The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...

. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security

Department of Social Security

The Department of Social Security is the name of a defunct governmental agency in the United Kingdom.The DSS replaced the older Department of Health and Social Security, from 1988 until 2001, when it was itself largely replaced as a department of the Government of the United Kingdom by the...

.

The Ministry of Pensions was created in 1916 to handle the payment of war pensions to former members of the Armed Forces and their dependants. In 1944 a separate Ministry of National Insurance (initially titled the Ministry of Social Insurance, it changed its name on 17 November 1944) was formed; the two merged in 1953 as the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance

Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance

The Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance or MPNI was a British government ministry responsible for the administration and delivery of welfare benefits...

. In 1966 the Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Social Security, but this was short-lived, as the Ministry merged with the Ministry of Health in 1968 to form the Department of Health and Social Security

Department of Health and Social Security

The Department of Health and Social Security was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services.-History:...

. Confusingly, the Secretary of State responsible for this Department was titled the Secretary of State for Social Services

Secretary of State for Social Services

The Secretary of State for Social Services was a position in the UK cabinet, created on 1 November 1968 with responsibility for the Department of Health and Social Security...

. The Department was de-merged in 1988, creating the separate Department of Health and Department of Social Security.

Minister of Pensions

• George Barnes
  George Nicoll Barnes
  George Nicoll Barnes CH PC was a Scottish politician and a leader of the Labour Party.Barnes was born in Lochee, Dundee, the second of five sons of James Barnes, a skilled engineer and mill manager from Yorkshire, and his wife, Catherine Adam Langlands...
  
   (10 December 1916 – 17 August 1917)
• John Hodge (17 August 1917 – 10 January 1919)
• Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, Bt (10 January 1919 – 2 April 1920)
• Ian Macpherson (2 April 1920 – 19 October 1922)
• George Tryon
  George Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon
  Major George Clement Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon, PC was a British Conservative politician who served in a number of ministerial positions in the inter-war years....
  
   (31 October 1922 – 22 January 1924)
• Frederick Roberts
  Frederick Roberts (politician)
  Frederick Owen Roberts PC was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.He was elected at the 1918 general election as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich, defeating the sitting Conservative MP Viscount Lewisham...
  
   (23 January 1924 – 3 November 1924)
• George Tryon
  George Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon
  Major George Clement Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon, PC was a British Conservative politician who served in a number of ministerial positions in the inter-war years....
  
   (11 November 1924 – 4 June 1929)
• Frederick Roberts
  Frederick Roberts (politician)
  Frederick Owen Roberts PC was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.He was elected at the 1918 general election as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich, defeating the sitting Conservative MP Viscount Lewisham...
  
   (7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931)
• George Tryon
  George Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon
  Major George Clement Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon, PC was a British Conservative politician who served in a number of ministerial positions in the inter-war years....
  
   (3 September 1931 – 18 June 1935)
• Robert Hudson
  Robert Hudson, 1st Viscount Hudson
  Robert Spear Hudson, 1st Viscount Hudson CH PC was a British Conservative Party politician who held a number of ministerial posts during the Second World War....
  
   (18 June 1935 – 30 July 1936)
• Herwald Ramsbotham
  Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury
  Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury GCMG, GCVO, OBE, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician. He was a government minister between 1931 and 1941 and served as Governor-General of Ceylon between 1949 and 1954....
  
   (30 July 1936 – 7 June 1939)
• Sir Walter Womersley (7 June 1939 – 26 July 1945)
• Wilfred Paling
  Wilfred Paling
  Wilfred Paling was a British Labour politician. He was born at Marehay, near Ripley, Derbyshire, one of eight children of a coalminer. Paling left Ripley Elementary School at the age of 13, and entered casual employment with local plumbing and building companies...
  
   (3 August 1945 – 17 April 1947)
• John Burns Hynd
  John Burns Hynd
  John Burns Hynd was a British Labour politician.Educated at St Ninian's Episcopal School and Caledonian Road School, Perth, he left school at 14 and became a Railway Clerk in the District Office of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, Perth, where he worked until 1925...
  
   (17 April 1947 – 7 October 1947)
• George Buchanan
  George Buchanan (politician)
  George Buchanan was born in Glasgow, Scotland. A committed socialist, he joined the Independent Labour Party .Buchanan was vice-chairman of Glasgow Trades Council and sat on the city council from 1919 to 1923...
  
   (7 October 1947 – 2 July 1948)
• Hilary Marquand
  Hilary Marquand
  Hilary Adair Marquand was a British Labour Party politician.He was educated at Cardiff High School and at University College, Cardiff where he studied history and economics...
  
   (2 July 1948 – 17 January 1951)
• George Isaacs
  George Isaacs
  George Alfred Isaacs JP DL was a British politician and trades unionist who served in the government of Clement Attlee....
  
   (17 January 1951 – 26 October 1951)
• Derick Heathcoat-Amory
  Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory
  Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory was a British Conservative politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1958 to 1960 and as Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 1972 to 1981.-Background and education:...
  
   (5 November 1951 – 3 September 1953)

Minister of Social Insurance/National Insurance (1944–1953)
Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Sir William Jowitt William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt PC, KC , was a British Labour politician and lawyer, who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.-Background and education:...		8 October 1944	23 May 1945	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
	Leslie Hore-Belisha Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha Isaac Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha PC was a British Liberal, then National Liberal Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. He later joined the Conservative Party...		25 May 1945	26 July 1945	National Independent
	Jim Griffiths Jim Griffiths James "Jim" Griffiths CH , was a Welsh Labour politician, trade union leader and the first ever Secretary of State for Wales.-Background and education:...		4 August 1945	28 February 1950	Labour	Clement Attlee Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
	Edith Summerskill		28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour
	Osbert Peake Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby PC was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Minister of National Insurance and then as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1951 to 1955....		31 October 1951	3 September 1953	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Sir Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
Ministers of Pensions and National Insurance (1953–1966)
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Osbert Peake Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby PC was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Minister of National Insurance and then as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1951 to 1955....		3 September 1953	20 December 1955	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Sir Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
						Sir Anthony Eden Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
	John Boyd-Carpenter John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter John Archibald Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter PC was a British Conservative politician.-Early life:...		20 December 1955	16 July 1962	Conservative
						Harold Macmillan Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
	Niall Macpherson Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn KBE, PC was a Scottish Tory and National Liberal politician.-Background and education:...		16 July 1962	21 October 1963	Conservative
	Richard Wood Richard Wood, Baron Holderness Richard Frederick Wood, Baron Holderness PC, DL was a British Conservative politician who held numerous ministerial positions from 1955 to 1974...		21 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative	Sir Alec Douglas-Home Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
	Margaret Herbison Margaret Herbison Margaret McCrorie Herbison was a Scottish Labour politician.Educated at Bellshill Academy and the University of Glasgow, her early career was spent as a teacher of English and history and as an economics lecturer for the National Council of Labour Colleges. The daughter of a miner, she would later...		18 October 1964	6 August 1966	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Harold Wilson Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
Ministers of Social Security (1966–1968)
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Margaret Herbison Margaret Herbison Margaret McCrorie Herbison was a Scottish Labour politician.Educated at Bellshill Academy and the University of Glasgow, her early career was spent as a teacher of English and history and as an economics lecturer for the National Council of Labour Colleges. The daughter of a miner, she would later...		6 August 1966	26 July 1967	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Harold Wilson Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
	Judith Hart		26 July 1967	1 November 1968	Labour
Secretaries of State for Health and Social Services (1968–1988)
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Richard Crossman Richard Crossman Richard Howard Stafford Crossman OBE was a British author and Labour Party politician who was a Cabinet Minister under Harold Wilson, and was the editor of the New Statesman. A prominent socialist intellectual, he became one of the Labour Party's leading Zionists and anti-communists...		1 November 1968	19 June 1970	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Harold Wilson Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
	Sir Keith Joseph Keith Joseph Keith St John Joseph, Baron Joseph, Bt, CH, PC , was a British barrister and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet under three Prime Ministers , and is widely regarded to have been the "power behind the throne" in the creation of what came to be known as...		20 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Edward Heath Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
	Barbara Castle		5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	Harold Wilson Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
	David Ennals David Ennals, Baron Ennals David Hedley Ennals, Baron Ennals PC was a British Labour Party politician and campaigner for human rights...		8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	James Callaghan James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
	Patrick Jenkin Patrick Jenkin, Baron Jenkin of Roding Charles Patrick Fleeming Jenkin, Baron Jenkin of Roding, PC is a British Conservative politician and the great-grandson of the scientist Fleeming Jenkin....		5 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
	Norman Fowler Norman Fowler Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler, PC is a British Conservative politician who was from 1981 to 1990 a member of Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet.-Early life:...		14 September 1981	13 June 1987	Conservative
	John Moore John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh John Edward Michael Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh PC is a British politician who was Member of Parliament for Croydon Central from February 1974 until 1992. During the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher he enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of government which culminated in him serving as...		13 June 1987	25 July 1988	Conservative
Post split into the Secretary of State for Social Security and the Secretary of State for Health Secretary of State for Health Secretary of State for Health is a UK cabinet position responsible for the Department of Health.The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November, and 21 November 1831. In 1848 a General Board of Health was created with the First Commissioner of Woods and...  in 1988.
Secretaries of State for Social Security (1988–2001)
Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	John Moore John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh John Edward Michael Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh PC is a British politician who was Member of Parliament for Croydon Central from February 1974 until 1992. During the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher he enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of government which culminated in him serving as...		25 July 1988	23 July 1989	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
	Tony Newton		23 July 1989	10 April 1992	Conservative
						John Major John Major Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
	Peter Lilley Peter Lilley Peter Bruce Lilley MP is a British Conservative Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament MP since 1983. He currently represents the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden and, prior to boundary changes, represented St Albans...		10 April 1992	2 May 1997	Conservative
	Harriet Harman Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...		3 May 1997	27 July 1998	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Tony Blair Tony Blair Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
	Alistair Darling Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament since 1987, currently for Edinburgh South West. He served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010...		27 July 1998	8 June 2001	Labour
Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions (2001– )
Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Alistair Darling Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament since 1987, currently for Edinburgh South West. He served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010...		8 June 2001	29 May 2002	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Tony Blair Tony Blair Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
	Andrew Smith		29 May 2002	8 September 2004	Labour
	Alan Johnson Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was...		8 September 2004	6 May 2005	Labour
	David Blunkett David Blunkett David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...		6 May 2005	2 November 2005	Labour
	John Hutton		2 November 2005	27 June 2007	Labour
	Peter Hain Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...		28 June 2007	24 January 2008	Labour	Gordon Brown Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
	James Purnell James Purnell James Mark Dakin Purnell is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 2001 to 2010. He is currently the Head of the Open Left project at the left leaning think tank Demos...		24 January 2008	4 June 2009	Labour
	Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010, having previously been MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010. She is the Shadow Home Secretary...		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
	Iain Duncan Smith Iain Duncan Smith George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...		12 May 2010	Incumbent	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	David Cameron David Cameron David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....