# What is the distinction between two Ministers for Women and Equalities in the current UK government?

Currently the government contains a Minister for Women and Equalities and a Minister of State for Women and Equalities https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-july-2024.

What is the distinction between these two roles?

Additionally, what rank does a plain Minister have? Minister of State seems to be the "correct" term for someone ranking below a Secretary of State? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_State_(United_Kingdom)

"Minister" is a generic term, meaning a political member of the executive. All Secretaries of State, Ministers of State and various other government roles can be called "Ministers". Over the last 60 years or so, there has been a process of designating most cabinet-level ministers as "Secretary of State", and simultaneously renaming "ministries" to "departments", whereas Ellen Wilkinson was "Minster for Education" in the 1940s, Bridget Phillipson is "Secretary of State for Education". Ms Phillipson is still a minister (in the generic sense) but also a Secretary of State.

The role of the Minister for Women (and equality/equalities) is a rather odd one, since its creation it has always been given to a minister who holds some other position, and as such it hasn't been raised to "Secretary of State" position. But by convention, the Minister for Women is a woman who holds a Secretary of State or equally high-ranking position (Harriet Harmen, for example, was Leader of the House, not Secretary of State). As is normal, the Cabinet-level minister is assisted by a Junior Minister, who may be a "Minister of State" or "Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State" (both ranks have been used at various times.

So Bridget Phillipson is the lead in the Ministry for Women and Equalities. And Anneliese Dodds is her assistant. Ms Phillipson is additionally the Secretary of State for Education, and Ms Dodds is additionally a junior minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Ministers of State are often tasked with driving specific pieces of legislation through Parliament.

The Minister for Women and Equalities has the following specific roles:

  * promoting equality of opportunity for everyone, and reducing negative disparities
  * strategic oversight of Government’s equality policy, for women, ethnicity and LGBT
  * sponsorship of the Social Mobility Commission and Equality and Human Rights Commission
  * overview of the overarching equalities legislative framework, including the Equality Act



The Minister of State for Women and Equalities is a new role. Still, it probably has a similar job description to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary under the Conservatives (with specific Tory roles removed):

  * driving women’s policy and the government’s wider priorities for women and girls, including tackling violence against women and girls ~~(with the Minister for Safeguarding)~~
  * tackling maternal and mental health disparities for minority groups
  * supporting improvements to the provision and accessibility of childcare to support working parents
  * ~~progressing the Worker Protection Bill through Parliament~~
  * ~~delivery of the government’s Inclusive Britain Action Plan~~
  * sponsorship of the Equality and Human Rights Commission