Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
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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.
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.[citation needed]
In 2018 the position was incorporated as a corporation sole.
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". 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.
Responsibilities
According to the UK government, the secretary of state has overall strategic oversight of the department’s business and policy in areas including:
- housing and planning
- services for people experiencing homelessness
- local government and English devolution
- regional and local growth
- communities and faith
- democracy and elections
- public appointments
- planning casework
- corporate functions
List of secretaries of state
| Minister | Term of office | Party | Ministry | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Local Government and the Regions | ||||||
| John Prescott MP for Kingston upon Hull East | 29 May 2002 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | Blair II Blair III | ||
| Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government | ||||||
| Secretary of State | Term of office | Party | Ministry | |||
| Ruth Kelly MP for Bolton West | 6 May 2006 | 28 June 2007 | Labour | Blair III | ||
| Hazel Blears MP for Salford | 28 June 2007 | 5 June 2009 | Labour | Brown | ||
| John Denham MP for Southampton Itchen | 5 June 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | |||
| Eric Pickles MP for Brentwood and Ongar | 12 May 2010 | 11 May 2015 | Conservative | Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.) | ||
| Greg Clark MP for Tunbridge Wells | 11 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron II | ||
| Sajid Javid MP for Bromsgrove | 14 July 2016 | 8 January 2018 | Conservative | May I | ||
| May II | ||||||
| Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government | ||||||
| Secretary of State | Term of office | Party | Ministry | |||
| Sajid Javid MP for Bromsgrove | 8 January 2018 | 30 April 2018 | Conservative | May II | ||
| James Brokenshire MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup | 30 April 2018 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | |||
| Robert Jenrick MP for Newark | 24 July 2019 | 15 September 2021 | Conservative | Johnson I | ||
| Johnson II | ||||||
| Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities | ||||||
| Secretary of State | Term of office | Party | Ministry | |||
| Michael Gove MP for Surrey Heath | 15 September 2021 | 6 July 2022 | Conservative | Johnson II | ||
| Greg Clark MP for Tunbridge Wells | 7 July 2022 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | |||
| Simon Clarke 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 for Housing, Communities and Local Government | ||||||
| Secretary of State | Term of office | Party | Ministry | |||
| Angela Rayner MP for Ashton under Lyne | 5 July 2024 | 5 September 2025 | Labour | Starmer | ||
| Steve Reed MP for Streatham and Croydon North | 5 September 2025 | Incumbent |