Secretary of State for Transport

Secretary of State
for Transport
Secretary of State; for Transport
	Royal Arms of Her Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Grant Shapps; since 24 July 2019
	Department for Transport
Style	Transport Secretary; (informal); The Right Honourable; (within the UK and the Commonwealth)
Status	Secretary of state; Minister of the Crown
Appointer	The Monarch; on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation	19 May 1919
First holder	Eric Campbell Geddes
Website	www.dft.gov.uk

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.^[1] The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, 16th in the ministerial ranking.^[2]

The office holder works alongside the other transport ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for transport.

The incumbent is Grant Shapps, following his appointment by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019.

Minister of Transport (1919–1941)[]

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour National Labour Liberal National Liberal

	Term of office		Political party
Eric Campbell Geddes	19 May 1919	7 November 1921	Conservative	David Lloyd George (Coalition)
The Viscount Peel	7 November 1921	12 April 1922	Conservative
The Earl of Crawford	12 April 1922	31 October 1922	Conservative
Sir John Baird, Bt	31 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Bonar Law
Sir John Baird, Bt	31 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	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
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	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)

Minister of (War) Transport and Minister of Civil Aviation (1941–1953)[]

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.

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour National Liberal

	Minister of Civil Aviation	Term of office		Political party
The Lord Leathers (Min. of War Transport)	—	1 May 1941	26 July 1945	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
The Lord Leathers (Min. of War Transport)	The Viscount Swinton	8 October 1944	26 July 1945	Conservative	Winston Churchill (War Coalition)
Alfred Barnes	The Lord Winster	3–4 August 1945	4 October 1946	Labour	Clement Attlee
	The Lord Nathan	4 October 1946	31 May 1948	Labour
	The Lord Pakenham	31 May 1948	1 June 1951	Labour
	The Lord Ogmore	1 June 1951	26 October 1951	Labour
Hon. John Maclay		31 October 1951	7 May 1952	National Liberal	Sir Winston Churchill
Alan Lennox-Boyd		7 May 1952	1 October 1953	Conservative	Sir Winston Churchill

Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1953–1959)[]

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative

	Term of office		Political party
Alan Lennox-Boyd	1 October 1953	28 July 1954	Conservative	Sir Winston Churchill
John Boyd-Carpenter	28 July 1954	20 December 1955	Conservative	Sir Winston Churchill
Harold Watkinson	20 December 1955	14 October 1959	Conservative	Sir Anthony Eden
Harold Watkinson	20 December 1955	14 October 1959	Conservative	Harold Macmillan

Minister of Transport (1959–1970)[]

The Ministry was renamed back to the Ministry of Transport on 14 October 1959, when a separate Ministry of Aviation was formed.

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour

	Term of office		Political party
Ernest Marples	14 October 1959	16 October 1964	Conservative	Harold Macmillan
Ernest Marples	14 October 1959	16 October 1964	Conservative	Sir 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	19 June 1970	Labour
John Peyton	23 June 1970	15 October 1970	Conservative	Edward Heath

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

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.

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour

	Term of office		Political party
Peter Walker	15 October 1970	5 November 1972	Conservative	Edward Heath
Geoffrey Rippon	5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative	Edward Heath
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 – 4 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)

The Department for Transport was recreated as a separate department by James Callaghan in 1976.

Secretary of State for Transport (1976–1979)[]

Colour key (for political parties):
Labour

Name		Term of office		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):
Conservative

Name		Term of office		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):
Conservative

	Term of office		Political party
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
Hon. 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	10 April 1992	20 July 1994	Conservative
Brian Mawhinney	20 July 1994	5 July 1995	Conservative
Sir George Young, Bt	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative

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

The super-department Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was created in 1997 for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

Colour key (for political parties):
Labour

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	John Prescott MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle		2 May 1997	8 June 2001	Labour		Tony Blair

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

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). 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.

Colour key (for political parties):
Labour

Name		Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	Stephen Byers MP for North Tyneside	8 June 2001	29 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– )[]

Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour

	Term of office		Political party
Alistair Darling MP for Edinburgh South West	29 May 2002	5 May 2006	Labour	Tony Blair
Douglas Alexander MP for Paisley and South Renfrewshire	5 May 2006	28 June 2007	Labour	Tony Blair
Ruth Kelly MP for Bolton West	28 June 2007	3 October 2008	Labour	Gordon Brown
Geoff Hoon MP for Ashfield	3 October 2008	5 June 2009	Labour
Andrew Adonis Baron Adonis	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour
Philip Hammond MP for Runnymede and Weybridge	12 May 2010^[3]	14 October 2011	Conservative	David Cameron (Coalition)
Justine Greening MP for Putney	14 October 2011	4 September 2012	Conservative
Patrick McLoughlin MP for Derbyshire Dales	4 September 2012	14 July 2016	Conservative
Patrick McLoughlin MP for Derbyshire Dales	4 September 2012	14 July 2016	Conservative	David Cameron (II)
Chris Grayling MP for Epsom and Ewell	14 July 2016	24 July 2019	Conservative	Theresa May
Grant Shapps MP for Welwyn Hatfield	24 July 2019	Incumbent	Conservative	Boris Johnson

References[]

^ "Secretary of State for Transport". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
^ "Her Majesty's Government: The Cabinet". parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
^ "Out with the old cabinet, in with the new". Public Service. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.

External links[]

Track record: Transport secretaries

[1] "Secretary of State for Transport". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.

[2] "Her Majesty's Government: The Cabinet". parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.

[3] "Out with the old cabinet, in with the new". Public Service. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t Department for Transport
Headquarters: Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road, London
Ministers	Secretary of State for Transport Minister of State for Transport 3 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State
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Secretary of State for Transport

Contents

Minister of Transport (1919–1941)[]

Minister of (War) Transport and Minister of Civil Aviation (1941–1953)[]

Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (1953–1959)[]

Minister of Transport (1959–1970)[]

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

Minister for Transport Industries (1970–1974)[]

Minister for Transport (1974–1976)[]

Secretary of State for Transport (1976–1979)[]

Minister of Transport (1979–1981)[]

Secretary of State for Transport (1981–1997)[]

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

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

Secretary of State for Transport (2002– )[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

Secretary of State for Transport
Royal Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Incumbent Grant Shapps since 24 July 2019
Department for Transport
Style	Transport Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and the Commonwealth)
Status	Secretary of state Minister of the Crown
Appointer	The Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation	19 May 1919
First holder	Eric Campbell Geddes
Website	www.dft.gov.uk

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