# Minister for Women and Equalities

Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom in the Department for Education. Prior to July 2024, the position led the Government Equalities Office. Its counterpart in the shadow cabinet is the shadow minister for women and equalities.
Currently the position is deputised by the role of Minister of State for Women and Equalities. Currently held by The Baroness Smith of Malvern.
The position was formerly known as; Minister for Women, Minister for Women and Equality, and Minister for Equalities.

## History

The position of Minister for Women was created by Tony Blair when he became prime minister as a means of prioritising women's issues across government. Prior to that, there had been an equality unit in the Cabinet Office and a Cabinet committee, which were continued under the leadership of the new minister. When Gordon Brown succeeded Blair, he created the post of Minister for Women and Equality to handle a wider range of equalities issues. The first Minister for Women and, ten years later, the first Minister for Women and Equality was Harriet Harman. On 12 October 2007 a new department, the Government Equalities Office, was created to support the minister. When David Cameron became prime minister, he renamed the position to "Minister for Women and Equalities" without a change in its responsibilities. Since its creation, the position has always been held by a minister sitting in Cabinet by virtue of another office (i.e., a Secretary of State or Leader of one of the Houses of Parliament).
Justine Greening replaced Nicky Morgan as both Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities when Theresa May was appointed prime minister on 13 July 2016. Morgan initially held the title of Minister for Women after the resignation of Maria Miller in April 2014, in conjunction with being Financial Secretary to the Treasury, whilst the Equalities brief was given to Sajid Javid who had replaced Miller as Secretary of State for Culture. While the Women and Equalities briefs were recombined in July 2014, the responsibility for marriage equality was assigned to Nick Boles, who held the title of Minister of State for Skills, Enterprise and Equalities and had a base in both the Education and Business departments. Both splits in responsibilities were due to Nicky Morgan having voted against the legalisation of gay marriage.
The two most recent female Prime Ministers, Theresa May and Liz Truss, served in this position.
Prior to April 2019, the minister was based at the Home Office, DFID and DfE, however, between 2019 and 2024, the position led the Government Equalities Office, an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that had the responsibility for addressing all forms of discrimination, with particular emphasis on gender inequality. During the Conservative Government from 2017 to 2024, the minister was deputised by two parliamentary under-secretaries of state in the roles of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities.

## List of ministers

Minister for Women :
| Cabinet minister | Cabinet minister | Cabinet minister | Junior ministers | Junior ministers | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Ministry |
| | | Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham Social Security Secretary | | Joan Ruddock | 3 May 1997 | 27 July 1998 | Labour | | Blair (I) |
| | | Margaret Jay Baroness Jay of Paddington Leader of the House of Lords | | Tessa Jowell | 27 July 1998 | 8 June 2001 | Labour | | Blair (I) |
| | | Patricia Hewitt MP for Leicester West Trade and Industry Secretary | | Baroness Morgan of Huyton (2001) Barbara Roche (2001–2003) Jacqui Smith (2003–2005) | 8 June 2001 | 5 May 2005 | Labour | | Blair (II) |
| | | Tessa Jowell MP for Dulwich and West Norwood Minister for the Olympics | | Meg Munn | 5 May 2005 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | | Blair (III) |
| | | Ruth Kelly MP for Bolton West Communities and Local Govt. Secretary | | Meg Munn | 5 May 2006 | 28 June 2007 | Labour | | Blair (III) |
| Minister for Women and Equality ||||||||||
| Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Junior ministers | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Ministry |
| | | Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham Leader of the House of Commons | | Minister of State: Maria Eagle (2009–2010) (jointly with the Ministry of Justice) Parliamentary Secretary: Barbara Follett (2007–2008) Maria Eagle (2008–2009) Michael Foster (2009–2010) | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | | Brown |
| Minister for Women and Equalities ||||||||||
| Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Parliamentary Secretary | Parliamentary Secretary | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Ministry |
| | | Theresa May MP for Maidenhead Home Secretary | | Lynne Featherstone (LD) | 12 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | | Cameron-Clegg) |
| | | Maria Miller MP for Basingstoke Culture Secretary | | Jo Swinson (LD) Helen Grant (Cons) | 4 September 2012 | 9 April 2014 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | | Cameron-Clegg) |
| Ministers for Women and Minister for Equalities ||||||||||
| Cabinet Ministers | Cabinet Ministers | Cabinet Ministers | Junior ministers | Junior ministers | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Ministry |
| | | Women Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough Financial Secretary to the Treasury | | Jo Swinson (LD) Helen Grant (Cons) | 9 April 2014 | 15 July 2014 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | | Cameron-Clegg |
| | | Equalities Sajid Javid MP for Bromsgrove Culture Secretary | | Jo Swinson (LD) Helen Grant (Cons) | 9 April 2014 | 15 July 2014 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | | Cameron-Clegg |
| Minister for Women and Equalities ||||||||||
| Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Junior ministers | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Ministry |
| | | Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough Secretary of State for Education | | Jo Swinson (LD) Helen Grant (Cons) | 15 July 2014 | 8 May 2015 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | | Cameron-Clegg |
| | | Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough Secretary of State for Education | | Caroline Dinenage | 8 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | | Cameron (II) |
| | | Justine Greening MP for Putney Secretary of State for Education | | Caroline Dinenage | 14 July 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Conservative | | May (I) |
| | | Justine Greening MP for Putney Secretary of State for Education | | Nick Gibb (Equalities) Anne Milton (Women) | 14 June 2017 | 8 January 2018 | Conservative | | May (II) |
| | | Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye Home Secretary | | Baroness Williams of Trafford (Equalities) Victoria Atkins (Women) | 9 January 2018 | 30 April 2018 | Conservative | | May (II) |
| | | Penny Mordaunt MP for Portsmouth North International Development Secretary Defence Secretary | | Baroness Williams of Trafford (Equalities) Victoria Atkins (Women) | 30 April 2018 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | | May (II) |
| | | Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye Work and Pensions Secretary | | Baroness Williams of Trafford (Equalities) Victoria Atkins (Women) | 24 July 2019 | 7 September 2019 | Conservative | | Johnson (I) |
| | | Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk Foreign Secretary | | Baroness Williams of Trafford (Equalities) Victoria Atkins (Women) | 10 September 2019 | 14 February 2020 | Conservative | | Johnson (I) |
| | | Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk Foreign Secretary | | Kemi Badenoch (Equalities) (until 6 July 2022) Mike Freer (Equalities) (16 September 2021 – 6 July 2022) Amanda Solloway (Equalities) (8 July 2022 – 20 September 2022) Baroness Berridge (Women) (until 17 September 2021) Baroness Stedman-Scott (Women) (17 September 2021 – 22 September 2022) | 14 February 2020 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | | Johnson (II) |
| Minister for Equalities ||||||||||
| Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Junior ministers | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Ministry |
| | | Nadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for Intergovernmental Relations | | Katherine Fletcher (Women) Baroness Stedman-Scott (Equalities) | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Conservative | | Truss |
| Minister for Women and Equalities ||||||||||
| Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Junior ministers | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Ministry |
| | | Kemi Badenoch MP for Saffron Walden Secretary of State for International Trade | | Stuart Andrew (Equalities) Maria Caulfield (Women) | 25 October 2022 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | | Sunak |
| | | Bridget Phillipson MP for Houghton and Sunderland South Secretary of State for Education | | Anneliese Dodds (Minister of state for Equalities until 28 February 2025) Baroness Smith of Malvern (Minister of state for Equalities from 4 March 2025) Seema Malhotra (PUSS for Equalities from 8 October 2024) Dame Nia Griffith (PUSS for Equalities from 8 October 2024) | 8 July 2024 | Incumbent | Labour | | Starmer |