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Foreign Secretary

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Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
James Cleverly Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2022.jpg
Incumbent
James Cleverly
since 6 September 2022
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Style
Member of
Reports toPrime Minister
Residence
SeatWestminster
NominatorPrime Minister
AppointerThe King
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Formation27 March 1782; 240 years ago (1782-03-27)
First holderCharles James Fox
Websitewww.gov.uk

The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.[1] Seen as one of the most senior ministers in the government and a Great Office of State, the incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The office holder works alongside the other Foreign Office ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. The performance of the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.[2]

The current foreign secretary is James Cleverly MP, appointed in the September 2022 cabinet reshuffle.

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Secretary of State (United Kingdom)

Secretary of State (United Kingdom)

His Majesty's principal secretaries of state, better known as secretaries of state, are senior ministers of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. Secretaries of state head most major government departments and make up the majority of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. There are currently 17 secretaries of state. They are all also currently members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons, although it is possible for them to be members of the House of Lords.

Government of the United Kingdom

Government of the United Kingdom

The Government of the United Kingdom, officially His Majesty's Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the prime minister who selects all the other ministers. The country has had a Conservative-led government since 2010, with successive prime ministers being the then leader of the Conservative Party. The prime minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO, itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office, was responsible for protecting and promoting British interests worldwide.

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of His Majesty's Government. A committee of the Privy Council, it is chaired by the prime minister and its members include secretaries of state and other senior ministers.

Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

In UK politics, the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs is a position within the opposition's shadow cabinet that deals mainly with issues surrounding the Foreign Office. If elected, the person serving as shadow foreign secretary may be designated to serve as the new Foreign Secretary.

Foreign Affairs Select Committee

Foreign Affairs Select Committee

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee is one of many select committees of the British House of Commons, which scrutinises the expenditure, administration and policy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

James Cleverly

James Cleverly

James Spencer Cleverly is a British politician and Army Reserve officer who has served as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Braintree in Essex since 2015. He previously served as Secretary of State for Education from July to September 2022, Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party alongside Ben Elliot from 2019 to 2020 and as the member of the London Assembly (AM) for Bexley and Bromley from 2008 to 2016.

Truss ministry

Truss ministry

Liz Truss was invited by Queen Elizabeth II—two days before the monarch's death—to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister of the United Kingdom on 6 September 2022. Johnson resigned as leader of the Conservative Party the previous day and resigned as prime minister on 6 September following the election of Truss as the new leader of the Conservative Party on 5 September. The Truss ministry was formed from the 2019 Parliament of the United Kingdom, as a Conservative majority government. With Queen Elizabeth's death on 8 September 2022, Truss became the first UK prime minister to serve under more than one monarch since Winston Churchill in 1952.

Responsibilities

Corresponding to what is generally known as a foreign minister in many other countries, the foreign secretary's remit includes:

Residence

The official residence of the foreign secretary is 1 Carlton Gardens, in London.[6] The foreign secretary also has the use of Chevening House, a country house in Kent, South East England[7] and works out of the Foreign Office in Whitehall.[8]

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Official residence

Official residence

An official residence is the residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-related functions.

Carlton House Terrace

Carlton House Terrace

Carlton House Terrace is a street in the St James's district of the City of Westminster in London. Its principal architectural feature is a pair of terraces of white stucco-faced houses on the south side of the street overlooking St. James's Park. These terraces were built on Crown land between 1827 and 1832 to overall designs by John Nash, but with detailed input by other architects including Decimus Burton, who exclusively designed numbers 3 and 4.

London

London

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the northwest, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the southwest, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover. The county town is Maidstone. It is the fifth most populous county in England, the most populous non-metropolitan county and the most populous of the home counties.

South East England

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Major towns and cities in the region include Brighton and Hove, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Portsmouth, Slough, Reading and Oxford.

Whitehall

Whitehall

Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. The street is recognised as the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom and is lined with numerous departments and ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, Horse Guards and the Cabinet Office. Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as a metonym for the British civil service and government, and as the geographic name for the surrounding area.

History

History of English and British government departments with responsibility for foreign affairs and those with responsibility for the colonies, dominions and the Commonwealth
Northern Department
1660–1782
SecretariesUndersecretaries
Southern Department
1660–1768
SecretariesUndersecretaries
Colonial Office
1768–1782
SecretariesUndersecretaries
Southern Department
1768–1782
SecretariesUndersecretaries
Foreign Office
1782–1968
SecretariesMinistersUndersecretaries
Home Office
1782–1794
SecretariesUndersecretaries
War Office
1794–1801
SecretariesUndersecretaries
War and Colonial Office
1801–1854
SecretariesUndersecretaries
Colonial Office
1854–1925
SecretariesUndersecretaries
India Office
1858–1937
SecretariesUndersecretaries
Colonial Office
1925–1966
SecretariesMinistersUndersecretaries
Dominions Office
1925–1947
SecretariesUndersecretaries
India Office and Burma Office
1937–1947
SecretariesUndersecretaries
Commonwealth Relations Office
1947–1966
SecretariesMinistersUndersecretaries
Commonwealth Office
1966–1968
SecretariesMinistersUndersecretaries
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1968–2020
SecretariesMinistersUndersecretaries
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Since 2020
SecretariesMinistersUndersecretaries

The title secretary of state in the government of England dates back to the early 17th century. The position of secretary of state for foreign affairs was created in the British governmental reorganisation of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Foreign Office and Home Office respectively.[9] The India Office which, like the Colonial Office and the Dominions Office, had been a constituent predecessor department of the Foreign Office, was closed down in 1947.[10]

Eventually, the position of secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs came into existence in 1968 with the merger of the functions of secretary of the state for foreign affairs and the secretary of state for Commonwealth affairs into a single department of state. Margaret Beckett, appointed in 2006 by Tony Blair, was the first woman to have held the post.[11]

The post of secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs was created in 2020 when position holder Dominic Raab absorbed the responsibilities of the secretary of state for international development.[12]

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Northern Department

Northern Department

The Northern Department was a department of the government of the Kingdom of England from 1660 to 1707 and later the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 until 1782 when its functions were reorganised into the new Home Office and Foreign Office.

Secretary of State for the Northern Department

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 Foreign Office.

Southern Department (Great Britain)

Southern Department (Great Britain)

The Southern Department was a department of the government of the Kingdom of England and later the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1660 until 1782 when its functions were reorganised into the new Home Office and Foreign Office.

Secretary of State for the Southern Department

Secretary of State for the Southern Department

The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department became the Home Office.

Colonial Office

Colonial Office

The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of colonies of the British Empire. Despite its name, the Colonial Office was never responsible for all Britain's Imperial territories; for example, protectorates fell under the purview of the Foreign Office, and British India was ruled by the East India Company until 1858, while the role of the Colonial Office in the affairs of the Dominions changed as time passed.

Secretary of State for the Colonies

Secretary of State for the Colonies

The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's minister in charge of managing the British Empire.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO, itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office, was responsible for protecting and promoting British interests worldwide.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (United Kingdom)

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (United Kingdom)

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs is a mid-level ministerial position in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of His Majesty's Government. The office was known as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 2010 to 2020. It was most recently merged into the office of Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment.

Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office (HO), also known as the Home Department, is a ministerial department of His Majesty's Government, responsible for immigration, security, and law and order. As such, it is responsible for policing in England and Wales, fire and rescue services in England, visas and immigration, and the Security Service (MI5). It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism, and ID cards. It was formerly responsible for His Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service, but these have been transferred to the Ministry of Justice.

Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The secretary of state for the Home Department is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Home Office As a Great Office of State, the home secretary is one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council.

Secretary of State for War

Secretary of State for War

The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and was assisted by a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War, a Parliamentary Private Secretary who was also a Member of Parliament (MP), and a Military Secretary, who was a general.

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies

The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet-level position responsible for the army and the British colonies. The Secretary was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.

List of foreign secretaries

Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs (1782–1968)

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs[13]
Portrait Name[14] Term of office Party Ministry Monarch
(Reign)
Charles James Fox00.jpg Charles James Fox[13]
MP for Westminster
27 March 1782 5 July 1782 Whig Rockingham II George III
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1801-1816).svg
(1760–1820)
[1782 1]
Thomas Robinson 2nd Baron.jpg Thomas Robinson
2nd Baron Grantham
[13]
13 July 1782 2 April 1783 Whig Shelburne
(WhigTory)
Charles James Fox00.jpg Charles James Fox[13]
MP for Westminster
2 April 1783 19 December 1783 Whig Fox–North
1stMarquessOfBuckingham.jpg George Nugent-Temple-Grenville
3rd Earl Temple
[13]
19 December 1783 23 December 1783 Tory Pitt I
Francis Osborne cropped.jpg His Grace
Francis Osborne
5th Duke of Leeds
[13]
23 December 1783 May 1791 Tory
1st Baron Grenville-cropped.jpg William Grenville
1st Baron Grenville
[13]PC FRS
8 June 1791 20 February 1801 Tory
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool by Sir Thomas Lawrence (cropped).jpg Robert Jenkinson
2nd Earl of Liverpool
KG PC[13]
MP for Rye[1782 2]
20 February 1801 14 May 1804 Tory
Addington
1stEarlOfHarrowby.jpg Dudley Ryder
2nd Baron Harrowby
[13]
14 May 1804 11 January 1805 Tory Pitt II
Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave by Sir William Beechey.jpg Henry Phipps
3rd Baron Mulgrave
[13]
11 January 1805 7 February 1806 Tory
Charles James Fox00.jpg Charles James Fox[13]
MP for Westminster
7 February 1806 13 September 1806 Whig All the Talents
(WhigTory)
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey after Sir Thomas Lawrence.jpg Charles Grey
Viscount Howick
[13]
MP for Northumberland
24 September 1806 25 March 1807 Whig
George Canning by Richard Evans - detail.jpg
George Canning
[13]
25 March 1807 11 October 1809 Tory Portland II
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst by William Salter.jpg Henry Bathurst
3rd Earl Bathurst
[13]
11 October 1809 6 December 1809 Tory Perceval
Richard Colley Wellesley, Marquess Wellesley by John Philip Davis ('Pope' Davis).jpg Richard Wellesley
1st Marquess Wellesley
[13]
6 December 1809 4 March 1812 Independent
Lord Castlereagh Marquess of Londonderry.jpg Robert Stewart
2nd Marquess of Londonderry
[13]
4 March 1812 12 August 1822 Tory Liverpool
George IV
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1816-1837).svg
George Canning by Richard Evans - detail.jpg George Canning[13]
MP for 3 constituencies respectively
16 September 1822 30 April 1827 Tory
1stEarlOfDudley.jpg John Ward
1st Earl of Dudley
[13]
30 April 1827 2 June 1828 Tory Canning
(CanningiteWhig)
Goderich
Wellington–Peel
Earl of Aberdeen.jpg George Hamilton-Gordon
4th Earl of Aberdeen
[13]
2 June 1828 22 November 1830 Tory
William IV
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1816-1837).svg
Lord Palmerston 1855.jpg Henry John Temple
3rd Viscount Palmerston
[13]
MP for 3 constituencies respectively
22 November 1830 14 November 1834 Whig Grey
Melbourne I
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington by John Jackson cropped.jpg Arthur Wellesley
1st Duke of Wellington
[13]
14 November 1834 18 April 1835 Tory Wellington Caretaker
Conservative Peel I
Lord Palmerston 1855.jpg Henry John Temple
3rd Viscount Palmerston
[13]
MP for Tiverton
18 April 1835 2 September 1841 Whig Melbourne II
Victoria
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
(1837–1901)
Earl of Aberdeen.jpg George Hamilton-Gordon
4th Earl of Aberdeen
[13]
2 September 1841 6 July 1846 Conservative Peel II
Lord Palmerston 1855.jpg Henry John Temple
3rd Viscount Palmerston
[13]
MP for Tiverton
6 July 1846 26 December 1851 Whig Russell I
Second Earl Granville.jpg Granville Leveson-Gower
2nd Earl Granville
[13]
26 December 1851 27 February 1852 Whig
JH Harris 3rd Earl of Malmesbury by JG Middleton crop.jpg James Howard Harris
3rd Earl of Malmesbury
[13]
27 February 1852 28 December 1852 Conservative Who? Who?
Lord john russell.jpg Lord John Russell[13]
MP for the City of London
28 December 1852 21 February 1853 Whig Aberdeen
(PeeliteWhig)
4thEarlOfClarendon.jpg George Villiers
4th Earl of Clarendon
[13]
21 February 1853 26 February 1858 Whig
Palmerston I
JH Harris 3rd Earl of Malmesbury by JG Middleton crop.jpg James Howard Harris
3rd Earl of Malmesbury
[13]
26 February 1858 18 June 1859 Conservative Derby–Disraeli II
Lord john russell.jpg John Russell
1st Earl Russell
[13]
18 June 1859 3 November 1865 Liberal Palmerston II
4thEarlOfClarendon.jpg George Villiers
4th Earl of Clarendon
3 November 1865 6 July 1866 Liberal Russell II
Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby 2.jpg Edward Stanley
Lord Stanley
[13]
MP for King's Lynn
6 July 1866 9 December 1868 Conservative Derby–Disraeli III
4thEarlOfClarendon.jpg George Villiers
4th Earl of Clarendon
[13]
9 December 1868 6 July 1870 Liberal Gladstone I
Second Earl Granville.jpg Granville Leveson-Gower
2nd Earl Granville
[13]
6 July 1870 21 February 1874 Liberal
Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby 2.jpg Edward Stanley
15th Earl of Derby
[13]
21 February 1874 2 April 1878 Conservative Disraeli II
Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
3rd Marquess of Salisbury
[13]
2 April 1878 28 April 1880 Conservative
Second Earl Granville.jpg Granville Leveson-Gower
2nd Earl Granville
[13]
28 April 1880 24 June 1885 Liberal Gladstone II
Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
3rd Marquess of Salisbury
[13]
24 June 1885 6 February 1886 Conservative Salisbury I
Archibald-Philip-Primrose-5th-Earl-of-Rosebery (cropped).jpg Archibald Primrose
5th Earl of Rosebery
[13]
6 February 1886 3 August 1886 Liberal Gladstone III
Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh.jpg Stafford Northcote
1st Earl of Iddesleigh
[13]
3 August 1886 12 January 1887 Conservative Salisbury II
Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
3rd Marquess of Salisbury
[13]
14 January 1887 11 August 1892 Conservative
Archibald-Philip-Primrose-5th-Earl-of-Rosebery (cropped).jpg Archibald Primrose
5th Earl of Rosebery
[13]
18 August 1892 11 March 1894 Liberal Gladstone IV
1st Earl of Kimberley 1897.jpg John Wodehouse
1st Earl of Kimberley
[13]
11 March 1894 21 June 1895 Liberal Rosebery
Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
3rd Marquess of Salisbury
[13]
29 June 1895 12 November 1900 Conservative Salisbury
(III & IV)

(Con.Lib.U.)
Marquess of Lansdowne crop.jpg Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice
5th Marquess of Lansdowne
[13]
12 November 1900 4 December 1905 Liberal Unionist
Edward VII
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
(1901–1910)
Balfour
Picture of Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon.jpg Edward Grey[13]
MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed
10 December 1905 10 December 1916 Liberal Campbell-Bannerman
Asquith
(I–III)
George V
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
Asquith Coalition
(Lib.Con.–et al.)
Arthur-James-Balfour-1st-Earl-of-Balfour.jpg Arthur Balfour[13]
MP for the City of London
10 December 1916 23 October 1919 Conservative Lloyd George
(I & II)
Curzon GGBain.jpg George Curzon
1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
[13]
23 October 1919 22 January 1924 Conservative
Law
Baldwin I
Ramsay-MacDonald.jpg Ramsay MacDonald[13]
MP for Aberavon
22 January 1924 3 November 1924 Labour MacDonald I
Austen Chamberlain nobel.jpg Austen Chamberlain[13]
MP for Birmingham West
6 November 1924 4 June 1929 Conservative Baldwin II
1910 Arthur Henderson.jpg Arthur Henderson[13]
MP for Burnley
7 June 1929 24 August 1931 Labour MacDonald II
Rufus Isaacs.jpg Rufus Isaacs
1st Marquess of Reading
[13]
25 August 1931 5 November 1931 Liberal National I
(N.Lab.Con.–et al.)
Viscount Simon.jpg John Simon[13]
MP for Spen Valley
5 November 1931 7 June 1935 Liberal National National II
Sir Samuel Hoare GGBain.jpg Samuel Hoare[13]
MP for Chelsea
7 June 1935 18 December 1935 Conservative National III
(Con.N.Lab.–et al.)
Anthony Eden (retouched).jpg Anthony Eden[13]
MP for Warwick & Leamington
22 December 1935 20 February 1938 Conservative
Edward VIII
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
(1936)
George VI
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
National IV
1st Earl of Halifax 1947.jpg Edward Wood
3rd Viscount Halifax
[13]
21 February 1938 22 December 1940 Conservative
Chamberlain War
Churchill War
(All parties)
Anthony Eden (retouched).jpg Anthony Eden[13]
MP for Warwick & Leamington
22 December 1940 26 July 1945 Conservative
Churchill Caretaker
(Con.Lib.N.)
Ernest Bevin cph.3b17494.jpg Ernest Bevin[13]
27 July 1945 9 March 1951 Labour Attlee
(I & II)
Herbert Morrison 1947.jpg Herbert Morrison[13]
MP for Lewisham South
9 March 1951 26 October 1951 Labour
Anthony Eden (retouched).jpg Anthony Eden[13]
MP for Warwick & Leamington
28 October 1951 7 April 1955 Conservative Churchill III
Elizabeth II
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg
Harold Macmillan in 1942.jpg Harold Macmillan[13]
MP for Bromley
7 April 1955 20 December 1955 Conservative Eden
Selwyn Lloyd cropped.jpg Selwyn Lloyd[13]
MP for Wirral
20 December 1955 27 July 1960 Conservative
Macmillan
(I & II)
Alec Douglas-Home (c1963).jpg Alec Douglas-Home
14th Earl of Home
[13]
27 July 1960 18 October 1963 Conservative
Rab Butler.jpg Richard Austen Butler[13]
MP for Saffron Walden
20 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Douglas-Home
President John F. Kennedy with Member of Parliament of Great Britain, Patrick Gordon Walker.jpg
Patrick Gordon Walker[13]
Neither an MP nor a Lord[1782 5]
16 October 1964 22 January 1965 Labour Wilson
(I & II)
Michael Stewart (1966).jpg Michael Stewart[13]
MP for Fulham
22 January 1965 11 August 1966 Labour
George Brown, 1967.jpg George Brown[13]
MP for Belper
11 August 1966 16 March 1968 Labour
Michael Stewart (1966).jpg Michael Stewart[13]
MP for Fulham
16 March 1968 17 October 1968 Labour
^† Died in office.
  1. ^ The Prince of Wales served as prince regent from 5 February 1811.
  2. ^ Elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom in November 1803.
  3. ^ Elected to a new constituency in the 1807 general election.
  4. ^ Elected to a new constituency in the 1950 general election.
  5. ^ Walker was the MP for Smethwick and Labour's shadow Foreign Secretary, prior to the 1964 general election. He lost his seat in the election but was appointed to the post anyway. He resigned after fighting and losing a 1965 by-election in Leyton.

Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1968–2020)

Post created through the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Portrait Name[15]
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Party Ministry Sovereign
(Reign)
Michael Stewart (1966).jpg Michael Stewart[13]
MP for Fulham
(1906–1990)
17 October 1968 19 June 1970 Labour Wilson
(I & II)
Elizabeth II
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg
(1952–2022)
Alec Douglas-Home (c1963) (cropped).jpg Alec Douglas-Home[13]
MP for Kinross and Western Perthshire
(1903–1995)
20 June 1970 4 March 1974 Conservative Heath
James Callaghan (1975).jpg James Callaghan[13]
MP for Cardiff South East
(1912–2005)
5 March 1974 5 April 1976 Labour Wilson
(III & IV)
Charles-Anthony-Raven-Crosland (cropped).jpg Anthony Crosland[13]
MP for Great Grimsby
(1918–1977)
8 April 1976 19 February 1977 Labour Callaghan
Official portrait of Lord Owen crop 2.jpg David Owen[13]
MP for Plymouth Devonport
(born 1938)
22 February 1977 4 May 1979 Labour
Peter Carington 1984.jpg Peter Carington
6th Baron Carrington
[13]
KCMGMCPCDL
(1919–2018)
4 May 1979 5 April 1982 Conservative Thatcher I
Francis Pym (cropped).jpg Francis Pym[13]
MP for Cambridgeshire
(1922–2008)
6 April 1982 11 June 1983 Conservative
Geoffrey Howe (1985).jpg Geoffrey Howe[13]
MP for East Surrey
(1926–2015)
11 June 1983 24 July 1989 Conservative Thatcher II
Thatcher III
Major PM full.jpg John Major[13]
MP for Huntingdon
(born 1943)
24 July 1989 26 October 1989 Conservative
Lord Hurd (cropped).jpg Douglas Hurd[13]
MP for Witney
(born 1930)
26 October 1989 5 July 1995 Conservative
Major I
Major II
Malcolm Rifkind 2011 (cropped).jpg Malcolm Rifkind[13]
MP for Edinburgh Pentlands
(born 1946)
5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative
Robin Cook-close crop.jpg Robin Cook[13]
MP for Livingston
(1946–2005)
2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour Blair I
Jack Straw 2.jpg Jack Straw[13]
MP for Blackburn
(born 1946)
8 June 2001 5 May 2006 Labour Blair II
Blair III
Official portrait of Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP crop 2.jpg Margaret Beckett[13]
MP for Derby South
(born 1943)
5 May 2006 27 June 2007 Labour
David Miliband 2.jpg David Miliband[13]
MP for South Shields
(born 1965)
28 June 2007 11 May 2010 Labour Brown
William Hague Foreign Secretary (2010).jpg William Hague[13]
MP for Richmond (Yorks)
(born 1961)
12 May 2010 14 July 2014 Conservative Cameron–Clegg
(Con.L.D.)
Official portrait of Mr Philip Hammond crop 2.jpg Philip Hammond[13]
MP for Runnymede and Weybridge
(born 1955)
14 July 2014 13 July 2016 Conservative
Cameron II
Boris Johnson official portrait (cropped).jpg Boris Johnson[13][16]
MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip
(born 1964)
13 July 2016 9 July 2018 Conservative May I
May II
Official portrait of Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP crop 2.jpg Jeremy Hunt[17]
MP for South West Surrey
(born 1966)
9 July 2018 24 July 2019 Conservative
Official portrait of Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP crop 2.jpg Dominic Raab[18]
MP for Esher and Walton
(born 1974)
24 July 2019 2 September 2020 Conservative Johnson I
Johnson II

Secretaries of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (2020–present)

Post created through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development.

Portrait Name[15]
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Party Ministry Sovereign
(Reign)
Official portrait of Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP crop 2.jpg Dominic Raab
MP for Esher and Walton
(born 1974)
2 September 2020 15 September 2021 Conservative Johnson II Elizabeth II
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg
(1952–2022)
Liz Truss Official Photo (cropped).jpg Liz Truss
MP for South West Norfolk
(born 1975)
15 September 2021 6 September 2022 Conservative
James Cleverly Official Cabinet Portrait (cropped).jpg James Cleverly
MP for Braintree
(born 1969)
6 September 2022 Incumbent Conservative Truss
Charles III
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg
(2022–present)
Sunak

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Charles James Fox

Charles James Fox

Charles James Fox, styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-rival of the Tory politician William Pitt the Younger; his father Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, a leading Whig of his day, had similarly been the great rival of Pitt's famous father, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.

Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Westminster was a parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707–1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801. It returned two members to 1885 and one thereafter.

Whigs (British political party)

Whigs (British political party)

The Whigs were a political faction and then a political party in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Between the 1680s and the 1850s, the Whigs contested power with their rivals, the Tories. The Whigs merged into the Liberal Party with the Peelites and Radicals in the 1850s. Many Whigs left the Liberal Party in 1886 to form the Liberal Unionist Party, which merged into the Conservative Party in 1912.

Second Rockingham ministry

Second Rockingham ministry

This is a list of the principal holders of government office during the second premiership of the Marquess of Rockingham for four months in 1782.

Regency era

Regency era

The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between c. 1795 and 1837. King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 1810 and, by the Regency Act 1811, his eldest son George, Prince of Wales, was appointed prince regent to discharge royal functions. When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent succeeded him as George IV. In terms of periodisation, the longer timespan is roughly the final third of the Georgian era (1714–1837), encompassing the last 25 years or so of George III's reign, including the official Regency, and the complete reigns of both George IV and his brother William IV. It ends with the accession of Queen Victoria in June 1837 and is followed by the Victorian era (1837–1901).

Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham

Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham

Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham PC was a British statesman. He notably served as Foreign Secretary between 1782 and 1783.

Shelburne ministry

Shelburne ministry

This is a list of the principal holders of government office during the premiership of the Earl of Shelburne between July 1782 and April 1783.

Tories (British political party)

Tories (British political party)

The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed Whig efforts to exclude James, Duke of York from the succession on the grounds of his Catholicism. Despite their fervent opposition to state-sponsored Catholicism, Tories opposed exclusion in the belief inheritance based on birth was the foundation of a stable society.

Fox–North coalition

Fox–North coalition

The Fox–North coalition was a government in Great Britain that held office during 1783. As the name suggests, the ministry was a coalition of the groups supporting Charles James Fox and Lord North. The official head was William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, who took office on 2 April 1783.

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham,, known as George Grenville before 1779 and as The Earl Temple between 1779 and 1784, was a British statesman.

First Pitt ministry

First Pitt ministry

William Pitt the Younger led the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1783 to 1801.

Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds

Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds

Francis Godolphin Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds,, styled Marquess of Carmarthen until 1789, was a British politician. He notably served as Foreign Secretary under William Pitt the Younger from 1783 to 1791. He also was Governor of Scilly. In 1790, he was made a Knight of the Order of the Garter. As a statesman, he is generally regarded as a failure, and his deep hostility to the newly independent United States damaged relations between the two countries.

Source: "Foreign Secretary", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 11th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Secretary.

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References
  1. ^ "Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs". gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Afghanistan: The questions facing Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab". BBC News. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will be grilled by the Foreign Affairs Committee over his handling of the UK's withdrawal from Afghanistan.
  3. ^ Archives, The National. "Senior Cabinet posts". www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  4. ^ a b "Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Ministerial responsibility". GCHQ. 23 March 2016. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2017. Day-to-day ministerial responsibility for GCHQ lies with the Foreign Secretary.
  6. ^ "Written Answers to Questions: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: 1 Carlton Gardens". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 6 May 2009. col. 165W.
  7. ^ "Dominic Raab and Liz Truss agree to share 115-room mansion". BBC News. 13 October 2021.
  8. ^ Hughes, Laura (25 December 2021). "Britain's Foreign Office has badly lost its way, say critics". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  9. ^ Sainty, J. C. (1973). "Introduction". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2 - Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782. British History Online. University of London. pp. 1–21. At the Restoration [in 1660] the practice of appointing two Secretaries of State, which was well established before the Civil War, was resumed. Apart from the modifications which were made necessary by the occasional existence of a third secretaryship, the organisation of the secretariat underwent no fundamental change from that time until the reforms of 1782 which resulted in the emergence of the Home and Foreign departments. ... English domestic affairs remained the responsibility of both Secretaries throughout the period. In the field of foreign affairs there was a division into a Northern and a Southern Department, each of which was the responsibility of one Secretary. The distinction between the two departments emerged only gradually. It was not until after 1689 that their names passed into general currency. Nevertheless the division of foreign business itself can, in its broad outlines, be detected in the early years of the reign of Charles II.
  10. ^ "India Office". British Museum. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Margaret Beckett". European Leadership Network. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Merging success: Bringing together the FCO and DFID : Government Response to Committee's Second Report". UK Parliament. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg "Past Foreign Secretaries". gov.uk. Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  14. ^ Including honorifics and constituencies for elected MPs.
  15. ^ a b Including honorifics and constituencies for elected MPs.
  16. ^ "Boris Johnson quits to add to pressure on May over Brexit". BBC News. 9 July 2018.
  17. ^ "Jeremy Hunt replaces Boris Johnson as foreign secretary". BBC News. 9 July 2018.
  18. ^ Andrew Sparrow (24 July 2019). "Raab appointed foreign secretary and first secretary of state". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
Further reading
  • Cecil, Algernon. British foreign secretaries, 1807–1916: studies in personality and policy (1927). pp. 89–130. online
  • Goodman, Sam. The Imperial Premiership: The Role of the Modern Prime Minister in Foreign Policy Making, 1964–2015 (Oxford UP, 2016).
  • Hughes, Michael. British Foreign Secretaries in an Uncertain World, 1919–1939. (Routledge, 2004).
  • Johnson, Gaynor. "Introduction: The Foreign Office and British Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century," Contemporary British History, (2004) 18:3, 1–12, DOI: 10.1080/1361946042000259279
  • Neilson, Keith, and Thomas G. Otte. The permanent under-secretary for foreign affairs, 1854–1946 (Routledge, 2008).
  • Otte, Thomas G. The Foreign Office Mind: The Making of British Foreign Policy, 1865–1914 (Cambridge UP, 2011).
  • Seldon, Anthony. The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister (2021) excerpt major scholarly history. Covers the relations with Prime Minister in Chapter 8.
  • Steiner, Zara. The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy, 1898–1914 (1986).
  • Temperley, Harold. "British Secret Diplomacy from Canning to Grey." Cambridge Historical Journal 6.1 (1938): 1–32.
  • Theakston, Kevin, ed. British foreign secretaries since 1974 (Routledge, 2004).
  • Wilson, Keith M., ed. British foreign secretaries and foreign policy: from Crimean War to First World War (1987).
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