# Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, also referred to as the environment secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
The office holder works alongside the other Defra ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

## Responsibilities

The secretary of state has two main responsibilities at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to:
* bear overall responsibility for all departmental issues.
* lobby for the United Kingdom in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change.

## List of environment secretaries

Secretaries of state for the environment (1970–1997) :
| Secretary of State | Secretary of State | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Ministry |
| | Peter Walker MP for Worcester | 15 October 1970 | 5 November 1972 | Conservative | Heath |
| | Geoffrey Rippon MP for Hexham | 5 November 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | Heath |
| | Anthony Crosland MP for Great Grimsby | 5 March 1974 | 8 April 1976 | Labour | Wilson (III & IV) |
| | Peter Shore MP for Stepney and Poplar | 8 April 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | Callaghan |
| | Michael Heseltine MP for Henley | 5 May 1979 | 6 January 1983 | Conservative | Thatcher I |
| | Tom King MP for Bridgwater | 6 January 1983 | 11 June 1983 | Conservative | Thatcher I |
| | Patrick Jenkin MP for Wanstead and Woodford | 11 June 1983 | 2 September 1985 | Conservative | Thatcher II |
| | Kenneth Baker MP for Mole Valley | 2 September 1985 | 21 May 1986 | Conservative | Thatcher II |
| | Nicholas Ridley MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury | 21 May 1986 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | Thatcher II |
| | Nicholas Ridley MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury | 21 May 1986 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | Thatcher III |
| | Chris Patten MP for Bath | 24 July 1989 | 28 November 1990 | Conservative | Thatcher III |
| | Michael Heseltine MP for Henley | 28 November 1990 | 11 April 1992 | Conservative | Major I |
| | Michael Howard MP for Folkestone and Hythe | 11 April 1992 | 27 May 1993 | Conservative | Major II |
| | John Gummer MP for Suffolk Coastal | 27 May 1993 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | Major II |
| Secretaries of state for the environment, transport and the regions (1997–2001) |||||||||
| | John Prescott MP for Kingston upon Hull East | 2 May 1997 | 8 June 2001 | Labour | Blair I |
| Secretaries of state for environment, food and rural affairs (2001–present) |||||||||
| | Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South | 8 June 2001 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | Blair II |
| | Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South | 8 June 2001 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | Blair III |
| | David Miliband MP for South Shields | 5 May 2006 | 28 June 2007 | Labour | Blair III |
| | Hilary Benn MP for Leeds Central | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Brown |
| | Caroline Spelman MP for Meriden | 12 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Conservative | Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.) |
| | Owen Paterson MP for North Shropshire | 4 September 2012 | 14 July 2014 | Conservative | Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.) |
| | Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk | 15 July 2014 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.) |
| | Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk | 15 July 2014 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron II |
| | Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire | 14 July 2016 | 11 June 2017 | Conservative | May I |
| | Michael Gove MP for Surrey Heath | 11 June 2017 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | May II |
| | Theresa Villiers MP for Chipping Barnet | 24 July 2019 | 13 February 2020 | Conservative | Johnson I |
| ​ | Theresa Villiers MP for Chipping Barnet | 24 July 2019 | 13 February 2020 | Conservative | Johnson II |
| | George Eustice MP for Camborne and Redruth | 13 February 2020 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | Johnson II |
| | Ranil Jayawardena MP for North East Hampshire | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Conservative | Truss |
| | Thérèse Coffey MP for Suffolk Coastal | 25 October 2022 | 13 November 2023 | Conservative | Sunak |
| | Steve Barclay MP for North East Cambridgeshire | 13 November 2023 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Sunak |
| | Steve Reed MP for Streatham and Croydon North | 5 July 2024 | Incumbent | Labour | Starmer |