Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in the United Kingdom; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. The Home Office has also previously dealt with social issues, including social exclusion, equality and race relations, but the responsibility for these areas is now held by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Unlike many other governments, the British government has separate departments for the issues dealt with by the Home Office and for legal, judicial and civil rights issues; these are dealt with by the Lord Chancellor's Department, headed by Lord Irvine of Lairg, a controversial figure who has ignited media and public wrath in the past because of his autocratic style of government, enormous salary and taste in wallpaper. The Lord Chancellor also enjoys infamy because despite the significance of his role (which spans all three branches of government) he is unelected. There have been repeated calls for the scrapping of the office and its replacement with a Justice Department headed by an elected Cabinet member, or the merger of the department with the Home Office.

Previous Home Secretaries have included Winston Churchill, William Whitelaw, Roy Hattersley, Michael Howard and Jack Straw.

The current Home Secretary is David Blunkett.