Editing First Secretary of State (section)

==History==
In [[Night of the Long Knives (1962)|1962]], [[R.A. Butler]] was the first person to be appointed to the office, in part to avoid earlier royal objections to the office of Deputy Prime Minister.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|url=|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-260307-4|edition=|location=|pages=74–5|oclc=}}</ref> The office gave Butler ministerial superiority over the rest of the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|url=|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-260307-4|edition=|location=|pages=75|oclc=}}</ref> and indicated that he was second-in-command.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last1=Seldon|first1=Anthony|title=The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister|last2=Meakin|first2=Jonathan|last3=Thoms|first3=Illias|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2021|isbn=9781316515327|pages=171|author-link=Anthony Seldon}}</ref> [[Harold Wilson]] appointed three people to the office between 1964 and 1970, but it has been noted by [[Anthony Seldon]] et al. that the office may have caught on "more as an ego-massager than for functional reasons."<ref name=":02" />

Later, [[Michael Heseltine]] and John Prescott held the office alongside being Deputy Prime Minister.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Brazier|first=Rodney|url=|title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-260307-4|edition=|location=|pages=77|oclc=}}</ref> The two offices have only existed concurrently with different holders in [[David Cameron]]'s [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|coalition government]], wherein [[Leader of the Liberal Democrats|Liberal Democrat Leader]] [[Nick Clegg]] was appointed Deputy Prime Minister while Conservative [[William Hague]] was First Secretary.<ref name=":0" />