Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

History

Historically, the principal ministers for Irish (and subsequently Northern Ireland) affairs in the UK Government and its predecessors were:

• the lord lieutenant of Ireland ( 1171–1922);
• the chief secretary for Ireland (1560–1922); and
• the home secretary (1922–1972).

In August 1969, for example, Home Secretary James Callaghan approved the sending of British Army soldiers to Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales were represented by the roles of Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Wales from 1885 and 1964 respectively, but Northern Ireland remained separate, owing to the devolved 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 first suspended and then abolished following widespread civil strife. The British government was increasingly concerned that Stormont was losing control of the situation. On 30 March 1972, direct rule from Westminster was introduced. The secretary of state filled three roles which existed under the previous Stormont regime:

• the governor of Northern Ireland (the nominal head of the executive and representative of the British monarch)
• the prime minister of Northern Ireland (in the present day, a role filled by the first minister of Northern Ireland and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland acting jointly)
• the minister of home affairs (in the present day, a role filled by the minister of justice).

Direct rule was seen as a temporary measure, with a power-sharing devolution preferred as the solution, and was annually renewed by a vote in Parliament.

The Sunningdale Agreement in 1973 resulted in the brief existence of a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive from 1 January 1974, which was ended by the loyalist Ulster Workers' Council strike on 28 May 1974. The strikers opposed the power-sharing and all-Ireland aspects of the new administration.

The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–1976) and Northern Ireland Assembly (1982–1986) were unsuccessful in restoring devolved government. After the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 15 November 1985, the UK Government and Irish Government co-operated more closely on security and political matters.

Following the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) on 10 April 1998, devolution returned to Northern Ireland on 2 December 1999. This removed many of the duties of the secretary of state and his Northern Ireland Office colleagues and devolved them to those locally elected politicians who constitute the Northern Ireland Executive.

Formerly holding a large portfolio over home affairs in Northern Ireland, the current devolution settlement has lessened the secretary of state's role, granting many of the former powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive. The secretary of state is now generally limited to representing Northern Ireland in the UK cabinet, overseeing the operation of the devolved administration and a number of reserved and excepted matters which remain the sole competence of the UK Government e.g. security, human rights, certain public inquiries and the administration of elections.

Created in 1972, the position has switched between members of Parliament from the Conservative Party and Labour Party. As Labour has not fielded candidates in Northern Ireland, and the Conservatives have not had candidates elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly or for House of Commons seats in the region, those appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland have not represented a constituency in Northern Ireland. This contrasts with the secretaries of state for Scotland and Wales.

The secretary of state officially resides in Hillsborough Castle, which was previously the official residence of the governor of Northern Ireland, and remains the royal residence of the monarch in Northern Ireland. The secretary of state exercises their duties through, and is administratively supported by, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).

The devolved administration was suspended several times (especially between 15 October 2002 and 8 May 2007) because the Ulster Unionist Party and Democratic Unionist Party were uncomfortable being in government with Sinn Féin when the Provisional Irish Republican Army had failed to decommission its arms fully and continued its criminal activities. On each of these occasions, the responsibilities of the ministers in the Executive then returned to the secretary of state and his ministers. During these periods, in addition to administration of the region, the secretary of state was also heavily involved in the negotiations with all parties to restore devolved government.

Power was again devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 8 May 2007. The secretary of state retained responsibility for policing and justice until most of those powers were devolved on 12 April 2010. Robert Hazell has suggested merging the offices of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for Scotland and for Wales into one secretary of state for the Union, in a department into which Rodney Brazier has suggested adding a minister of state for England with responsibility for English local government.

List of secretaries of state for Northern Ireland

Colour key

Timeline

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late PlotArea = width:87% left:15 top:10 bottom:80 Legend = columns:1 left:120 top:50 columnwidth:175

Define $today =

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1970 till:31/12/ TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

Colors = id:conservative value:rgb(0,0.53,0.86) legend: Conservative_and_Unionist_Party id:labour value:rgb(0.86,0.08,0.18) legend: Labour_Party id:libdem value:rgb(0.98,0.651,0.102) legend: Liberal_Democrats id:independent value:rgb(0.6,0.6,0.6) legend: Independent_or_no_party id:liteline value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) id:line value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1970 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:liteline unit:year increment:2 start:1970

TextData = pos:(20,55) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"

BarData = bar:Whitelaw bar:Pym bar:Rees bar:Mason bar:Atkins bar:Prior bar:Hurd bar:King bar:Brooke bar:Mayhew bar:Mowlam bar:Mandelson bar:Reid bar:Murphy bar:Hain bar:Woodward bar:Paterson bar:Villiers bar:Brokenshire bar:Bradley bar:Smith bar:Lewis bar:Vara bar:Heaton-Harris bar:Benn

PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Whitelaw from: 24/03/1972 till: 02/12/1973 color:Conservative text:"William Whitelaw" bar:Pym from: 02/12/1973 till: 04/03/1974 color:Conservative text:"Francis Pym" bar:Rees from: 05/03/1974 till: 10/09/1976 color:Labour text:"Merlyn Rees" bar:Mason from: 10/09/1976 till: 04/07/1979 color:Labour text:"Roy Mason" bar:Atkins from: 05/05/1979 till: 14/09/1981 color:Conservative text:"Humphrey Atkins" bar:Prior from: 14/09/1981 till: 11/09/1984 color:Conservative text:"Jim Prior" bar:Hurd from: 11/09/1984 till: 03/09/1985 color:Conservative text:"Douglas Hurd" bar:King from: 03/09/1985 till: 24/07/1989 color:Conservative text:"Tom King" bar:Brooke from: 24/07/1989 till: 10/04/1992 color:Conservative text:"Peter Brooke" bar:Mayhew from: 10/04/1992 till: 02/05/1997 color:Conservative text:"Patrick Mayhew" bar:Mowlam from: 03/05/1997 till: 11/10/1999 color:Labour text:"Mo Mowlam" bar:Mandelson from: 11/10/1999 till: 24/01/2001 color:Labour text:"Peter Mandelson" bar:Reid from: 25/01/2001 till: 24/10/2002 color:Labour text:"John Reid" bar:Murphy from: 24/10/2002 till: 06/05/2005 color:Labour text:"Paul Murphy" bar:Hain from: 06/05/2005 till: 28/06/2007 color:Labour text:"Peter Hain" bar:Woodward from: 28/06/2007 till: 11/05/2010 color:Labour text:"Shaun Woodward" bar:Paterson from: 12/05/2010 till: 04/09/2012 color:Conservative text:"Owen Paterson" bar:Villiers from: 04/09/2012 till: 14/07/2016 color:Conservative text:"Theresa Villiers" bar:Brokenshire from: 14/07/2016 till: 08/01/2018 color:Conservative text:"James Brokenshire" bar:Bradley from: 08/01/2018 till: 24/07/2019 color:Conservative text:"Karen Bradley" bar:Smith from: 24/07/2019 till: 13/02/2020 color:Conservative text:"Julian Smith" bar:Lewis from: 13/02/2020 till: 07/07/2022 color:Conservative text:"Brandon Lewis" bar:Vara from: 07/07/2022 till: 06/09/2022 color:Conservative text:"Shailesh Vara" bar:Heaton-Harris from: 06/09/2022 till: 04/07/2024 color:Conservative text:"Chris Heaton-Harris" bar:Benn from: 05/07/2024 till: $today color:Labour text:"Hilary Benn"

Notes

References

1. (15 December 2022). "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23".
2. "Pay and expenses for MPs".
3. "2008 ANNUAL REPORT North South Council o Ministers".
4. "Buaileann an Tánaiste le Rúnaí Stáit Thuaisceart Éireann – Buaileann an Tánaiste le Rúnaí Stáit Thuaisceart Éireann, an Feisire Theresa Villiers – Department of Foreign Affairs".
5. "Secretary of State for Northern Ireland".
6. "Home Office". National Archives.
7. Melaugh, Martin. "The Deployment of British Troops – 14 August 1969". [[University of Ulster]].
8. Melaugh, Martin. "A Chronology of the Conflict – 1972". University of Ulster.
9. "Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972". legislation.gov.uk.
10. "Northern Ireland Office // About the NIO".
11. Simpson, Mark. (12 April 2010). "New era for policing and justice in Northern Ireland". [[BBC News]].
12. (30 July 2020). "Times letters: Mark Sedwill's call for a cull of the cabinet". [[The Times]].
13. (7 September 2020). "Rodney Brazier: Why is Her Majesty's Government so big?". UK Constitutional Law Association.