# Brits: What's a Home Secretary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680 "2016-07-11T19:54:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/1 "2016-07-11T19:54:23Z")
New PM on the way–Godspeed and all that. I have no idea what her previous job was beside the title, whether or not even if that colors her take on governing. So: who or what is a Home Secretary in the scheme of things? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/2 "2016-07-11T19:59:43Z")
I’m not a Brit, but I always kind of figured the Home Secretary was a lot like our own Secretary of the Interior in concept. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/3 "2016-07-11T20:08:06Z")
The Home Secretary is a lot like what other countries call the Minister of Interior – in charge of immigration, citizenship, police and internal security/intelligence (MI5). The Home Office would be analogous in the USA to Homeland Security plus the FBI. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/4 "2016-07-11T20:08:25Z")
From all the British mysteries I have read, the Home Secretary is in charge of national law enforcement, prisons and courts (or something like that), possibly in addition to other duties. So one’s final appeal for clemency after being convicted of something dire would be to the Home Secretary. There is also a [page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Secretary) in Wikipedia, which shows that I am at least partly correct in my conclusions above. So not much like the Secretary of the Interior. Partly like the Attorney General, as being in charge of the FBI, and the Director of NSA as being in charge of national security. But most policing and prison in the US is at the local or state level, so there isn’t a good correlation to any US position. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/5 "2016-07-11T20:20:21Z")
Home Secretary is one of the great offices of state, alongside Prime Minister, Chancellor and Foreign Secretary. She’s in charge of the internal affairs and policing of England and Wales, but also immigration, citizenship and domestic security - MI5 reports to her, for example - for the whole UK. It’s usually seen as a hugely demanding role, both personally (many responsibilities) and politically (tends to get blamed for lots of stuff). Theresa May has been in post for a lot longer than most Home Secretaries manage. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/6 "2016-07-11T22:31:41Z")
Just to pedantically answer the question, the Home Secretary is the [Cabinet Minister](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_the_United_Kingdom) in charge of the [Home Office](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Office). As noted in previous answers, it’s a senior Government role, and he or she will be appointed directly by the Prime Minister. Note that since 2007 the [Ministry of Justice](https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice) has had responsibility for the courts and criminal justice system, something that had previously been the remit of the Home Office (and therefore the Home Secretary). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/7 "2016-07-11T22:41:59Z")
It helps to understand the name of the position when you realise that the positions of Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary were created at the same time, in the late 18th century. One got responsibility for internal matters, the other for external matters. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/8 "2016-07-11T23:55:14Z")
Interesting. Thanks. And now I know that **Baron** ’s Great Offices of State is a thing, not just (as I originally thought) flowery writing. > **[Great Offices of State](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Offices_of_State)** > > Charles III > > William, Prince of Wales Also, I might add that Sectetary of the Interior must be one of the least influential cabinet posts in the US, even though it sounds commensurate with “Home.” ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/9 "2016-07-12T00:16:25Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Interesting. Thanks. And now I know that **Baron** ’s Great Offices of State is a thing, not just (as I originally thought) flowery writing. Thanks, I think 🙂 I think May is the first Home Sec to go straight to PM since Lord Palmerston in the middle of the 19th century, if I’m reading this list right: > **[Home Secretary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Secretary#List_of_Home_Secretaries)** > > Charles III > > William, Prince of Wales It’s a tricky beat. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/10 "2016-07-12T01:23:50Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The Home Secretary is a lot like what other countries call the Minister of Interior – in charge of immigration, citizenship, police and internal security/intelligence (MI5). That would just confuse the issue for Americans. Our Secretary of the Interior has a completely different role, being in charge of public lands and relations with Native Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/11 "2016-07-12T05:23:49Z")
Pity [Harriet Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Jones) isn’t available for the PM job. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/12 "2016-07-12T07:07:00Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It’s a tricky beat. By the nature of the job’s responsibilities, the holder is more likely than not to fall victim to the politician’s greatest problem: “Events, dear boy, events”, as one former PM put it. And the Home Office civil service management isn’t always the most dynamically efficient. It’s damaged the reputations of many an otherwise apparently competent and successful minister. It’s interesting that Theresa May lasted so long in the job, with a fair quota of things going wrong to throw at her, and still come out on top. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/13 "2016-07-12T07:55:07Z")
Yes, the essential job of the Home Secretary is to be someone the Prime Minister can blame or hold responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/14 "2016-07-12T09:42:03Z")
I seem to remember Michael Heseltine being offered the Home Office by John Major in 1990, but he rejected it as ‘a graveyard’, politically. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/15 "2016-07-12T12:00:36Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > Pity [Harriet Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Jones) isn’t available for the PM job. Or [The Amazing Mrs Pritchard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Mrs_Pritchard)! ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/16 "2016-07-12T16:19:15Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … > Also, I might add that Sectetary of the Interior must be one of the least influential cabinet posts in the US, even though it sounds commensurate with “Home.” Occasionally one is a name heard in the news: Mo Udall, James Watt, Bruce Babbitt - not because of their performances as secretary in all cases. Nonetheless, the order of precedence / presidential succession for cabinet posts is order of creation for their department, which puts “Interior” pretty high up in the pack, after “State”, “Treasury”, “Defense” and “Attorney General”. I’d agree that our first order approximation for “Home Secretary” is “Attorney General” plus “Homeland Security”. Note that management of elections as well as much law enforcement is handled by the states, and cannot be the responsibility of a cabinet department. Most states have an official called “Secretary of State”, who is usually in charge of handling elections, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/17 "2016-07-12T16:26:53Z")
I would also add that when it comes to the British “Great Offices”, “Chancellor of the Exchequer” sounds a lot cooler than “Secretary of the Treasury”. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/18 "2016-07-12T16:43:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That would just confuse the issue for Americans. Our Secretary of the Interior has a completely different role, being in charge of public lands and relations with Native Americans. But **JRDelirious** did not say “Secretary”, he said “Minister” and was completely accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/19 "2016-07-12T17:42:05Z")
Side question/s; in my reading, I’ve noticed that an overwhelming majority of UK Cabinet ministers have an official title of “Secretary of State for such-and-such”. Ms. May, for example, is officially the “Secretary of State for the Home Department”, and then you’ve got Secretaries of State for Health, Secretaries of State for Justice, Secretaries of State for the Chancellory of the Exforth Hundreds, and so on. (OK, I made that last one up, but you get the drift.) What’s the historical reason behind that naming custom? Why are they called “ministries” when they’re lead by “secretaries”? Why isn’t the Prime Minister therefore called the Prime Secretary? What’s the logic between which offices are a “Secretary of State” and which aren’t? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680/20 "2016-07-12T18:13:22Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > What’s the historical reason behind that naming custom? It goes back to when the King’s Secretary dealt with his correspondence. The name just stuck as things evolved. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-whats-a-home-secretary/759680.md?page=2)