The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The officeholder is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The incumbent is Chris Bryant who took office on 20 July 2026.
The officeholder works alongside the other Northern Ireland Office ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
Unlike the secretaries of state for Wales and Scotland, which are generally held by Welsh and Scottish MPs, the position has never been held by an MP in a Northern Irish seat. It is instead held by Conservative and Labour Party MPs in Britain. This is due to the fact that Labour does not field candidates in Northern Ireland, and the Conservatives have never won a seat there.
History Background Historically, the principal ministers for Irish (and subsequently Northern Ireland) affairs in the UK Government and its predecessors were: the lord lieutenant of Ireland ( 1171–1922) the chief secretary for Ireland (1560–1922) the home secretary (1922–1972)
In August 1969, for example, Home Secretary James Callaghan approved the sending of British Army soldiers to Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales were represented by the roles of Secretary of State for Scotland and Secretary of State for Wales from 1885 and 1964 respectively, but Northern Ireland remained separate, owing to the devolved Government of Northern Ireland and Parliament of Northern Ireland.
During the Troubles (1972-1998) The office of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was created after the Northern Ireland government (at Stormont) was first suspended and then abolished following widespread civil strife. The British government was increasingly concerned that Stormont was losing control of the situation. On 30 March 1972, direct rule from Westminster was introduced. The secretary of state filled three roles which existed under the previous Stormont regime: the governor of Northern Ireland (the nominal head of the executive and representative of the British monarch) the prime minister of Northern Ireland (in the present day, a role filled by the first minister of Northern Ireland and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland acting jointly) the minister of home affairs (in the present day, a role filled by the minister of justice).
Direct rule was seen as a temporary measure, with a power-sharing devolution preferred as the solution, and was annually renewed by a vote in Parliament.
The Sunningdale Agreement in 1973 resulted in the brief existence of a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive from 1 January 1974, which was ended by the loyalist Ulster Workers' Council strike on 28 May 1974. The strikers opposed the power-sharing and all-Ireland aspects of the new administration.
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–1976) and Northern Ireland Assembly (1982–1986) were unsuccessful in restoring devolved government. After the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 15 November 1985, the UK Government and Irish Government co-operated more closely on security and political matters.
Since devolution (From 1999) Following the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement), devolution returned to Northern Ireland on 2 December 1999. This removed many of the duties of the secretary of state and devolved them to the locally elected Northern Ireland Executive. The secretary of state retained responsibility for policing and justice until most of those powers were devolved on 12 April 2010, after the Hillsborough Castle Agreement.
Prior to 2007 the devolved administration was suspended several times and direct rule was imposed. The lengthiest of these suspensions was due to Stormontgate, between 15 October 2002 and 8 May 2007. On each of these occasions, the responsibilities of the ministers in the Executive then returned to the secretary of state and his ministers. The secretary of state was also heavily involved in the negotiations with all parties to restore devolved government. While the executive has on occasion been suspended since that time, direct rule has not been imposed as the powers to do so were removed by the St Andrews Agreement and it would today require new legislation for Westminster to take that action.
The secretary of state is today generally limited to representing Northern Ireland in the UK cabinet, overseeing the operation of the devolved administration and a number of reserved and excepted matters which remain the sole competence of the UK Government e.g. security, human rights, certain public inquiries and the administration of elections. The secretary of state officially resides in Hillsborough Castle, which was previously the official residence of the governor of Northern Ireland, and remains the royal residence of the monarch in Northern Ireland. The secretary of state exercises their duties through, and is administratively supported by, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).
In 2020 Professor Robert Hazell, of University College London, has suggested replacing the office. He proposed merging the offices of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for Scotland and for Wales into one secretary of state for the Union, in a department into which Rodney Brazier has suggested adding a minister of state for England with responsibility for English local government.
Role in potential Irish unification The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has the power to call a referendum on Irish unification. This was set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998, as part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. The office must call a referendum if "at any time it appears likely... that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland”.
The exact criteria to call one is left vague in the text; it references public opinion on the subject but does not provide a concrete method to measure it. It has been characterised as a simple "judgement call" on the part of the office by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, as the law currently stands. This has been the subject of years of debate in Ireland.
List of secretaries of state for Northern Ireland Colour key
Secretary of state Term of office Party Prime Minister William Whitelaw 24 March 1972 2 December 1973 Conservative Edward Heath Francis Pym 2 December 1973 4 March 1974 Conservative Merlyn Rees 5 March 1974 10 September 1976 Labour Harold Wilson Roy Mason 10 September 1976 4 May 1979 Labour James Callaghan Humphrey Atkins 5 May 1979 14 September 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher Jim Prior 14 September 1981 11 September 1984 Conservative Douglas Hurd 11 September 1984 3 September 1985 Conservative Tom King 3 September 1985 24 July 1989 Conservative Peter Brooke 24 July 1989 10 April 1992 Conservative John Major Patrick Mayhew 10 April 1992 2 May 1997 Conservative Mo Mowlam 3 May 1997 11 October 1999 Labour Tony Blair Peter Mandelson 11 October 1999 24 January 2001 Labour John Reid 25 January 2001 24 October 2002 Labour Paul Murphy 24 October 2002 6 May 2005 Labour Peter Hain 6 May 2005 28 June 2007 Labour Shaun Woodward 28 June 2007 11 May 2010 Labour Gordon Brown Owen Paterson 12 May 2010 4 September 2012 Conservative David Cameron Theresa Villiers 4 September 2012 14 July 2016 Conservative David Cameron James Brokenshire 14 July 2016 8 January 2018 Conservative Theresa May Theresa May Karen Bradley 8 January 2018 24 July 2019 Conservative Julian Smith 24 July 2019 13 February 2020 Conservative Boris Johnson Boris Johnson Brandon Lewis 13 February 2020 7 July 2022 Conservative Shailesh Vara 7 July 2022 6 September 2022 Conservative Chris Heaton-Harris 6 September 2022 5 July 2024 Conservative Liz Truss Rishi Sunak Hilary Benn 5 July 2024 20 July 2026 Labour Keir Starmer Chris Bryant 20 July 2026 Incumbent Labour Andy Burnham
Timeline
See also First Minister of Northern Ireland Great Seal of Northern Ireland Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Secretary of State (United Kingdom) Secretary of State for Scotland Secretary of State for Wales Chief Secretary for Ireland, office that existed until 1922 Governor of Northern Ireland, office that existed from 1922 to 1973
Notes