburn 11 October 1999 13 June 2003 LabourBlair II 60px John Reid 13 June 2003 6 May 2005 Labour 60px Patricia Hewitt 6 May 2005 28 June 2007 LabourBlair III 60px Alan Johnson 28 June 2007 5 June 2009 Labour Brown 60px Andy Burnham 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour 60px Andrew Lansley 11 May 2010 4 September 2012 Conservative Cameron–Clegg 60px Jeremy Hunt 4 September 2012 8 January 2018 ConservativeCameron IIMay IMay II
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2018–present)
 Secretary of State Term of office Political partyMinistry 60px Jeremy Hunt 8 January 2018 9 July 2018 ConservativeMay II 60px Matt Hancock 9 July 2018 26 June 2021 Conservative Johnson I Johnson II 60px Sajid Javid 26 June 2021 5 July 2022 Conservative 60px Steve Barclay 5 July 20226 September 2022 Conservative 80x80px Thérèse Coffey6 September 202225 October 2022 ConservativeTruss 60px Steve Barclay25 October 202213 November 2023 Conservative Sunak 60px Victoria Atkins13 November 20235 July 2024 Conservative 60px Wes Streeting5 July 2024Incumbent Labour Starmer

References