The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
The office holder works alongside the other transport ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for transport, and the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Transport Select Committee.
The position of secretary of state for transport is held by Heidi Alexander, who was appointed by Keir Starmer following the resignation of Louise Haigh.
History The Ministry of Transport absorbed the Ministry of Shipping and was renamed the Ministry of War Transport in 1941, but resumed its previous name at the end of the war.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation was created by Winston Churchill in 1944 to look at peaceful ways of using aircraft and to find something for the aircraft factories to do after the war. The new Conservative government in 1951 appointed the same minister to both Transport and Civil Aviation, finally amalgamating the ministries on 1 October 1953.
The ministry was renamed back to the Ministry of Transport on 14 October 1959, when a separate Ministry of Aviation was formed.
Transport responsibilities were subsumed by the Department for the Environment, headed by the Secretary of State for the Environment from 15 October 1970 to 10 September 1976.
The Department for Transport was recreated as a separate department by James Callaghan in 1976. The position was also incorporated as a corporation sole by the (SI 1976/1775).
The super-department Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was created in 1997 for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
In 2001, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was widely considered unwieldy and so was broken up, with the Transport functions now combined with Local Government and the Regions in the DTLR (Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions).
List of ministers and secretaries of state Minister of Transport (1919–1941) Colour key (for political parties):
Minister Term of office Political party Prime Minister Eric Campbell Geddes 19 May 1919 7 November 1921 Conservative David Lloyd George William Peel, 2nd Viscount Peel 7 November 1921 12 April 1922 Conservative David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford 12 April 1922 31 October 1922 Conservative John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven 31 October 1922 22 January 1924 Conservative Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin Harry Gosling 24 January 1924 3 November 1924 Labour Ramsay MacDonald Wilfrid Ashley 11 November 1924 4 June 1929 Conservative Stanley Baldwin Herbert Morrison 7 June 1929 24 August 1931 Labour Ramsay MacDonald John Pybus 3 September 1931 22 February 1933 Liberal Ramsay MacDonald Oliver Stanley 22 February 1933 29 June 1934 Conservative Leslie Hore-Belisha 29 June 1934 28 May 1937 National Liberal Stanley Baldwin Leslie Burgin 28 May 1937 21 April 1939 National Liberal Neville Chamberlain Euan Wallace 21 April 1939 14 May 1940 Conservative Neville Chamberlain John Reith 14 May 1940 3 October 1940 National Independent Winston Churchill John Moore-Brabazon 3 October 1940 1 May 1941 Conservative
Minister of (War) Transport and Minister of Civil Aviation (1941–1953) Colour key (for political parties):
Transport Civil Aviation Term of office Political party Prime Minister Frederick Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers — 1 May 1941 26 July 1945 Conservative Winston Churchill Philip Cunliffe-Lister, Viscount Swinton 8 October 1944 26 July 1945 Conservative Alfred Barnes Reginald Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster 3–4 August 1945 4 October 1946 Labour Clement Attlee Harry Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan 4 October 1946 31 May 1948 Labour Francis Pakenham, Lord Pakenham 31 May 1948 1 June 1951 Labour David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore 1 June 1951 26 October 1951 Labour John Maclay 31 October 1951 7 May 1952 National Liberal Winston Churchill Alan Lennox-Boyd 7 May 1952 1 October 1953 Conservative
Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1953–1959) Colour key (for political parties):
Minister Term of office Political party Prime Minister Alan Lennox-Boyd 1 October 1953 28 July 1954 Conservative Winston Churchill John Boyd-Carpenter 28 July 1954 20 December 1955 Conservative Harold Watkinson 20 December 1955 14 October 1959 Conservative Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan
Minister of Transport (1959–1970) Colour key (for political parties):
Minister Term of office Political party Prime Minister Ernest Marples 14 October 1959 16 October 1964 Conservative Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home Thomas Fraser 16 October 1964 23 December 1965 Labour Harold Wilson Barbara Castle 23 December 1965 6 April 1968 Labour Richard Marsh 6 April 1968 6 October 1969 Labour Fred Mulley 6 October 1969 22 June 1970 Labour John Peyton 23 June 1970 14 October 1970 Conservative Edward Heath
Minister within the Department of the Environment (1970–1976) Colour key (for political parties):
Minister Term of officeLength of Term Political party Prime Minister Peter Walker 15 October 1970 5 November 1972 Conservative Edward Heath Geoffrey Rippon 5 November 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative Anthony Crosland 5 March 1974 8 April 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
The junior ministers responsible for transport within the Department for the Environment:
Minister for Transport Industries (1970–1974) John Peyton (Conservative, 15 October 1970 – 7 March 1974)
Minister for Transport (1974–1976) Fred Mulley (Labour, 7 March 1974 – 12 June 1975) John Gilbert (Labour, 12 June 1975 – 10 September 1976)
Secretary of State for Transport (1976–1979) Colour key (for political parties):
Secretary of State Term of officeLength of Term Political party Prime Minister Bill Rodgers 10 September 1976 4 May 1979 Labour James Callaghan
Minister of Transport (1979–1981) Not an official member of the cabinet.
Colour key (for political parties):
Minister Term of officeLength of Term Political party Prime Minister Norman Fowler 11 May 1979 5 January 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
Secretary of State for Transport (1981–1997) Colour key (for political parties):
Secretary of State Term of officeLength of Term Political party Prime Minister Norman Fowler 5 January 1981 14 September 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher David Howell 14 September 1981 11 June 1983 Conservative Tom King 11 June 1983 16 October 1983 Conservative Nicholas Ridley 16 October 1983 21 May 1986 Conservative John Moore 21 May 1986 13 June 1987 Conservative Paul Channon 13 June 1987 24 July 1989 Conservative Cecil Parkinson 24 July 1989 28 November 1990 Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 28 November 1990 10 April 1992 Conservative John Major John MacGregor 11 April 1992 20 July 1994 Conservative Brian Mawhinney 20 July 1994 5 July 1995 Conservative Sir George Young, 6th Baronet 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative
Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001)
Colour key (for political parties):
Secretary of State Term of officeLength of Term Political party Prime Minister John Prescott 2 May 1997 7 June 2001 Labour Tony Blair
Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2001–2002) Colour key (for political parties):
Secretary of State Term of officeLength of Term Political party Prime Minister Stephen Byers 8 June 2001 28 May 2002 Labour Tony Blair
After Byers' resignation, such a division was made, with the portfolios of Local Government and the Regions transferred to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
During the lifetime of DTLGR, John Spellar served as Minister of State for Transport with a right to attend Cabinet.
John Spellar (8 June 2001 – 29 May 2002)
Secretary of State for Transport (2002–present) Colour key (for political parties):
Secretary of State Term of officeLength of Term Political party Prime Minister Alistair Darling 29 May 2002 5 May 2006 Labour Tony Blair Douglas Alexander 5 May 2006 28 June 2007 Labour Ruth Kelly 28 June 2007 5 October 2008 Labour Gordon Brown Geoff Hoon 5 October 2008 5 June 2009 Labour Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis 6 June 2009 6 May 2010 Labour Philip Hammond 12 May 2010 14 October 2011 Conservative David Cameron Justine Greening 14 October 2011 6 September 2012 Conservative Patrick McLoughlin 6 September 2012 14 July 2016 Conservative David Cameron Chris Grayling 14 July 2016 24 July 2019 Conservative Theresa May Grant Shapps 24 July 2019 6 September 2022 Conservative Boris Johnson Anne-Marie Trevelyan 6 September 2022 25 October 2022 weeks Conservative Liz Truss Mark Harper 25 October 2022 5 July 2024 Conservative Rishi Sunak Louise Haigh 5 July 2024 29 November 2024 months Labour Keir StarmerHeidi Alexander29 November 2024IncumbentLabourAndy Burnham
Timeline
See also Ministry of Civil Aviation Aerodrome Fire Service
References