Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Ministry of Defence | |
Style | Minister |
Nominator | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
Appointer | The Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister |
Term length | At Her Majesty's pleasure |
Website | Official website |
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans is a junior position in the Ministry of Defence in the British government. It is currently held by Leo Docherty, who took the office on 20 April 2021.
It was formerly known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence from 1989 to 2005. It was known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel under Tobias Ellwood.
History[]
Johnny Mercer was appointed minister in July 2019 to the new government by incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson. On 20 April 2021, Mercer was "sacked by text" after offering to resign at the end of Wednesday 21 April, but refusing to go earlier.[1] In a tweet, Mercer said he was "relieved of [his] responsibilities in Government" because of his disagreements with the scope of the proposed Overseas Operations Bill.[2][3] This new government law is designed to protect veterans from unfounded prosecutions. However, Mercer said it was a "red line" for him that British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland are excluded.[4][5] He told BBC News that he thought the Second Johnson ministry was "the most distrustful, awful environment I've ever worked in".[6]
Responsibilities[]
The minister has the following ministerial responsibilities:[7]
- civilian and service personnel policy
- armed forces pay, pensions and compensation
- Armed Forces Covenant
- welfare and service families
- community engagement
- equality, diversity and inclusion
- veterans (including resettlement, transition, defence charities andMinisterial Covenant and Veterans Board, and Office of Veteran Affairs)
- legacy issues and non-operational public inquiries and inquests
- mental health
- Defence Medical Services
- the people programme (Flexible Engagement Strategy, Future Accommodation Model and Enterprise Approach)
- estates service family accommodation policy and engagement with welfare
Minister for Veterans[]
Name | Portrait | Entered office | Left office | Political party | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Earl of Arran | ![]() |
25 July 1989 | 26 July 1990 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | |
Kenneth Carlisle | October 1990 | March 1992 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | ||
The Earl of Arran | ![]() |
28 November 1990 | 15 April 1992 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | |
Viscount Cranborne | ![]() |
22 April 1992 | 20 July 1994 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | |
The Lord Henley | ![]() |
20 July 1994 | 5 July 1995 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | |
The Earl Howe | ![]() |
5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | |
John Spellar | ![]() |
6 May 1997 | 28 July 1999 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | |
Peter Kilfoyle | 28 July 1999 | 30 January 2000 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | ||
Lewis Moonie | 31 January 2001 | 13 June 2003 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | ||
Ivor Caplin | 13 June 2003 | 11 May 2005 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence | ||
Don Touhig | ![]() |
11 May 2005 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans | |
Tom Watson | ![]() |
5 May 2006 | 6 September 2006 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans | |
Derek Twigg | ![]() |
6 September 2006 | 5 October 2008 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans | |
Kevan Jones | ![]() |
5 October 2008 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans | |
Andrew Robathan | ![]() |
13 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare and Veterans | |
Mark Francois | ![]() |
4 September 2012 | 7 October 2013 | Conservative | Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans | |
Anna Soubry | ![]() |
7 October 2013 | 11 May 2015 | Conservative | Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans | |
Mark Lancaster | ![]() |
12 May 2015 | 13 June 2017 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel | |
Tobias Ellwood | ![]() |
14 June 2017 | 26 July 2019 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel | |
Johnny Mercer | ![]() |
28 July 2019 | 20 April 2021 | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans | |
Leo Docherty | ![]() |
20 April 2021 | Incumbent | Conservative | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans |
References[]
- ^ "Johnny Mercer: Sacked minister attacks 'distrustful' government". BBC News. 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
- ^ "Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament". bills.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
- ^ Johnny Mercer [@JohnnyMercerUK] (April 20, 2021). "I'm sorry to have been relieved of my responsibilities in Government tonight" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Johnny Mercer: Tory MP resigns as defence minister". BBC News. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ "Defence minister Johnny Mercer resigns from government". The Guardian. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ "Johnny Mercer: Sacked minister attacks 'distrustful' government". BBC News. 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
- ^ "Minister of State - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
- Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
- Defence ministers of the United Kingdom