Great Offices of State State as Home Secretary. Great Offices of State The Great Offices of State in the United Kingdom are the four most senior and prestigious posts in the British government. They are the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. According to convention, when the Prime Minister names his or her Cabinet, either after a general election or a mid-term reshuffle, the first Cabinet ministers to be announced are the Chancellor, the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary. James Callaghan is the only person to date to have served in all four positions. In the past hundred
State Procession at the State Opening of Parliament State Procession at the State Opening of Parliament A State Procession is a formal display of the Sovereign, dignified by a sizeable entourage made up of Great Officers of State, members of the Royal Family and of the Royal Household. The State Opening of Parliament is one of the few occasions when a State Procession is to be seen; the Coronation Procession is another. The State Procession is now confined to the interior of the Palace of Westminster, but in earlier centuries it followed an outdoor route to and from Westminster Abbey. An account of Henry VII opening Parliament on