Secretary of State for War

Henry Pelham 17241743
Henry Fox April 1746October 1755
Rt Hon William Pitt 1756April 1757
Rt Hon William Pitt June 17571761
William Petty-Fitzmaurice, Baron Wycombe 1782July 1782
William Windham 17941801
Sir John Cam Hobhouse, bt 18321833
Rt Hon Edward Ellice 18331834
Henry Pelham Clinton, Duke of Newcastle 12 June 185430 January 1855
Rt Hon Sir Fox Maule, Baron Panmure 8 February 185521 February 1858
Rt Hon Jonathan Peel 26 February 185811 June 1859
Rt Hon Sidney Herbert 18 June 185922 July 1861
Rt Hon Sir George Cornewall Lewis, bt 23 July 186113 April 1863
Rt Hon George Frederick Samuel Robinson, Earl of Ripon 28 April 186316 February 1866
Rt Hon Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington 16 February 186626 June 1866
Rt Hon Jonathan Peel 6 July 18668 March 1867
Rt Hon Sir John Somerset Pakington, bt 8 March 18671 December 1868
Rt Hon Edward Cardwell 9 December 186817 February 1874
Rt Hon Gathorne Hardy 21 February 18742 April 1878
Rt Hon Frederick Arthur Stanley 2 April 187821 April 1880
Rt Hon Hugh Culling Eardley Childers 28 April 188016 December 1882
Rt Hon Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington 16 December 18829 June 1885
Rt Hon William Henry Smith 24 June 188521 January 1886
Rt Hon Gathorne Hardy, Viscount Cranbrook 21 January 18866 February 1886
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 6 February 188620 July 1886
Rt Hon William Henry Smith 3 August 188614 January 1887
Rt Hon Edward Stanhope 14 January 188711 August 1892
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 18 August 189221 June 1895
Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of Lansdowne 4 July 189512 November 1900
Rt Hon William St John Fremantle Brodrick, Marquess of Lansdowne 12 November 19006 October 1903
Hugh Oakley Arnold-Foster 6 October 19034 December 1905
Rt Hon Richard Burdon Sanderson Haldane 10 December 190512 June 1912
Rt Hon John Edward Bernard Seely 12 June 191230 March 1914
Rt Hon Henry Herbert Asquith 30 March 19145 August 1914
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Earl Kitchener 5 August 19145 June 1916
Rt Hon David Lloyd George 6 June 19165 December 1916
Rt Hon Sir Edward George Villiers Stanley, Earl of Derby 10 December 191618 April 1918
Rt Hon Alfred Milner, Viscount Milner 18 April 191810 January 1919
Rt Hon Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill 10 January 191913 February 1921
Rt Hon Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, bt 13 February 192119 October 1922
Rt Hon Sir Edward George Villiers Stanley, Earl of Derby 24 October 192222 January 1924
Stephen Walsh 22 January 19243 November 1924
Rt Hon Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, bt 6 November 19244 June 1929
Rt Hon Thomas Shaw 7 June 192924 August 1931
Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, Marquess of Crewe 25 August 19315 November 1931
Rt Hon Sir Douglas McGarel Hogg, Viscount Hailsham 5 November 19317 June 1935
Rt Hon Sir Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, Viscount Halifax 7 June 193522 November 1935
Sir Alfred Duff Cooper 22 November 193528 May 1937
Rt Hon Isaac Leslie Hore-Belisha 28 May 19375 January 1940
Rt Hon Oliver Frederick George Stanley 11 January 19405 May 1940
Rt Hon Robert Anthony Eden 10 May 194022 December 1940
Rt Hon Henry David Reginald Margesson 22 December 194022 February 1942
Rt Hon Sir Percy James Grigg 22 February 194226 July 1945
Rt Hon John James Lawson 3 August 19454 October 1946
Rt Hon Frederick John Bellenger 4 October 19467 October 1947
Rt Hon Emanuel Shinwell 7 October 194728 February 1950
Rt Hon Evelyn John St Loe Strachey 28 February 195026 October 1951
Antony Henry Head 31 October 195118 October 1956
Rt Hon John Hugh Hare 18 October 19566 January 1958
Rt Hon Arthur Christopher John Soames 6 January 195827 July 1960
Rt Hon John Dennis Profumo 27 July 19604 June 1963
Rt Hon Joseph Bradshaw Godber 27 June 196321 October 1963
Rt Hon James Edward Ramsden 21 October 19631 April 1964