The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is a Cabinet

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....

 minister in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The post was created on 28 June 2007 after the disbanding of the Department for Education and Skills by Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

. The first Secretary of State was Ed Balls

Ed Balls

Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....

, a former treasury aide to Brown. He was head of the Department for Children, Schools and Families

Department for Children, Schools and Families

The Department for Children, Schools and Families was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education...

 responsible for coordinating work across Government relevant to youth justice, the respect agenda and family policy, while also taking over responsibility for education policy up to the age of 19 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 from the Department for Education and Skills, with the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills

Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills

The Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills was a Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom, heading the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills . The post was created on 28 June 2007 from parts of the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Trade and...

 being responsible for education after that age. Other responsibilities include input into the Government's strategy for ending child poverty, with the Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...

 and into promoting the health of all children by working with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

On May 12, 2010, the Department was again renamed and Michael Gove

Michael Gove

Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...

 was appointed Secretary of State for Education.

Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Ed Balls Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....		28 June 2007	11 May 2010	Labour	Gordon Brown Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...