First Secretary of State

Vorlage:PoliticsUK First Secretary of State is an occasionally-used title within the British government, principally regarded as purely honorific. The title, which implies seniority over all other Secretaries of State, has no specific powers or authority attached to it beyond that of any other Secretary of State. It originated as an alternative to the use of the title Deputy Prime Minister, which was opposed by some for constitutional reasons. The principle of one of these objections was that the title implied some degree of expectation that there would be a right of succession to the Prime Minister's position in the event of the death or resignation of the incumbent.Vorlage:Fact

The Current Position

There is currently no Deputy Prime Minister or First Secretary of State. [1] Reports that Jack Straw had been given the position in June 2007 seem to have been a mistake.

List of First Secretaries of State

Name		Picture	Entered office	Left office	Political party & position	Other ministerial offices held whilst in post
style="background-color: Vorlage:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Rt Hon Rab Butler CH DL MP		13 July 1962	18 October 1963	Conservative	Deputy Prime Minister
style="background-color: Vorlage:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Rt Hon George Brown MP		16 October 1964	11 August 1966	Labour (Deputy Leader)	Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
style="background-color: Vorlage:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Rt Hon Michael Stewart CH MP		11 August 1966	6 April 1968	Labour	Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (until 29 August 1967), none (29 August 1967 – 16 March 1968), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (16 March 1968 – 17 October 1968)
style="background-color: Vorlage:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Rt Hon Barbara Castle MP	Datei:Barbara Castle 27.jpg	6 April 1968	19 June 1970	Labour	Secretary of State for Employment
style="background-color: Vorlage:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Rt Hon Michael Heseltine MP		20 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative	Deputy Prime Minister
style="background-color: Vorlage:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	The Rt Hon John Prescott MP		8 June 2001	27 June 2007	Labour (Deputy Leader)	Deputy Prime Minister (from 2 May 1997)

See also

Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom