Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Secretary of State; for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	Royal Arms of Her Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; George Eustice; since 13 February 2020
	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Style	Environment Secretary (informal); The Right Honourable; (within the UK and the Commonwealth)
Status	Secretary of state; Minister of the Crown
Appointer	The Monarch; on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation	8 June 2001
First holder	Margaret Beckett
Website	ww2.defra.gov.uk

The secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, also referred to as the environment secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, 15th in the ministerial ranking.^[1]

The office holder works alongside the other Defra ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

The incumbent is George Eustice, following his appointment by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019.

Responsibilities[]

The secretary of state has three main responsibilities at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to:

bear overall responsibility for all departmental issues.
lobby for the United Kingdom in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change.

List of environment secretaries[]

Secretaries of State for the Environment (1970–1997)[]

Secretary of State for the Environment^[2]
Name	Term of office		Length of term	Party	Ministry
Peter Walker MBE MP for Worcester	15 October 1970	5 November 1972	2 years and 21 days	Conservative	Heath
Geoffrey Rippon QC MP for Hexham	5 November 1972	4 March 1974	1 year, 3 months and 27 days	Conservative	Heath
Anthony Crosland MP for Great Grimsby	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	2 years, 1 month and 3 days	Labour	Wilson (III & IV)
Peter Shore MP for Stepney and Poplar	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	3 years and 26 days	Labour	Callaghan
Michael Heseltine MP for Henley	5 May 1979	6 January 1983	3 years, 8 months and 1 day	Conservative	Thatcher I
Tom King MP for Bridgwater	6 January 1983	11 June 1983	5 months and 5 days	Conservative	Thatcher I
Patrick Jenkin MP for Wanstead and Woodford	11 June 1983	2 September 1985	2 years, 2 months and 22 days	Conservative	Thatcher II
Kenneth Baker MP for Mole Valley	2 September 1985	21 May 1986	8 months and 19 days	Conservative
Nicholas Ridley MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury	21 May 1986	24 July 1989	3 years, 2 months and 3 days	Conservative
Nicholas Ridley MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury	21 May 1986	24 July 1989	3 years, 2 months and 3 days	Conservative	Thatcher III
Chris Patten MP for Bath	24 July 1989	28 November 1990	1 year, 4 months and 4 days	Conservative	Thatcher III
Michael Heseltine MP for Henley	28 November 1990	11 April 1992	1 year, 4 months and 14 days	Conservative	Major I
Michael Howard QC MP for Folkestone and Hythe	11 April 1992	27 May 1993	1 year, 1 month and 16 days	Conservative	Major II
John Gummer MP for Suffolk Coastal	27 May 1993	2 May 1997	3 years, 11 months and 5 days	Conservative	Major II

Secretaries of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001)[]

Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Portrait		Name	Term of office		Length of term	Party	Ministry	Ref.
		John Prescott MP for Kingston upon Hull East	2 May 1997	8 June 2001	4 years, 1 month and 6 days	Labour	Blair I	^[3]

Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2001–present)[]

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Name	Term of office		Length of term	Party	Ministry	Ref.
Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South	8 June 2001	5 May 2006	4 years, 10 months and 27 days	Labour	Blair II	^[4]
Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South	8 June 2001	5 May 2006	4 years, 10 months and 27 days	Labour	Blair III	^[4]
David Miliband MP for South Shields	5 May 2006	28 June 2007	1 year, 1 month and 23 days	Labour	Blair III	^[5]
Hilary Benn MP for Leeds Central	28 June 2007	11 May 2010	2 years, 10 months and 13 days	Labour	Brown	^[6]
Caroline Spelman MP for Meriden	12 May 2010	4 September 2012	2 years, 3 months and 23 days	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)	^[7]
Owen Paterson MP for North Shropshire	4 September 2012	14 July 2014	1 year, 10 months and 10 days	Conservative		^[8]
Elizabeth Truss MP for South West Norfolk	15 July 2014	14 July 2016	1 year, 11 months and 29 days	Conservative		^[9]
Elizabeth Truss MP for South West Norfolk	15 July 2014	14 July 2016	1 year, 11 months and 29 days	Conservative	Cameron II	^[9]
Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire	14 July 2016	11 June 2017	10 months and 28 days	Conservative	May I	^[10]
Michael Gove MP for Surrey Heath	11 June 2017	24 July 2019	2 years, 1 month and 13 days	Conservative	May II	^[11]
Theresa Villiers MP for Chipping Barnet	24 July 2019	13 February 2020	6 months and 20 days	Conservative	Johnson I	^[12]
Theresa Villiers MP for Chipping Barnet	24 July 2019	13 February 2020	6 months and 20 days	Conservative	Johnson II	^[12]
George Eustice MP for Camborne and Redruth	13 February 2020	Incumbent	2 years and 17 days*	Conservative	Johnson II

* Incumbent's length of term last updated: 2 March 2022.

References[]

^ "Her Majesty's Government: The Cabinet". parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ "Secretary of State for Environment". Hansard 1803–2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon David Miliband". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Rt Hon Michael Gove MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
^ "Theresa Villiers replaces Gove as Defra secretary". Farmers Weekly. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

[1] "Her Majesty's Government: The Cabinet". parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[2] "Secretary of State for Environment". Hansard 1803–2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[3] "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[4] "Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[5] "Rt Hon David Miliband". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[6] "Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[7] "Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[8] "Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[9] "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[10] "Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[11] "Rt Hon Michael Gove MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[12] "Theresa Villiers replaces Gove as Defra secretary". Farmers Weekly. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

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