The Minister of State for Competitiveness was an office held by a member of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

government and appointed by the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

. The position was created within the Department of Trade and Industry following

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

's victory in the 1997 general election and was initially held by

Ian McCartney Sir Ian McCartney (born 25 April 1951) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Makerfield from 1987 and 2010. McCartney served in Tony Blair's Cabinet from 2003 until 2007, when Gordon Brown became Pri ...

. The office was vacant between 1999 and 2001. From 2001 to 2002, it was held by

Douglas Alexander Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October 1967) is a Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, previously Paisley South, from 1997 until his defeat in 2015. During this time, he served as ...

and, from 2002 to 2004, by Stephen Timms; both having additional responsibility for . Following

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

's election as Labour leader and Prime Minister in July 2007, the

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and was itself disbande ...

was created and the position was re-established and held again by Timms until January 2008. He was succeeded by Baroness Vadera, who served in the more junior role of

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

with additional responsibilities for small business, deregulation, the British Business Council and the Cabinet Office. She left the post in June 2009, when the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was merged with the

Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. Its h ...

Ministers of State for Competitiveness 1997–2010

References

Competitiveness In economics, competition is a scenario where different economic firmsThis article follows the general economic convention of referring to all actors as firms; examples in include individuals and brands or divisions within the same (legal) firm ...

Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub