Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs | |
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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | |
Style | The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth) |
Member of | |
Reports to | Prime Minister |
Residence |
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Seat | Westminster |
Nominator | Prime Minister |
Appointer | The King (on the advice of the Prime Minister) |
Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
Formation | 27 March 1782 |
First holder | Charles James Fox |
Website | www.gov.uk |
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Politics of the United Kingdom |
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The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of 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.
Corresponding to what is generally known as a foreign minister in many other countries, the foreign secretary's remit includes:
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]
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]
Post created through the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.
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) | ||
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Dominic Raab MP for Esher and Walton (born 1974) |
2 September 2020 | 15 September 2021 | Conservative | Johnson II | Elizabeth II (1952–2022) | ||
Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk (born 1975) |
15 September 2021 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | ||||
James Cleverly MP for Braintree (born 1969) |
6 September 2022 | Incumbent | Conservative | Truss | |||
Charles III (2022–present) | |||||||
Sunak |