# Minister of State for Development

The minister of state for development, formerly the minister of state for development and Africa and the secretary of state for international development, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom.
The officeholder headed the Department for International Development (DFID) as secretary of state from 1997 to 2020. The office formed part of the British Cabinet. The Department for International Development was abolished in September 2020, and Anne-Marie Trevelyan was the final holder of the post.
The post was made a ministerial position attending Cabinet in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 2022. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow cabinet minister for international development.

## History

A separate Ministry of Overseas Development was established by Harold Wilson when he came to office in 1964. The first three holders of the office served in the Cabinet, but from 29 August 1967 the office was demoted. Under Edward Heath, the Ministry was re-incorporated into the FCO on 15 October 1970. Wilson again established the Ministry in 1974, but later merged it into the FCO once again: from 10 June 1975 to 8 October 1979 the foreign secretary served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister for Overseas Development in the cabinet, while the minister for overseas development held the rank of Minister of State within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The minister of state had day-to-day responsibility. Under the Labour government of the 1970s, Reg Prentice sat in the Cabinet during his term. The post's last and main format was created in 1997 when the Department for International Development was made independent of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
In June 2020, it was announced the Department for International Development would be dissolved, and its operations would be merged into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The process was completed by 2 September 2020, with the last international development secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan remaining in place until that time.
In 2022, the position was revised in the as a minister of state attending Cabinet during the Truss ministry. From 2022 to 2024 under the Sunak ministry, the position was combined with responsibility for Africa as the Minister of State for Development and Africa.

## Responsibilities

The Minister's responsibilities include:
* international development
* Caribbean and Small Island Developing States
* soft power (including FCDO arms-length bodies British Council, BBC World Service and Wilton Park)
* devolution

## List of ministers and secretaries of state

| Minister | Minister | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Ministry |
| Ministers of Overseas Development (1964–1970) ||||||||
| | Barbara Castle | 18 October 1964 | 23 December 1965 | Labour | Wilson (I) (II) |
| | Anthony Greenwood | 23 December 1965 | 11 August 1966 | Labour | Wilson (I) (II) |
| | Arthur Bottomley | 11 August 1966 | 29 August 1967 | Labour | Wilson (I) (II) |
| | Reg Prentice | 29 August 1967 | 6 October 1969 | Labour | Wilson (I) (II) |
| | Judith Hart | 6 October 1969 | 19 June 1970 | Labour | Wilson (I) (II) |
| | Richard Wood | 23 June 1970 | 15 October 1970 | Conservative | Heath |
| Ministers for Overseas Development (1970–1997) ||||||||
| | Richard Wood | 15 October 1970 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | Heath |
| | Judith Hart | 7 March 1974 | 10 June 1975 | Labour | Wilson (III) |
| | Reg Prentice | 10 June 1975 | 21 December 1976 (resigned) | Labour | Wilson (III) |
| | Reg Prentice | 10 June 1975 | 21 December 1976 (resigned) | Labour | Callaghan |
| | Frank Judd | 21 December 1976 | 21 February 1977 | Labour | Callaghan |
| | Judith Hart | 21 February 1977 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | Callaghan |
| | Neil Marten | 6 May 1979 | 6 January 1983 | Conservative | Thatcher (I) (II) (III) |
| | Timothy Raison | 6 January 1983 | 10 September 1986 | Conservative | Thatcher (I) (II) (III) |
| | Chris Patten | 10 September 1986 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | Thatcher (I) (II) (III) |
| | Lynda Chalker The Baroness Chalker of Wallasey from 1992 | 24 July 1989 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | Thatcher (I) (II) (III) |
| | Lynda Chalker The Baroness Chalker of Wallasey from 1992 | 24 July 1989 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | Major (I) (II) | Major (I) (II) |
| Secretaries of State for International Development (1997–2020) ||||||||
| | Clare Short | 3 May 1997 | 12 May 2003 | Labour | Blair (I) (II) (III) |
| | Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos | 12 May 2003 | 6 October 2003 | Labour | Blair (I) (II) (III) |
| | Hilary Benn | 6 October 2003 | 28 June 2007 | Labour | Blair (I) (II) (III) |
| | Douglas Alexander | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Brown |
| | Andrew Mitchell | 12 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Conservative | Cameron-Clegg |
| | Justine Greening | 4 September 2012 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron-Clegg |
| | Justine Greening | 4 September 2012 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron (II) |
| | Priti Patel | 14 July 2016 | 8 November 2017 | Conservative | May (I) |
| | Priti Patel | 14 July 2016 | 8 November 2017 | Conservative | May (II) |
| | Penny Mordaunt | 9 November 2017 | 1 May 2019 | Conservative | May (II) |
| | Rory Stewart | 1 May 2019 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | May (II) |
| | Alok Sharma | 24 July 2019 | 13 February 2020 | Conservative | Johnson (I) |
| | Alok Sharma | 24 July 2019 | 13 February 2020 | Conservative | Johnson (II) |
| | Anne-Marie Trevelyan | 13 February 2020 | 2 September 2020 | Conservative | Johnson (II) |
| | Vacant | 2 September 2020 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | Johnson (II) |
| Minister of State for Development (2022) ||||||||
| | Vicky Ford | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Conservative | Truss |
| Minister of State for Development and Africa (2022–2024) ||||||||
| | Andrew Mitchell | 25 October 2022 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Sunak |
| Minister of State for Development (2024–2025) ||||||||
| | Anneliese Dodds | 8 July 2024 | 28 February 2025 | Labour | Starmer |
| Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean ||||||||
| | The Baroness Chapman of Darlington | 28 February 2025 | Incumbent | Labour | Starmer |