Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)
United Kingdom Minister without Portfolio | |
---|---|
Cabinet Office | |
Style | The Right Honourable |
Reports to | The Prime Minister |
Nominator | The Prime Minister |
Appointer | The British Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister |
Term length | No fixed term |
Website | GOV.UK |
In the United Kingdom, the Minister without portfolio is often a cabinet position, and is sometimes used to enable people such as the Chairman of the Conservative Party or the Chair of the Labour Party to attend cabinet meetings (if so, they hold the title of "Party chairman"). The sinecure positions of Lord Privy Seal and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which have few responsibilities and have a higher rank in the Order of Precedence than Minister without Portfolio can also be used to similar effect.
List of office holders[]
18th century[]
- The Lord Somers, as part of the Townshend ministry
- Henry Seymour Conway, as part of the Chatham ministry and Grafton ministry
19th century[]
Name | Portrait | Concurrent office(s) | Tenure | Political party | Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland | January 1805 – February 1806 | Whig | William Pitt the Younger | ||||
William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam | October 1806 – March 1807 | William Grenville (Ministry of All the Talents) | |||||
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland | 4 – 30 October 1809 | Tory | Spencer Perceval | ||||
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby | November 1809 – June 1812 | Tory (Pittite) | |||||
John Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden (created 1st Marquess Camden, August 1812) | 8 April – December 1812 | Tory | |||||
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool | |||||||
Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave | January 1819 – May 1820 | ||||||
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne | April – July 1827 | Whig | George Canning | ||||
William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland | July – September 1827 | Tory (Canningite) | |||||
George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle | 22 November 1830 – 5 June 1834 | Whig | Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey | ||||
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington | 3 September 1841 – July 1846 | Conservative | Robert Peel | ||||
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne | 28 December 1852 – 21 February 1858 | Whig | George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (until February 1855) | ||||
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston | |||||||
Lord John Russell | February 1853 – June 1854 | George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen | |||||
Spencer Horatio Walpole | May 1867 – February 1868 | Conservative | Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby | ||||
Michael Hicks Beach | 7 March 1887 – 20 February 1888 | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury |
Edwardian and wartime[]
Name | Portrait | Concurrent office(s) | Tenure | Political party | Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne | 25 May 1915 – December 1916 | Liberal Unionist | H. H. Asquith (Coalition) | ||||
Arthur Henderson | Member of the War Cabinet | 10 December 1916 – 12 August 1917 | Labour | David Lloyd George (Coalition) | |||
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner | 10 December 1916 – 18 April 1918 | Conservative | |||||
Jan Smuts | 22 June 1917 – 10 January 1919 | South African Party | |||||
Edward Carson | 17 July 1917 – 21 January 1918 | Ulster Unionist Party (Irish Unionist) | |||||
George Barnes | Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919) | 13 August 1917 – 27 January 1920 | Labour | ||||
Austen Chamberlain | Member of the War Cabinet | 18 April 1918 – 10 January 1919 | Conservative | ||||
Eric Campbell Geddes | 10 January – 31 October 1919 | ||||||
Laming Worthington-Evans | Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919) | 10 January 1919 – 13 February 1921 | |||||
Christopher Addison | 1 April – 14 July 1921 | Liberal | |||||
Anthony Eden | Minister for League of Nations affairs | 7 June – 22 December 1935 | Conservative | Stanley Baldwin (Coalition) | |||
Eustace Percy | 7 June 1935 – 31 March 1936 | ||||||
Leslie Burgin | Minister of Supply-designate | 21 April – 14 July 1939 | National Liberal Party | Neville Chamberlain (Coalition) | |||
Maurice Hankey | Member of the War Cabinet | September 1939 – 10 May 1940 | no party | Neville Chamberlain (Coalition) | |||
Arthur Greenwood | 11 May 1940 – 22 February 1942 | Labour | Winston Churchill (Coalition) | ||||
William Jowitt | 30 December 1942 – 8 October 1944 |
Post-war[]
Name | Portrait | Concurrent office(s) | Tenure | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A. V. Alexander | 4 October – 20 December 1946 | Labour Co-operative | Clement Attlee | |||||
Arthur Greenwood | 17 April – 29 September 1947 | Labour | ||||||
Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster | 18 October 1954 – 1957 | Conservative | Winston Churchill | |||||
Anthony Eden | ||||||||
Stormont Mancroft, 2nd Baron Mancroft | 11 June 1957 – 1958 | Harold Macmillan | ||||||
Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, 11th Earl of Dundee | 23 October 1958 – 1961 | Unionist | ||||||
Percy Mills, 1st Baron Mills | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords | 9 October 1961 – 13 July 1962 | Conservative | |||||
Bill Deedes | 13 July 1962 – 16 October 1964 | |||||||
Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington | Leader of the House of Lords | 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964 | ||||||
Eric Fletcher | 19 October 1964 – 6 April 1966 | Labour | Harold Wilson | |||||
Arthur Champion, Baron Champion | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords | 21 October 1964 – 7 January 1967 | ||||||
Douglas Houghton | 6 April 1966 – 7 January 1967 | |||||||
Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords | 7 January 1967 – 16 January 1968 | ||||||
Patrick Gordon Walker | 7 January – 21 August 1967 | |||||||
George Thomson | 17 October 1968 – 6 October 1969 | |||||||
Peter Shore | 6 October 1969 – 19 June 1970 | |||||||
Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn | 15 October 1970 – 1974 | Unionist | Edward Heath | |||||
Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare | 8 January – March 1974 | Conservative | ||||||
David Young, Baron Young of Graffham | advising on unemployment | 11 September 1984 – 3 September 1985 | Margaret Thatcher | |||||
Jeremy Hanley | Chairman of the Conservative Party | 20 July 1994 – 5 July 1995 | John Major | |||||
Brian Mawhinney | 5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997 | |||||||
Peter Mandelson[1] | called the "Dome Secretary"[2] | 5 May 1997 – 26 July 1998 | Labour | Tony Blair |
21st century[]
Name | Portrait | Concurrent office(s) | Term of office | Length of term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charles Clarke[3] | Labour Party Chair | 8 June 2001 | 24 October 2002 | 1 year, 4 months and 16 days | Labour | Tony Blair | |||
John Reid[4] | 24 October 2002 | 4 April 2003 | 5 months and 11 days | ||||||
Ian McCartney[5] | 4 April 2003 | 5 May 2006 | 3 years, 1 month and 1 day | ||||||
Hazel Blears[6] | 5 May 2006 | 28 June 2007 | 1 year, 1 month and 23 days | ||||||
no appointment | 28 June 2007 | 12 May 2010 | 2 years, 10 months and 14 days | Gordon Brown | |||||
Sayeeda Warsi[7][8] | Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party | 12 May 2010 | 6 September 2012 | 2 years, 3 months and 25 days | Conservative | David Cameron (Coalition) | |||
Grant Shapps[9] | 6 September 2012 | 8 May 2015 | 2 years, 8 months and 2 days | ||||||
Kenneth Clarke[10] | Trade envoy | 6 September 2012 | 14 July 2014 | 1 year, 10 months and 8 days | |||||
John Hayes[11] | Senior Parliamentary Adviser to the Prime Minister (Cabinet Office) | 28 March 2013 | 15 July 2014 | 1 year, 3 months and 17 days | |||||
Robert Halfon[12] | Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party | 8 May 2015 | 17 July 2016 | 1 year, 2 months and 9 days | David Cameron | ||||
no appointment | 17 July 2016 | 8 January 2018 | 1 year, 5 months and 22 days | Theresa May | |||||
Brandon Lewis[13] | Chairman of the Conservative Party | 8 January 2018 | 24 July 2019 | 1 year, 6 months and 16 days | |||||
James Cleverly[14] | 24 July 2019 | 13 February 2020 | 6 months and 20 days | Boris Johnson | |||||
Amanda Milling[15] | 13 February 2020 | 15 September 2021 | 1 year, 7 months and 2 days | ||||||
Oliver Dowden[16] | 15 September 2021 | Incumbent | 6 months and 9 days* |
* Incumbent's length of term last updated: 24 March 2022.
List of shadow officeholders[]
Name | Portrait | Term of office | Length of term of office | Party | Leader | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Lord Wood of Anfield[17] | 17 October 2011 | 27 May 2015 | 3 years, 7 months and 10 days | Labour | Miliband | ||
27 May 2015 | 14 September 2015 | Labour | Harman | ||||
Jonathan Ashworth[18] | 14 September 2015 | 7 October 2016 | 1 year and 23 days | Labour | Corbyn | ||
Andrew Gwynne[19] | 7 October 2016 | 14 June 2017 | 8 months and 7 days | Labour | |||
Ian Lavery | 9 February 2017 | 5 April 2020 | 3 years, 1 month and 27 days | Labour | |||
Vacant | 5 April 2020 | Present | 1 year, 11 months and 19 days* | Labour | Starmer |
* Incumbent's length of term last updated: 24 March 2022.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Lord Mandelson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Mandelson and Heseltine defend Dome". BBC NEWS. 28 January 1998. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
The Minister without Portfolio, Peter Mandelson, has told MPs the Millennium Dome is "on time and on budget" as he faced Conservative criticisms of "secrecy and arrogance" in the House of Commons. The so-called 'Dome Secretary' was joined by Michael Heseltine in a robust defence of the project...
- ^ "Rt Hon Charles Clarke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Sir Ian McCartney". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon Hazel Blears". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Baroness Warsi". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Ministers Reflect - Minister Baroness Warsi". Institute for Government. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
Sayeeda Warsi looks back on her time in the Coalition Government, starting with figuring out what exactly was a Minister without Portfolio.
- ^ "Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Lord Clarke of Nottingham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon John Hayes MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon James Cleverly MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon Oliver Dowdon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
- ^ "Lord Wood of Anfield". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Rt Hon Jonathan Ashworth MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Andrew Gwynne MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
Categories:
- Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom
- Lists of government ministers of the United Kingdom
- Ministers without portfolio