Andrew Lansley has been widely trumpeted as among the best-prepared health secretaries in history, after a six-year spell as Conservative shadow health secretary.

Just three months after taking on the top job at the DoH, he has set out plans that could yet help him leave an indelible mark on the NHS.

The White Paper Liberating the NHS outlines the scrapping of PCTs and gives GPs control over the commissioning of most health services.

But Mr Lansley has a long way to go to match the time in post achieved by some of his illustrious predecessors.

Top 10 health secretaries by time spent in post since the NHS began
Rank	Name and Years in office	Party	Length of tenure
1.	Norman Fowler 14 Sept 1981 - 13 Jun 1987*	Conservative	5 yrs 272 days
2.	Aneurin Bevan 3 Aug 1945 - 17 Jan 1951**	Labour	5 yrs 167 days
3.	Kenneth Robinson 18 Oct 1964 - 1 Nov 1968	Labour	4 yrs 14 days
4.	Sir Keith Joseph  20 Jun 1970 - 4 Mar 1974*	Conservative	3 yrs 257 days
5.	Alan Milburn 11 October 1999 - 13 June 2003	Labour	3 yrs 245 days
6.	Iain Macleod  7 May 1952 - 20 Dec 1955	Conservative	3 yrs 227 days
7.	Virginia Bottomley 10 Apr 1992 - 5 Jul 1995	Conservative	3 yrs 86 days
8.	Enoch Powell  27 Jul 1960 - 20 Oct 1963	Conservative	3 yrs 85 days
9.	David Ennals  8 Apr 1976 - 4 May 1979*	Labour	3 yrs 27 days
10.	Derek Walker-Smith 17 Sept 1957 - 27 Jul 1960	Conservative	2 yrs 334 days

*In post as Secretary of State for Social Services because health was part of the social care department between 1968 and 1988.

** NHS established in 1948 – halfway through Aneurin Bevan’s five-and-a-half-year tenure as health secretary.

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