Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

United Kingdom
Secretary of State
for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent
Angela Rayner
since 20 July 2026
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
StyleThe Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
TypeMinister of the Crown
StatusSecretary of State
Member of
Reports toThe Prime Minister
SeatWestminster
NominatorThe Prime Minister
AppointerThe Monarch
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term lengthAt His Majesty's Pleasure
Formation
  • 5 May 2002: (as Secretary of State for Local Government and the Regions)
  • 18 September 2021: (as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
  • 8 July 2024: (as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
First holderJohn Prescott (as Secretary of State for Local Government and the Regions)
DeputyMinister of State for Housing and Planning
Salary£159,038 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £86,584 MP salary)[2]
Websitewww.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-housing-communities-local-government

The secretary of state for housing, communities and local government is a senior minister in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). As a Cabinet-level position, the office holder is responsible for housing, planning, and local government policy in England.

The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government.

History

The Department for Communities and Local Government was created in 2006 by then British prime minister Tony Blair to replace John Prescott's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which had taken on the local government and regions portfolios from the defunct Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in 2002.[3]

The secretary of state took over the responsibilities of the minister of state for communities and local government. This post, within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, was created in 2005, on the transfer of several functions from the deputy prime minister himself.

In 2018 the position was incorporated as a corporation sole.[4]

Then prime minister Boris Johnson renamed the position Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and gave the secretary and the department responsibility for carrying out the promise in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto of "levelling up".[5] Labour prime minister Keir Starmer renamed the department as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 8 July 2024, retiring the levelling up moniker.[6]

Responsibilities

According to the UK government, the secretary of state has overall strategic oversight of the department’s business and policy in areas in England including:[7]

  • housing and planning
  • services for people experiencing homelessness
  • local government
  • communities and faith
  • democracy and elections
  • public appointments
  • planning casework
  • corporate functions

List of secretaries of state

Minister Term of office Party Ministry
John Prescott[8]
MP for Kingston upon Hull East		 29 May
2002		 5 May
2006		 Labour Blair II
Blair III
Secretary of State Term of office Party Ministry
Ruth Kelly[9]
MP for Bolton West		 6 May
2006		 28 June
2007		 Labour Blair III
Hazel Blears[10]
MP for Salford		 28 June
2007		 5 June
2009		 Labour Brown
John Denham[11]
MP for Southampton Itchen		 5 June
2009		 11 May
2010		 Labour
Eric Pickles[12]
MP for Brentwood and Ongar		 12 May
2010		 11 May
2015		 Conservative Cameron–Clegg
(Con.–L.D.)
Greg Clark[13]
MP for Tunbridge Wells		 11 May
2015		 14 July
2016		 Conservative Cameron II
Sajid Javid[14]
MP for Bromsgrove		 14 July
2016		 8 January
2018		 Conservative May I
May II
Secretary of State Term of office Party Ministry
Sajid Javid[14]
MP for Bromsgrove		 8 January
2018		 30 April
2018		 Conservative May II
James Brokenshire[15]
MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup		 30 April
2018		 24 July
2019		 Conservative
Robert Jenrick[16]
MP for Newark		 24 July
2019		 15 September
2021		 Conservative Johnson I
Johnson II
Secretary of State Term of office Party Ministry
Michael Gove[5]
MP for Surrey Heath		 15 September[a]
2021		 6 July
2022		 Conservative Johnson II
Greg Clark[17]
MP for Tunbridge Wells		 7 July
2022		 6 September
2022		 Conservative
Simon Clarke[18]
MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland		 6 September
2022		 25 October
2022		 Conservative Truss
Michael Gove
MP for Surrey Heath		 25 October
2022		 5 July
2024		 Conservative Sunak
Secretary of State Term of office Party Ministry
Angela Rayner
MP for Ashton under Lyne		 5 July[b]
2024		 5 September
2025		 Labour Starmer
Steve Reed
MP for Streatham and Croydon North		 5 September
2025		 20 July
2026		 Labour
 Angela Rayner
MP for Ashton under Lyne		 20 July
2026		 Incumbent Labour Burnham

Timeline of secretaries of state

Steve Reed (politician)Angela RaynerSimon ClarkeMichael GoveRobert JenrickJames BrokenshireSajid JavidGreg ClarkEric PicklesJohn DenhamHazel BlearsRuth KellyJohn Prescott

References

  1. ↑ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  3. ↑ Knight, Sam (5 May 2006). "Prescott loses his dream home: the mega department". The Times. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "The Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care and for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Transfer of Functions (Commonhold Land) Order 2018", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2018/378
  5. 1 2 Cordon, Gavin (18 September 2021). "Michael Gove heads rebranded 'Department for Levelling Up'". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Department ditches 'levelling up' moniker | LocalGov". 8 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government". GOV.UK. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "Parliamentary career for Lord Prescott - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "Ruth Kelly". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Rt Hon Hazel Blears". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Rt Hon John Denham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "Rt Hon Sir Eric Pickles". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Rt Hon Greg Clark MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "Sajid Javid announced as new Home Secretary after Amber Rudd's resignation". Sky News. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "Robert Jenrick replaces James Brokenshire as housing secretary". Inside Housing. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP @GregClarkMP has been appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities". Twitter.com. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "The Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP @SimonClarkeMP has been appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities @luhc". Twitter. Retrieved 7 September 2022.

Notes

  1. ↑ Still known officially as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government until 19 September 2021
  2. ↑ Known as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities until official change on 9 July 2024
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.