Secretary of State for Transport

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.^[3] The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom Secretary of State for Transport
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Heidi Alexander since 29 November 2024
Department for Transport
Style	Transport Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's Pleasure
Formation	19 May 1919: (as Minister of Transport) 29 May 2002: (as Secretary of State for Transport)
First holder	Eric Campbell Geddes (as Minister of Transport)
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022)[1] (including £86,584 MP salary)[2]
Website	www.dft.gov.uk

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6] The new Conservative government in 1951 appointed the same minister to both Transport and Civil Aviation, finally amalgamating the ministries on 1 October 1953.^[7]

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.^[8]

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,^[9] 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):
  Conservative   Labour   National Labour   Liberal   National Liberal

Minister			Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		Eric Campbell Geddes	19 May 1919	7 November 1921	Conservative		David Lloyd George (Coalition)
		William Peel, 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 (1st & 2nd National min.)
		Hon. Oliver Stanley	22 February 1933	29 June 1934	Conservative
		Leslie Hore-Belisha	29 June 1934	28 May 1937	National Liberal
							Stanley Baldwin (3rd National min.)
		Leslie Burgin	28 May 1937	21 April 1939	National Liberal		Neville Chamberlain (4th National min.)
		Euan Wallace	21 April 1939	14 May 1940	Conservative		Neville Chamberlain (War Coalition)
		John Reith	14 May 1940	3 October 1940	National Independent		Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
		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):
  Conservative   Labour   National Liberal

Minister of Transport			Minister of Civil Aviation	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
		Frederick Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers (Min. of War Transport)	—	1 May 1941	26 July 1945	Conservative		Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
			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
		Hon. 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):
  Conservative

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):
  Conservative   Labour

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[10]	6 October 1969	22 June 1970	Labour
	John Peyton[11]	23 June 1970	14 October 1970	Conservative		Edward Heath

Minister within the Department of the Environment (1970–1976)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour

Minister		Term of office		Length of Term	Political party	Prime Minister
	Peter Walker	15 October 1970	5 November 1972	2 years	Conservative		Edward Heath
	Geoffrey Rippon	5 November 1972	4 March 1974	1 year, 3 months	Conservative
	Anthony Crosland	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	2 years, 1 month	Labour		Harold Wilson

The junior ministers responsible for transport within the Department for the Environment:

Minister for Transport Industries (1970–1974)

• John Peyton^[11] (Conservative, 15 October 1970 – 7 March 1974)

Minister for Transport (1974–1976)

• Fred Mulley^[10] (Labour, 7 March 1974 – 12 June 1975)
• John Gilbert^[12] (Labour, 12 June 1975 – 10 September 1976)

Secretary of State for Transport (1976–1979)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Labour

Secretary of State			Term of office		Length of Term	Political party	Prime Minister
		Bill Rodgers[13]	10 September 1976	4 May 1979	2 years, 7 months	Labour		James Callaghan

Minister of Transport (1979–1981)

Not an official member of the cabinet.

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative

Minister			Term of office		Length of Term	Political party	Prime Minister
		Norman Fowler[14]	11 May 1979	5 January 1981	1 year, 7 months	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher

Secretary of State for Transport (1981–1997)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative

Secretary of State			Term of office		Length of Term	Political party	Prime Minister
		Norman Fowler[14]	5 January 1981	14 September 1981	8 months	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
		David Howell[15]	14 September 1981	11 June 1983	1 year, 8 months	Conservative
		Tom King[16]	11 June 1983	16 October 1983	4 months	Conservative
		Hon. Nicholas Ridley	16 October 1983	21 May 1986	2 years, 7 months	Conservative
		John Moore[17]	21 May 1986	13 June 1987	1 year	Conservative
		Paul Channon	13 June 1987	24 July 1989	2 years, 1 month	Conservative
		Cecil Parkinson[18]	24 July 1989	28 November 1990	1 year, 4 months	Conservative
		Malcolm Rifkind[19]	28 November 1990	10 April 1992	2 years, 8 months	Conservative		John Major
		John MacGregor[20]	11 April 1992	20 July 1994	2 years, 3 months	Conservative
		Brian Mawhinney[21]	20 July 1994	5 July 1995	11 months	Conservative
		Sir George Young, 6th Baronet[22]	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	1 year, 9 months	Conservative

Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001)

Main article: Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions

Colour key (for political parties):
  Labour

Secretary of State			Term of office		Length of Term	Political party	Prime Minister
	John Prescott[23] MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle	MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle	2 May 1997	7 June 2001	4 years, 1 month	Labour		Tony Blair

Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2001–2002)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Labour

Secretary of State		Term of office		Length of Term	Political party	Prime Minister
	Stephen Byers[24] MP for North Tyneside	8 June 2001	28 May 2002	11 months	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^[25] (8 June 2001 – 29 May 2002)

Secretary of State for Transport (2002–present)

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour

Secretary of State			Term of office		Length of Term	Political party	Prime Minister
		Alistair Darling[26] MP for Edinburgh South West	29 May 2002	5 May 2006	3 years, 11 months	Labour		Tony Blair
		Douglas Alexander[27] MP for Paisley and South Renfrewshire	5 May 2006	28 June 2007	1 year, 1 month	Labour
		Ruth Kelly[28] MP for Bolton West	28 June 2007	5 October 2008	1 year, 3 months	Labour		Gordon Brown
		Geoff Hoon[29] MP for Ashfield	5 October 2008	5 June 2009	8 months	Labour
		Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis[30]	6 June 2009	6 May 2010	11 months	Labour
		Philip Hammond[31][32] MP for Runnymede and Weybridge	12 May 2010	14 October 2011	1 year, 5 months	Conservative		David Cameron (Coalition)
		Justine Greening[33] MP for Putney	14 October 2011	6 September 2012	10 months	Conservative
		Patrick McLoughlin[34] MP for Derbyshire Dales	6 September 2012	14 July 2016	3 years, 10 months	Conservative
								David Cameron (II)
		Chris Grayling[35] MP for Epsom and Ewell	14 July 2016	24 July 2019	3 years, 10 days	Conservative		Theresa May
		Grant Shapps[36] MP for Welwyn Hatfield	24 July 2019	6 September 2022	3 years, 1 month	Conservative		Boris Johnson
		Anne-Marie Trevelyan[37] MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	7 weeks	Conservative		Liz Truss
		Mark Harper[38] MP for Forest of Dean	25 October 2022	5 July 2024	1 year, 8 months	Conservative		Rishi Sunak
		Louise Haigh[39] MP for Sheffield Heeley	5 July 2024	29 November 2024	5 months	Labour		Keir Starmer
		Heidi Alexander[40] MP for Swindon South	29 November 2024	Incumbent	25 days	Labour

Timeline

See also

• Ministry of Civil Aviation Aerodrome Fire Service

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. "Secretary of State for Transport". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
4. "Work of the secretary of state for transport scrutinised". UK PARLIAMENT. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2022. This oral evidence session will examine the work and responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Transport and the Department for Transport.
5. Records inherited and created by the Ministry of Transport, Shipping Divisions. Admiralty, Transport Department, Board of Trade, Mercantile Marine Department, Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Shipping. 1795–1985.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
6. "Churchill and Air Travel". International Churchill Society. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
7. "British Police History". british-police-history.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
8. Times, Robert B. Semple Jr Special to The New York (11 September 1976). "Callaghan, in a Surprise Move, Reshuffles His Cabinet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
9. "Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions: annual report 2001". GOV.UK. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
10. "Lord Mulley". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
11. "Lord Peyton of Yeovil". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
12. "Lord Gilbert". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
13. "Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
14. "Lord Fowler". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
15. "Lord Howell of Guildford". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
16. "Lord King of Bridgwater". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
17. "Lord Moore of Lower Marsh". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
18. "Lord Parkinson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
19. "Sir Malcolm Rifkind". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
20. "Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
21. "Lord Mawhinney". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
22. "Lord Young of Cookham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
23. "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
24. "Mr Stephen Byers". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
25. "John Spellar". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
26. "Lord Darling of Roulanish". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
27. "Mr Douglas Alexander". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
28. "Ruth Kelly". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
29. "Mr Geoffrey Hoon". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
30. "Lord Adonis". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
31. "Lord Hammond of Runnymede". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
32. "Out with the old cabinet, in with the new". Public Service. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
33. "Justine Greening". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
34. "Lord McLoughlin". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
35. "Chris Grayling". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
36. "Grant Shapps". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
37. "The Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
38. "Mark Harper". UK Parliament. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
39. "Louise Haigh". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
40. Belger, Tom (29 November 2024). "New Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander unveiled after Louise Haigh resigns". LabourList. Retrieved 29 November 2024.

External links

• Track record: Transport secretaries