# Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention is a position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the Government of the United Kingdom. The role has previously been known as the Minister of State for Public Health.

## History

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security worked at the Department of Health and Social Security. The future Prime Minister John Major held this office. The office was known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health from 1987 to 1990.
Nicola Blackwood lost her seat in the snap 2017 general election and was replaced as a minister by Steve Brine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the minister was placed in charge of public health policy. The office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment was created later and was held by Nadhim Zahawi from 28 November 2020 to 15 September 2021. Zahawi was briefly shadowed by Neale Hanvey of the Scottish National Party (SNP) but Hanvey had to resign following his support for a defamation case against a parliamentary colleague, Kirsty Blackman. In February 2021, Zahawi announced schools in England would reopen on 8 March.
In the 2021 British cabinet reshuffle, responsibilities for vaccines were merged with those for public health and given to Maggie Throup in the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health.
After the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Andrew Gwynne would be named as the new Labour Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention.
In February 2025, after Gwynne was dismissed by the government, Ashley Dalton would be named as the new minister.

## Responsibilities

The minister leads on the following policy areas:
* COVID-19 vaccine deployment
* health improvement
* prevention
* immunisation and screening
* UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
** emergency preparedness
** infectious diseases
** environmental health
* abortion
* global health security
* lead minister for crisis response
* sponsorship of FSA and UKHSA

## List of ministers of public health

| Name | Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister |
| Role created out of the Department of Health and Social Security replacing the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health ||||||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security ||||||||
| | Paul Dean MP for North Somerset | 24 June 1970 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | Edward Heath (l) |
| | Michael Alison MP for Barkston Ash | 24 June 1970 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | Edward Heath (l) |
| | David Owen MP for Plymouth Devonport | 8 March 1974 | 26 July 1974 | Labour | Harold Wilson (lll) |
| | Robert Brown MP for Newcastle upon Tyne West | 8 March 1974 | 18 October 1974 | Labour | Harold Wilson (lll) |
| | Alec Jones MP for Rhondda | 18 October 1974 | 12 June 1975 | Labour | Harold Wilson (lV) |
| | Michael Meacher MP for Oldham West | 12 June 1975 | 14 April 1976 | Labour | Harold Wilson (lV) |
| | Eric Deakins MP for Walthamstow | 14 April 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | James Callaghan (l) |
| | Reginald Wells-Pestell, Baron Wells-Pestell Life peer | 3 January 1979 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | James Callaghan (l) |
| | George Young MP for Acton | 7 May 1979 | 15 September 1981 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (l) |
| | Lynda Chalker MP for Wallasey | 7 May 1979 | 5 March 1982 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (l) |
| | Geoffrey Finsberg MP for Hampstead | 15 September 1981 | 14 June 1983 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (l) |
| | Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton Hereditary Peer | 15 September 1981 | 6 April 1982 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (l) |
| | Tony Newton MP for Braintree | 5 March 1982 | 11 September 1984 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (l) + (ll) |
| | David Trefgarne, 2nd Baron Trefgarne Hereditary Peer | 6 April 1982 | 14 June 1983 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (l) |
| | John Patten MP for Oxford West and Abingdon | 14 June 1983 | 2 September 1985 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (ll) |
| | Simon Arthur, 4th Baron Glenarthur Hereditary Peer | 14 June 1983 | 26 March 1985 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (ll) |
| | Ray Whitney MP for Wycombe | 11 September 1984 | 10 September 1986 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (ll) |
| | Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington Life Peer | 30 March 1985 | 13 June 1987 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (ll) |
| | John Major MP for Huntingdon | 2 September 1985 | 10 September 1986 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (ll) |
| | Nicholas Lyell MP for Mid Bedfordshire | 10 September 1986 | 13 June 1987 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (ll) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health ||||||||
| | Edwina Currie MP for South Derbyshire | 10 September 1986 | 16 December 1988 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (ll) + (lll) |
| | Roger Freeman MP for Kettering | 16 December 1988 | 4 May 1990 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (lll) |
| | Gloria Hooper, Baroness Hooper Life peer | 28 July 1989 | 14 April 1992 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (lll) John Major (l) |
| | Stephen Dorrell MP for Loughborough | 4 May 1990 | November 1990 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher (lll) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security ||||||||
| | Tom Sackville MP for Bolton West | 14 April 1992 | 29 November 1995 | Conservative | John Major (ll) |
| | Julia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege Life peer | 14 April 1992 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | John Major (ll) |
| | Tim Yeo MP for South Suffolk | 15 April 1992 | 27 May 1993 | Conservative | John Major (ll) |
| | John Bowis MP for Battersea | 27 May 1993 | 23 July 1996 | Conservative | John Major (ll) |
| | John Horam MP for Orpington | 29 November 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | John Major (ll) |
| | Simon Burns MP for Chelmsford | 23 July 1996 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | John Major (ll) |
| Minister of State for Public Health ||||||||
| | Tessa Jowell MP for Dulwich and West Norwood | 2 May 1997 | 11 October 1999 | Labour | Tony Blair (l) |
| | Yvette Cooper MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford | 11 October 1999 | 28 May 2002 | Labour | Tony Blair (l) + (ll) |
| | David Lammy MP for Tottenham | 29 May 2002 | 13 June 2003 | Labour | Tony Blair (ll) |
| | Melanie Johnson MP for Welwyn Hatfield | 13 June 2003 | 10 May 2005 | Labour | Tony Blair (ll) |
| | Caroline Flint MP for Don Valley | 10 May 2005 | 28 June 2007 | Labour | Tony Blair (lll) |
| | Dawn Primarolo MP for Bristol South | 29 June 2007 | 5 June 2009 | Labour | Gordon Brown (l) |
| | Gillian Merron MP for Lincoln | 10 June 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Gordon Brown (l) |
| | Anne Milton MP for Guildford | 11 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Conservative | David Cameron (Coalition) |
| | Anna Soubry MP for Broxtowe | 4 September 2012 | 7 October 2013 | Conservative | David Cameron (Coalition) |
| | Jane Ellison MP for Battersea | 7 October 2013 | 15 July 2016 | Conservative | David Cameron (Coalition) + (II) |
| | Nicola Blackwood MP for Oxford West and Abingdon | 14 July 2016 | 9 June 2017 | Conservative | Theresa May (I) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care ||||||||
| | Steve Brine MP for Winchester | 14 June 2017 | 25 March 2019 | Conservative | Theresa May (II) |
| | Seema Kennedy MP for South Ribble | 4 April 2019 | 26 July 2019 | Conservative | Theresa May (II) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care ||||||||
| | Jo Churchill MP for Bury St Edmunds | 26 July 2019 | 15 September 2021 | Conservative | Boris Johnson (I) + (II) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health ||||||||
| | Maggie Throup MP for Erewash | 15 September 2021 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | Boris Johnson (II) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health ||||||||
| | Neil O'Brien MP for Harborough | 8 September 2022 | 13 November 2023 | Conservative | Liz Truss (I) Rishi Sunak (I) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care ||||||||
| | Dame Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire | 13 November 2023 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Rishi Sunak (I) |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention ||||||||
| | Andrew Gwynne MP for Gorton and Denton | 9 July 2024 | 8 February 2025 | Labour | Keir Starmer (Starmer ministry) |
| | Ashley Dalton MP for West Lancashire | 10 February 2025 | Incumbent | Labour | Keir Starmer (Starmer ministry) |

## Other ministerial appointments
### COVID-19 vaccine deployment

| Name | Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | Prime Minister |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment ||||||||
| | Nadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon | | 28 November 2020 | 15 September 2021 | Conservative | | Boris Johnson (ll) |

### Patient safety and primary care

| Name | Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care ||||||||
| | Maria Caulfield MP for Lewes | 17 September 2021 | 7 July 2022 | Conservative | Boris Johnson (ll) |
| | James Morris MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis | 8 July 2022 | 8 September 2022 | Conservative | Boris Johnson (ll) |