Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is the Minister in charge of the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In many countries, this job is called Foreign minister. 

History

The Foreign Secretary merely handled relations with foreign countries and international organisations until the 1960s. There was a separate Commonwealth Secretary and a Colonial Secretary, but all three have been joined into one. The Foreign Secretary's is one of the four Great Offices of State.

List of foreign secretaries

Secretaries of state for foreign affairs (1782–1968)
+ Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Portrait Name Term of office Party Ministry Monarch 75px Charles James Fox 27 March 1782 5 July 1782 Whig Rockingham II George III50px 75px Thomas Robinson2nd Baron Grantham 13 July 1782 2 April 1783 Whig Shelburne 75px Charles James Fox 2 April 1783 19 December 1783 Whig Fox–North 75px George Nugent-Temple-Grenville3rd Earl Temple 19 December 1783 23 December 1783 Tory Pitt I 75px Francis Osborne5th Duke of Leeds 23 December 1783 May 1791 Tory 75px William Grenville1st Baron Grenville 8 June 1791 20 February 1801 Tory 75px Robert Jenkinson2nd Earl of LiverpoolMP for Rye 20 February 1801 14 May 1804 Tory Addington 75px Dudley Ryder2nd Baron Harrowby 14 May 1804 11 January 1805 Tory Pitt II 75px Henry Phipps3rd Baron Mulgrave 11 January 1805 7 February 1806 Tory 75px Charles James Fox 7 February 1806 13 September 1806 Whig All the Talents 75px Charles GreyViscount Howick 24 September 1806 25 March 1807 Whig 75px George Canning 25 March 1807 11 October 1809 Tory Portland II 75px Henry Bathurst3rd Earl Bathurst 11 October 1809 6 December 1809 Tory Perceval 75px Richard Wellesley1st Marquess Wellesley 6 December 1809 4 March 1812 Independent 75px Robert Stewart2nd Marquess of Londonderry 4 March 1812 12 August 1822 Tory Liverpool George IV50px 75px George Canning 16 September 1822 30 April 1827 Tory 75px John Ward1st Earl of Dudley 30 April 1827 2 June 1828 Tory Canning Goderich Wellington–Peel 75px George Hamilton-Gordon4th Earl of Aberdeen 2 June 1828 22 November 1830 Tory William IV50px 75px Henry John Temple3rd Viscount PalmerstonMP for 3 constituencies respectively 22 November 1830 14 November 1834 Whig Grey Melbourne I 75px Arthur Wellesley1st Duke of Wellington 14 November 1834 18 April 1835 Tory Wellington Caretaker Conservative Peel I 75px Henry John Temple3rd Viscount PalmerstonMP for Tiverton 18 April 1835 2 September 1841 Whig Melbourne II Victoria50px 75px George Hamilton-Gordon4th Earl of Aberdeen 2 September 1841 6 July 1846 Conservative Peel II 75px Henry John Temple3rd Viscount PalmerstonMP for Tiverton 6 July 1846 26 December 1851 Whig Russell I 75px Granville Leveson-Gower2nd Earl Granville 26 December 1851 27 February 1852 Whig 75px James Howard Harris3rd Earl of Malmesbury 27 February 1852 28 December 1852 Conservative Who? Who? 75px Lord John Russell 28 December 1852 21 February 1853 Whig Aberdeen 75px George Villiers4th Earl of Clarendon 21 February 1853 26 February 1858 Whig Palmerston I 75px James Howard Harris3rd Earl of Malmesbury 26 February 1858 18 June 1859 Conservative Derby–Disraeli II 75px John Russell1st Earl Russell 18 June 1859 3 November 1865 Liberal Palmerston II 75px George Villiers4th Earl of Clarendon 3 November 1865 6 July 1866 Liberal Russell II 75px Edward StanleyLord StanleyMP for King's Lynn 6 July 1866 9 December 1868 Conservative Derby–Disraeli III 75px George Villiers4th Earl of Clarendon 9 December 1868 6 July 1870 Liberal Gladstone I 75px Granville Leveson-Gower2nd Earl Granville 6 July 1870 21 February 1874 Liberal 75px Edward Stanley15th Earl of Derby 21 February 1874 2 April 1878 Conservative Disraeli II 75px Robert Gascoyne-Cecil3rd Marquess of Salisbury 2 April 1878 28 April 1880 Conservative 75px Granville Leveson-Gower2nd Earl Granville 28 April 1880 24 June 1885 Liberal Gladstone II 75px Robert Gascoyne-Cecil3rd Marquess of Salisbury 24 June 1885 6 February 1886 Conservative Salisbury I 75px Archibald Primrose5th Earl of Rosebery 6 February 1886 3 August 1886 Liberal Gladstone III 75px Stafford Northcote1st Earl of Iddesleigh 3 August 1886 12 January 1887 Conservative Salisbury II 75px Robert Gascoyne-Cecil3rd Marquess of Salisbury 14 January 1887 11 August 1892 Conservative 75px Archibald Primrose5th Earl of Rosebery 18 August 1892 11 March 1894 Liberal Gladstone IV 109x109px John Wodehouse1st Earl of Kimberley 11 March 1894 21 June 1895 Liberal Rosebery 75px Robert Gascoyne-Cecil3rd Marquess of Salisbury 29 June 1895 12 November 1900 Conservative Salisbury 75px Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice5th Marquess of Lansdowne 12 November 1900 4 December 1905 Liberal Unionist Edward VII50px Balfour 75px Edward GreyMP for Berwick-upon-Tweed 10 December 1905 10 December 1916 Liberal Campbell-Bannerman Asquith George V50px Asquith Coalition 75px Arthur BalfourMP for the City of London 10 December 1916 23 October 1919 Conservative Lloyd George 75px George Curzon1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston 23 October 1919 22 January 1924 Conservative Law Baldwin I 75px Ramsay MacDonald 22 January 1924 3 November 1924 Labour MacDonald I 75px Austen Chamberlain 6 November 1924 4 June 1929 Conservative Baldwin II 75px Arthur Henderson 7 June 1929 24 August 1931 Labour MacDonald II 75px Rufus Isaacs1st Marquess of Reading 25 August 1931 5 November 1931 Liberal National I 75px John SimonMP for Spen Valley 5 November 1931 7 June 1935 Liberal National National II 75px Samuel HoareMP for Chelsea 7 June 1935 18 December 1935 Conservative National III 75px Anthony Eden 22 December 1935 20 February 1938 Conservative Edward VIII50px George VI50px National IV 75px Edward Wood3rd Viscount Halifax 21 February 1938 22 December 1940 Conservative Chamberlain War Churchill War 75px Anthony Eden 22 December 1940 26 July 1945 Conservative Churchill Caretaker 75px Ernest Bevin 27 July 1945 9 March 1951 Labour Attlee  Herbert Morrison 9 March 1951 26 October 1951 Labour 75px Anthony Eden 28 October 1951 7 April 1955 Conservative Churchill III Elizabeth II50px 75px Harold Macmillan 7 April 1955 20 December 1955 Conservative Eden 75px Selwyn Lloyd 20 December 1955 27 July 1960 Conservative Macmillan 75px Alec Douglas-Home14th Earl of Home 27 July 1960 18 October 1963 Conservative 75px Richard Austen Butler 20 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Douglas-Home  Patrick Gordon Walker 16 October 1964 22 January 1965 Labour Wilson 75px Michael Stewart 22 January 1965 11 August 1966 Labour 75px George Brown 11 August 1966 16 March 1968 Labour 75px Michael Stewart 16 March 1968 17 October 1968 Labour

 Died in office.

Secretaries of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs (1968–2020)
Post created through the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.

+ Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Portrait NameTerm of office Party Ministry Sovereign 75px Michael Stewart 17 October 1968 19 June 1970 Labour Wilson Elizabeth II50px 75px Alec Douglas-Home 20 June 1970 4 March 1974 Conservative Heath 75px James Callaghan 5 March 1974 5 April 1976 Labour Wilson 75px Anthony Crosland 8 April 1976 19 February 1977 Labour Callaghan 75px David Owen 22 February 1977 4 May 1979 Labour 75px Peter Carington6th Baron Carrington 4 May 1979 5 April 1982 Conservative Thatcher I 75px Francis Pym 6 April 1982 11 June 1983 Conservative 75px Geoffrey Howe 11 June 1983 24 July 1989 Conservative Thatcher II Thatcher III 75px John Major 24 July 1989 26 October 1989 Conservative 75px Douglas Hurd 26 October 1989 5 July 1995 Conservative Major I Major II 75px Malcolm Rifkind 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative 75px Robin Cook 2 May 1997 8 June 2001 Labour Blair I 75px Jack Straw 8 June 2001 5 May 2006 Labour Blair II Blair III 75px Margaret Beckett 5 May 2006 27 June 2007 Labour 75px David Miliband 28 June 2007 11 May 2010 Labour Brown 75px William Hague 12 May 2010 14 July 2014 Conservative Cameron–Clegg 75px Philip Hammond 14 July 2014 13 July 2016 Conservative Cameron II 75px Boris Johnson 13 July 2016 9 July 2018 Conservative May I May II 75px Jeremy Hunt 9 July 2018 24 July 2019 Conservative 75px Dominic Raab 24 July 2019 2 September 2020 Conservative Johnson I Johnson II

Secretaries of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs (2020–present)
Post created through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development.

+ Portrait NameTerm of office Party Ministry Sovereign 75px Dominic Raab 2 September 2020 15 September 2021 Conservative Johnson II Elizabeth II50px 100x100px Liz Truss 15 September 2021 6 September 2022  Conservative 75px James Cleverly 6 September 2022 13 November 2023 Conservative Truss Charles III60px(2022–present) Sunak 75px David Cameron 13 November 2023 5 July 2024 Conservative 75px David Lammy  5 July 2024 5 September 2025 Labour Starmer 75px Yvette Cooper  5 September 2025 Incumbent Labour

Footnotes

References



Category:Members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom
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