Secretary of State for Transport
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The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors. The office used to be called the Minister of Transport, and has been merged with the Department for the Environment at various times.
The Secretary of State is supported by a small team of junior Ministers. Each Minister is a Member of Parliament from either the House of Commons or the House of Lords. The number of Ministers supporting the Secretary of State for Transport vary from time to time, but is usually about 3. The titles given to these Ministers also vary. Currently the positions are held by one Minister of State for Transport and two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for Transport.
Unfortunately, as far as clarity is concerned, during the tenure of different governments the title of Minister of/for Transport has been used to refer to the Secretary of State for Transport, one or more of the junior Ministers or even both the Secretary of State and the junior Ministers at the same time.
Since 2003 the role of Secretary of State for Transport has been combined with the role of Secretary of State for Scotland.
The names provided in the sections below are those who have served in a position equivalent to the Secretary of State for Transport.
[edit] Minister of Transport
- Eric Geddes (May 19, 1919 - November 7, 1921)
- William Peel, 2nd Viscount Peel (November 7, 1921 - April 12, 1922)
- David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford, 10th Earl of Balcarres (April 12, 1922 - October 31, 1922)
- Sir John Baird (October 31, 1922 - January 22, 1924)
- Harry Gosling (January 24, 1924 - November 3, 1924)
- Wilfrid Ashley (November 11, 1924 - June 4, 1929)
- Herbert Morrison (June 7, 1929 - August 24, 1931)
- James Pybus (September 3, 1931 - February 22, 1933)
- Oliver Stanley (February 22, 1933 - June 29, 1934)
- Leslie Hore-Belisha (June 29, 1934 - May 28, 1937)
- Leslie Burgin (May 28, 1937 - April 21, 1939)
- Euan Wallace (April 21, 1939 - May 14, 1940)
- John Reith (May 14, 1940 - October 3, 1940)
- John Moore-Brabazon (October 3, 1940 - May 1, 1941)
[edit] Minister of War Transport
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.
[edit] Minister of Civil Aviation
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 Transport and Civil Aviation, finally amalgamating the Ministries on October 1, 1953.
- Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Viscount Swinton (October 8, 1944 - July 26, 1945)
- Reginald Thomas Herbert Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster (August 4, 1945 - October 4, 1946)
- Harry Louis Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan (October 4, 1946 - May 31, 1948)
- Francis Aungier Pakenham, 1st Baron Pakenham (May 31, 1948 - June 1, 1951)
- David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore (June 1, 1951 - October 26, 1951)
- John Maclay (October 31, 1951 - May 7, 1952)
- Alan Lennox-Boyd (May 7, 1952 - October 1, 1953)
[edit] Minister of Transport
- Alfred Barnes (August 3, 1945 - October 26, 1951)
- John Maclay (October 31, 1951 - May 7, 1952)
- Alan Lennox-Boyd (May 7, 1952 - October 1, 1953)
[edit] Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation
- Alan Lennox-Boyd (October 1, 1953 - July 28, 1954)
- John Boyd-Carpenter (July 28, 1954 - December 20, 1955)
- Harold Watkinson (December 20, 1955 - October 14, 1959)
[edit] Minister of Transport
The Ministry was renamed back to the Ministry of Transport on October 14, 1959.
- Ernest Marples (October 14, 1959 - October 16, 1964)
- Thomas Fraser (October 16, 1964 - December 23, 1965)
- Barbara Castle (December 23, 1965 - April 6, 1968)
- Richard Marsh (April 6, 1968 - June 19, 1970)
- John Peyton (June 23, 1970 - October 15, 1970)
Transport responsibilities were subsumed by the Department of the Environment from October 15, 1970 to September 10, 1976. This shows the junior minister responsible for transport within that department.
[edit] Minister for Transport Industries
- John Peyton (October 15, 1970 - March 4, 1974)
[edit] Minister for Transport
- Fred Mulley (March 7, 1974 - June 12, 1975)
- John Gilbert (June 12, 1975 - September 10, 1976)
[edit] Secretary of State for Transport
- Bill Rodgers (September 10, 1976 - May 4, 1979)
[edit] Minister of Transport
- Norman Fowler (May 11, 1979 - January 5, 1981)
[edit] Secretary of State for Transport
- Norman Fowler (January 5, 1981 - September 14, 1981)
- David Howell (September 14, 1981 - June 11, 1983)
- Tom King (June 11, 1983 - October 16, 1983)
- Nicholas Ridley (October 16, 1983 - May 21, 1986)
- John Moore (May 21, 1986 - June 13, 1987)
- Paul Channon (June 13, 1987 - July 24, 1989)
- Cecil Parkinson (July 24, 1989 - November 28, 1990)
- Malcolm Rifkind (November 28, 1990 - April 10, 1992)
- John MacGregor (April 10, 1992 - July 20, 1994)
- Brian Mawhinney (July 20, 1994- July 5, 1995)
- Sir George Young, Bt. (July 5, 1995 - May 2, 1997)
[edit] Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions
- John Prescott (May 2, 1997 - June 8, 2001)
From 1997 to 2001, the Ministers of State with responsibility for Transport were:
- Gavin Strang (May 3, 1997 - July 27, 1998)
- John Reid (July 27, 1998 - May 17, 1999)
- Helen Liddell (May 17, 1999 - July 29, 1999)
- Lord Macdonald of Tradeston (July 29, 1999 - June 8, 2001)
John Reid attended cabinet meetings, but was not formally a member of the cabinet whereas Gavin Strang was given a seat in the cabinet when he held the position.
[edit] Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
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. Critics argued from the outset that this was a mistake and that a post of Secretary of State for Transport was needed in its own right.
- Stephen Byers (June 8, 2001 - May 29, 2002)
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.
[edit] Secretary of State for Transport
Since 2003 also Secretary of State for Scotland
- Alistair Darling (May 29, 2002 - May 5, 2006)
- Douglas Alexander (May 5, 2006 - )
