Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Incumbent
William Hague
since 11 May 2010
Style The Right Honourable
Residence FCO Main Building
Appointer Prime Minister
Inaugural holder Charles James Fox
27 March 1782
United Kingdom

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The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State. The Secretary of State's remit include: relations with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the overseas territories in addition to the promotion of British interests abroad. The Foreign Secretary also has responsibility for the Secret Intelligence Service MI6, who are directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary.

Contents

Position

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 Home and Foreign Offices respectively. 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 State for Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs into a single Department of State. The India Office was a predecessor department of the Foreign Office.

The Foreign Secretary is a member of the Cabinet, and the post is considered one of the Great Offices of State. The Foreign Secretary works out of the Foreign Office in Whitehall. The post's official residences are 1 Carlton Gardens in London and Chevening in Kent. In the 2006 reshuffle, Margaret Beckett became the first (and only) woman to hold the post.

The current Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is the Right Honourable William Hague MP.

List of Foreign Secretaries

Colour key
(Politicians)

  Whig
  Tory
  Conservative
  Liberal
  Liberal Unionist
  Labour
  National Liberal

(Governments)

  Single party government
  Coalition government

Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, 1782–1801
Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
Charles James Fox 27 March 1782 5 July 1782
(resigned)		 Whig • The Marquess of Rockingham
The Lord Grantham 13 July 1782 2 April 1783 Whig • The Earl of Shelburne
Charles James Fox 2 April 1783 19 December 1783 Whig • The Duke of Portland
The Earl Temple 19 December 1783 23 December 1783 Tory • William Pitt the Younger
The Marquess of Carmarthen
(Duke of Leeds from 1789)		 23 December 1783 May 1791
(resigned)		 Tory
The Lord Grenville 8 June 1791 20 February 1801 Tory

Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, 1801–1900
Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
The Lord Hawkesbury
(subsequently
Earl of Liverpool)		 20 February 1801 14 May 1804 Tory • Henry Addington
The Lord Harrowby 14 May 1804 11 January 1805 Tory • William Pitt the Younger
The Lord Mulgrave 11 January 1805 7 February 1806 Tory
Charles James Fox 7 February 1806 13 September 1806
(died)		 Whig • Lord Grenville
Viscount Howick
(subsequently
Earl Grey)		 24 September 1806 25 March 1807 Whig
George Canning 25 March 1807 11 October 1809
(resigned)		 Tory • The Duke of Portland
The Earl Bathurst 11 October 1809 6 December 1809 Tory
The Marquess Wellesley 6 December 1809 4 March 1812 • Spencer Perceval
Viscount Castlereagh 4 March 1812 12 August 1822
(died)		 Tory • The Earl of Liverpool
George Canning 16 September 1822 30 April 1827 Tory
The Earl of Dudley 30 April 1827 2 June 1828 Tory • George Canning
• The Viscount Goderich
The Earl of Aberdeen 2 June 1828 22 November 1830 Tory • The Duke of Wellington
Viscount Palmerston 22 November 1830 14 November 1834 Whig • The Earl Grey
• The Viscount Melbourne
The Duke of Wellington 14 November 1834 18 April 1835 Tory • The Duke of Wellington
• Sir Robert Peel
Viscount Palmerston 18 April 1835 2 September 1841 Whig •

•		 The Viscount Melbourne
The Earl of Aberdeen 2 September 1841 6 July 1846 Conservative • Sir Robert Peel
Viscount Palmerston 6 July 1846 26 December 1851 Whig • Lord John Russell
The Earl Granville 26 December 1851 27 February 1852 Whig
The Earl of Malmesbury 27 February 1852 28 December 1852 Conservative • The 14th Earl of Derby
Lord John Russell 28 December 1852 21 February 1853 Whig • The Earl of Aberdeen
The Earl of Clarendon 21 February 1853 26 February 1858 Whig
• Viscount Palmerston
The Earl of Malmesbury 26 February 1858 18 June 1859 Conservative • The 14th Earl of Derby
Lord John Russell
(Earl Russell from 1861)		 18 June 1859 3 November 1865 Liberal • Viscount Palmerston
The Earl of Clarendon 3 November 1865 6 July 1866 Liberal • The Earl Russell
Lord Stanley
(subsequently
15th Earl of Derby)		 6 July 1866 9 December 1868 Conservative • The 14th Earl of Derby
• Benjamin Disraeli
The Earl of Clarendon 9 December 1868 6 July 1870 Liberal • William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl Granville 6 July 1870 21 February 1874 Liberal
The 15th Earl of Derby 21 February 1874 2 April 1878 Conservative • Benjamin Disraeli
The Marquess of Salisbury 2 April 1878 28 April 1880 Conservative
The Earl Granville 28 April 1880 24 June 1885 Liberal • William Ewart Gladstone
The Marquess of Salisbury 24 June 1885 6 February 1886 Conservative • The Marquess of Salisbury
The Earl of Rosebery 6 February 1886 3 August 1886 Liberal • William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Iddesleigh 3 August 1886 12 January 1887
(died)		 Conservative • The Marquess of Salisbury
The Marquess of Salisbury 14 January 1887 11 August 1892 Conservative
The Earl of Rosebery 18 August 1892 11 March 1894 Liberal • William Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Kimberley 11 March 1894 21 June 1895 Liberal • The Earl of Rosebery
The Marquess of Salisbury 29 June 1895 12 November 1900 Conservative • The Marquess of Salisbury

Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, 1900–1968
Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
The Marquess of Lansdowne 12 November 1900 4 December 1905 Liberal Unionist • The Marquess of Salisbury
• Arthur Balfour
Sir Edward Grey, Bt 10 December 1905 10 December 1916 Liberal • Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
• Herbert Henry Asquith
•
Arthur Balfour 10 December 1916 23 October 1919 Conservative • David Lloyd George
The Earl Curzon of Kedleston
(Marquess Curzon of Kedleston from 1921)		 23 October 1919 22 January 1924 Conservative
• Andrew Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Ramsay MacDonald 22 January 1924 3 November 1924 Labour • Ramsay MacDonald
Sir Austen Chamberlain 6 November 1924 4 June 1929 Conservative • Stanley Baldwin
Arthur Henderson 7 June 1929 24 August 1931 Labour • Ramsay MacDonald
The Marquess of Reading 25 August 1931 5 November 1931 Liberal •
Sir John Simon 5 November 1931 7 June 1935 Liberal National •
Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt 7 June 1935 18 December 1935
(resigned)		 Conservative • Stanley Baldwin
Anthony Eden 22 December 1935 20 February 1938
(resigned)		 Conservative
• Neville Chamberlain
The Viscount Halifax 21 February 1938 22 December 1940 Conservative
Anthony Eden 22 December 1940 26 July 1945 Conservative •

•		 Winston Churchill
Ernest Bevin 27 July 1945 9 March 1951 Labour • Clement Attlee
Herbert Morrison 9 March 1951 26 October 1951 Labour
Anthony Eden 28 October 1951 7 April 1955 Conservative • Sir Winston Churchill
Harold Macmillan 7 April 1955 20 December 1955 Conservative • Sir Anthony Eden
Selwyn Lloyd 20 December 1955 27 July 1960 Conservative
• Harold Macmillan
The Earl of Home 27 July 1960 20 October 1963 Conservative
R. A. Butler 20 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative • Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Patrick Gordon Walker 16 October 1964 22 January 1965
(lost seat 1964)		 Labour • Harold Wilson
Michael Stewart 22 January 1965 11 August 1966 Labour
George Brown 11 August 1966 16 March 1968
(resigned)		 Labour
Michael Stewart 16 March 1968 17 October 1968 Labour

Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 1968–present

Post created through the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.
Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
Michael Stewart 17 October 1968 19 June 1970 Labour • Harold Wilson
Sir Alec Douglas-Home 20 June 1970 28 February 1974 Conservative • Edward Heath
James Callaghan 5 March 1974 5 April 1976 Labour • Harold Wilson
Anthony Crosland 8 April 1976 19 February 1977
(died)		 Labour • James Callaghan
David Owen 22 February 1977 4 May 1979 Labour
The Lord Carrington 5 May 1979 5 April 1982
(resigned)		 Conservative • Margaret Thatcher
Francis Pym 6 April 1982 11 June 1983 Conservative
Sir Geoffrey Howe 11 June 1983 24 July 1989 Conservative
John Major 24 July 1989 26 October 1989 Conservative
Douglas Hurd 26 October 1989 5 July 1995 Conservative
• John Major
Malcolm Rifkind 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative
Robin Cook 2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour • Tony Blair
Jack Straw 8 June 2001 5 May 2006 Labour
Margaret Beckett 5 May 2006 28 June 2007 Labour
David Miliband 28 June 2007 11 May 2010 Labour • Gordon Brown
William Hague 11 May 2010 Incumbent Conservative • David Cameron

See also

External links