Originally Posted by
AARON O'DICKYDIDO
There was a time when Defence, Home Office and Foreign Office were considered to be the BIG 3. How times have changed!
Aaron.
Surely the big three were Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, with Defence being just below that tier?
Home Secretary lost some of it's functions to Justice, but would still be regarded as one of the Great Offices of State.
(Incidentally, you don't even need to be a member of either House of Parliament to hold Ministerial Office - Alex Douglas Hume sat as Prime Minister for a few weeks in 1964 after renouncing his Peerage, but before he was elected as an MP)
Re security concerns, I'm sure there have been cases in the past where PMs have been advised not to appoint certain people to certain roles, but the decision must always remain with the Prime Minister