Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

United Kingdom Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Royal Arms as used by Her Majesty's Government
Incumbent Greg Clark since 14 July 2016
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Style	The Right Honourable (Formal prefix) Business Secretary
Appointer	Elizabeth II
Inaugural holder	Edward Heath (Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development)
Formation	20 October 1963 (Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development) 14 July 2016 (Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Website	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

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Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (DEBEIS), or informally Business Secretary, is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. The office is responsible for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and previous to that the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The secretary of state was, until July 2016, also President of the Board of Trade when that position was transferred to the newly created post of Secretary of State for International Trade.^[1]

History

During the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the then President of the Board of Trade Edward Heath was given in addition the job of Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development. This title was not continued under Harold Wilson, but when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 he decided to merge functions of the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Technology to create the Department of Trade and Industry. The head of this department became known as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and also retained the title of President of the Board of Trade.

When Harold Wilson re-entered office in March 1974, the office was split into the Department of Trade, the Department of Industry and the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection, resulting in the creation of three new positions: Secretary of State for Industry, Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, and Secretary of State for Trade. The title President of the Board of Trade became the secondary title of the Secretary of State for Trade. In 1979 the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was abolished by the incoming Conservative government and its responsibilities were reintegrated into the Department of Trade. In 1983 the offices of trade and industry were remerged and the title of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was recreated. When Michael Heseltine held this office, he preferred to be known by the older title of President of the Board of Trade, and this practice was also followed by Ian Lang and Margaret Beckett. Heseltine's decision to reuse the old title caused some comment and it was discovered that the Board of Trade had not in fact met since the mid-nineteenth century.

Under Gordon Brown's premiership there were two renamings of the role and three re-alignments of responsibility. In his first cabinet of 2007, he called the post Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. In this change, the Better Regulation Executive was added to the department but the Office of Science and Innovation was lost. In 2008, the title remained the same but responsibility for energy was lost. In 2009, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was merged into the existing department and the post became Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In July 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May decided to merge the Department for Energy and Climate Change into this department with the responsibilities for post-19 education and skills being returned to the Department for Education resulting in the position being renamed to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. At the same time the post of President of the Board of Trade was transferred to the newly created post of Secretary of State for International Trade.

List of Secretaries of State

Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development (1963–1964)

Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Edward Heath		20 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative		Alec Douglas-Home

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1970–1974)

Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	John Davies		15 October 1970	5 November 1972	Conservative		Edward Heath
	Peter Walker		5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative		Edward Heath

Secretaries of State for Industry; Prices; and Trade (1974–1983)

Secretary of State for Industry				Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection				Secretary of State for Trade				Political party	Prime Minister
Name		Took office	Left office	Name		Took office	Left office	Name		Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Tony Benn	5 March 1974	10 June 1975		Shirley Williams	5 March 1974	10 September 1976		Peter Shore	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour		Harold Wilson
	Eric Varley	10 June 1975	4 May 1979						Peter Shore	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour		Harold Wilson
									Edmund Dell	8 April 1976	11 November 1978	Labour		James Callaghan
					Roy Hattersley	10 September 1976	4 May 1979		Edmund Dell	8 April 1976	11 November 1978
					Roy Hattersley	10 September 1976	4 May 1979		John Smith	11 November 1978	4 May 1979
	Keith Joseph	4 May 1979	14 September 1981	OFFICE ABOLISHED (responsibilities returned to the Trade Secretary)					John Nott	5 May 1979	5 January 1981	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
	Keith Joseph	4 May 1979	14 September 1981						John Biffen	5 January 1981	6 April 1982
	Patrick Jenkin	14 September 1981	12 June 1983						John Biffen	5 January 1981	6 April 1982
	Patrick Jenkin	14 September 1981	12 June 1983						The Lord Cockfield	6 April 1982	12 June 1983

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1983–2007)

	Took office	Left office	Political party
Cecil Parkinson	12 June 1983	11 October 1983	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
Norman Tebbit	16 October 1983	2 September 1985
Leon Brittan	2 September 1985	22 January 1986
Paul Channon	24 January 1986	13 June 1987
The Lord Young of Graffham	13 June 1987	24 July 1989
Nicholas Ridley	24 July 1989	13 July 1990
Peter Lilley	14 July 1990	10 April 1992
Peter Lilley	14 July 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative	John Major
Michael Heseltine†	10 April 1992	5 July 1995
Ian Lang†	5 July 1995	2 May 1997
Margaret Beckett†	2 May 1997	27 July 1998	Labour	Tony Blair
Peter Mandelson	27 July 1998	23 December 1998
Stephen Byers	23 December 1998	8 June 2001
Patricia Hewitt	8 June 2001	6 May 2005
Alan Johnson††	6 May 2005	5 May 2006
Alistair Darling	5 May 2006	27 June 2007

† — Primarily referred to as President of the Board of Trade, and not as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

†† — Alan Johnson was initially announced on 6 May 2005, after the general election, as being "Secretary of State for Productivity, Energy and Industry and President of the Board of Trade", but after just a week, on 13 May, it was declared that the new title would not be used, after widespread derision of the new name, because the abbreviation for Johnson's title, Productivity, Energy and Industry Secretary, would have been "PENIS"^[2]

Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (2007–2009)

Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	John Hutton		28 June 2007	3 October 2008	Labour		Gordon Brown
	The Lord Mandelson		3 October 2008	5 June 2009	Labour		Gordon Brown

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (2009–2016)

	Took office	Left office	Political party
The Lord Mandelson	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour	Gordon Brown
Vince Cable	12 May 2010	8 May 2015	Liberal Democrats	David Cameron (Coalition)
Sajid Javid	11 May 2015	14 July 2016	Conservative	David Cameron (II)

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (since 2016)

Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
	Greg Clark		14 July 2016	Incumbent	Conservative		Theresa May

References

↑ "Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade - GOV.UK".
↑ "Profile: Alan Johnson". The Telegraph. 18 June 2005.

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