Premiership of Tony Blair 18 councils. This result was thought to be partly continued fallout from public dissatisfaction over the decision to invade Iraq, and partly due to a scandal concerning the Home Office's mishandling of the deportation of foreign criminals. At the same time, an affair of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott with his diary secretary had been made public. Further, some Primary care and Hospital Trust sustained significant deficits and had to release staff, which called into question the position of Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. On 5 May, Blair reshuffled his Cabinet. Most significantly, Home Secretary Charles Clarke and Foreign Secretary Jack
Secretary of State for the Northern Department for Foreign Affairs. During the 18th century, Secretaries of State for the Northern Department, if peers, were often Leaders of the House of Lords as well. Included: Secretary of State for the Northern Department The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Northern Department became the Home Office. Before the Act of Union, 1707, the Secretary of State's responsibilities were in relation to the English government, not the British. Even after the Union, there was still a separate Secretary of State for Scotland