Minister of State for Europe
The Minister of State for Europe is an informal name for a position in the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with the European Union.
The office is generally, formally one of a number of Ministers of State within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Despite being a junior ministerial role, the position has sometimes conferred the right to attend meetings of the Cabinet, which is occasionally granted to other such Ministers at the Prime Minister's discretion. This first occurred when Denis MacShane was replaced by Douglas Alexander after the 2005 general election, although Alexander's successor ceased to have this right. The Minister of State is also responsible for the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus.
When Chris Bryant MP held the office it was not as a Minister of State but a more junior Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.[1]
In July 2016, following the EU membership referendum, David Davis (previously Europe Minister 1994–1997) was appointed Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, a new cabinet post heading its own department. The current minister is assigned to this new department, rather than under the FCO and its new Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson.
List of Ministers for Europe
Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | P.M. | F.Sec. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Douglas Hurd | 4 May 1979 | 9 June 1983 | Conservative | Thatcher | Carrington | |||
Pym | ||||||||
Malcolm Rifkind | 9 June 1983 | 11 January 1986 | Conservative | Howe | ||||
Lynda Chalker | 11 January 1986 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | |||||
Francis Maude | 25 July 1989 | 28 November 1990 | Conservative | Major | ||||
Hurd | ||||||||
Tristan Garel-Jones | 28 November 1990 | 27 May 1993 | Conservative | Major | ||||
David Heathcoat-Amory | 27 May 1993 | 20 July 1994 | Conservative | |||||
David Davis | 20 July 1994 | May 1997 | Conservative | |||||
Rifkind | ||||||||
Doug Henderson | 5 May 1997 | 28 July 1998 | Labour | Blair | Cook | |||
Joyce Quin | 28 July 1998 | 28 July 1999 | Labour | |||||
Geoff Hoon | 28 July 1999 | 11 October 1999 | Labour | |||||
Keith Vaz | 11 October 1999 | 11 June 2001 | Labour | |||||
Peter Hain | 11 June 2001 | 24 October 2002 | Labour | Straw | ||||
Denis MacShane | 28 October 2002 | 11 May 2005 | Labour | |||||
Douglas Alexander | 11 May 2005 | 8 May 2006 | Labour | |||||
Geoff Hoon | 8 May 2006 | 27 June 2007 | Labour | Beckett | ||||
Jim Murphy | 28 June 2007 | 3 October 2008 | Labour | Brown | Miliband | |||
Caroline Flint | 3 October 2008 | 5 June 2009 | Labour | |||||
The Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead | 5 June 2009 | 13 October 2009 | Labour | |||||
Chris Bryant Undersecretary of State for Europe and Asia |
13 October 2009 | 12 May 2010 | Labour | |||||
David Lidington | 12 May 2010 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron | Hague | |||
Hammond | ||||||||
David Jones | 17 July 2016 | 12 June 2017 | Conservative | May | Brexit.Sec. | |||
Davis | ||||||||
The Baroness Anelay of St Johns | 12 June 2017 | Incumbent | Conservative | |||||
References
See also
- Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
- Minister of State for European Affairs: the counterpart in the Republic of Ireland