Secretary of State for 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)

Name Portrait Term of office Political Party Prime Minister
John Hodge 10 December 1916 17 August 1917 Labour David Lloyd George
(Coalition)
George Henry Roberts 17 August 1917 10 January 1919 Labour
Sir Robert Horne 10 January 1919 19 March 1920 Unionist
Thomas James Macnamara 19 March 1920 19 October 1922 Liberal
Sir Anderson Montague-Barlow 31 October 1922 22 January 1924 Conservative Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Tom Shaw 22 January 1924 3 November 1924 Labour Ramsay MacDonald
Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland, Bt 6 November 1924 4 June 1929 Conservative Stanley Baldwin
Margaret Bondfield 7 June 1929 24 August 1931
(lost seat 1931)		 Labour Ramsay MacDonald
Sir Henry Betterton, Bt 25 August 1931 29 June 1934 Conservative Ramsay MacDonald
(1st & 2nd National Min.)
Oliver Stanley 29 June 1934 7 June 1935 Conservative
Ernest Brown 7 June 1935 13 May 1940 Liberal National Stanley Baldwin
(3rd National Min.)
Neville Chamberlain
(4th Nat.Min.; War Coalition)

Minister of Labour and National Service (1940–1959)

Name Portrait Term of office Political Party Prime Minister
Ernest Bevin 13 May 1940 23 May 1945 Labour Winston Churchill
(War Coalition)
R. A. Butler 25 May 1945 26 July 1945 Conservative Winston Churchill
(Caretaker Min.)
George Isaacs 3 August 1945 17 January 1951 Labour Clement Attlee
Aneurin Bevan 17 January 1951 23 April 1951
(resigned)		 Labour
Alfred Robens 24 April 1951 26 October 1951 Labour
Walter Monckton 28 October 1951 20 December 1955 Conservative Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Anthony Eden
Iain Macleod 20 December 1955 14 October 1959 Conservative
Harold Macmillan
Edward Heath 14 October 1959 12 November 1959 Conservative

Minister of Labour (1959–1968)

Name Term of office Political Party Prime Minister
Edward Heath 12 November 1959 27 July 1960 Conservative Harold Macmillan
John Hare 27 July 1960 20 October 1963 Conservative
Joseph Godber 20 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Ray Gunter 18 October 1964 6 April 1968 Labour Harold Wilson

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

Name Portrait Term of office Political Party Prime Minister
Barbara Castle 6 April 1968 19 June 1970 Labour Harold Wilson

Secretary of State for Employment (1970–1995)

Name Term of office Political Party Prime Minister
Robert Carr 20 June 1970 7 April 1972 Conservative Edward Heath
Maurice Macmillan 7 April 1972 2 December 1973 Conservative
William Whitelaw 2 December 1973 4 March 1974 Conservative
Michael Foot 5 March 1974 8 April 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
Albert Booth 8 April 1976 4 May 1979 Labour James Callaghan
James Prior 5 May 1979 14 September 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
Norman Tebbit 14 September 1981 16 October 1983 Conservative
Tom King 16 October 1983 2 September 1985 Conservative
The Lord Young of Graffham 2 September 1985 13 June 1987 Conservative
Norman Fowler 13 June 1987 3 January 1990 Conservative
Michael Howard 3 January 1990 11 April 1992 Conservative
John Major
Gillian Shephard 11 April 1992 27 May 1993 Conservative
David Hunt 27 May 1993 20 July 1994 Conservative
Michael Portillo 20 July 1994 5 July 1995 Conservative

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

Name Term of office Political Party Prime Minister
Gillian Shephard 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative John Major
David Blunkett 2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour Tony Blair

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