A Minister of State is a mid-tier

Minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign or ...

in the

UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

Hierarchy

Ministers of State are junior to the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and Secretaries of State, but senior to a

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 ...

and

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

. The office is defined in the

House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that prohibits certain categories of people from becoming members of the House of Commons. It is an updated version of similar older acts, known col ...

as "...a member of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom who neither has charge of any public department nor holds any other of the offices specified in Schedule 2 to this Act or any office in respect of which a salary is payable out of money provided by Parliament under section 3(1)(b) of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975".

History

The designation was first made in 1941 for

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...

, who was a member of the

War Cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senior ...

and was tasked with creating the

Ministry of Production The Ministry of Production was a British government department created in February 1942, initially under the title Ministry of War Production, but the following month "War" was dropped from the title. Its purpose was to fill a gap in the machinery ...

. His successors were effectively

Ministers without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

, but this changed in 1950 when the first junior minister was appointed to that designation, in the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

, to release some burden from the then-

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

Duties

Ministers of State take charge of a particular part of their department and undertake specific delegated duties. To help to identify these duties, since the 1970s Ministers of State have often been granted a courtesy title which includes the word "for" (rather than "of").

Current Ministers of State

The current Ministers of State are: * HM Treasury **

Minister of State for Efficiency and Transformation The minister of state for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency is a ministerial office in the Cabinet Office in the Government of the United Kingdom. This position was created (as "Minister for Efficiency and Transformation") by Prime Mi ...

(joint with Cabinet Office) * Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ** Minister of State for Foreign Affairs **

Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Americas and Caribbean is a ministerial office in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the British government. The office of Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa was held ...

** Minister of State for Pacific and the Environment (joint with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) **

Minister of State for Asia Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment is a mid-level position in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the British government. History The office was known as Minister of State for ...

Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth The minister of state for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations is a mid-level position in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the British government. It is currently held by Tariq Ahmad, who took the offic ...

* Home Office ** Minister of State for Security **

Minister of State for Crime and Policing The Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire is a ministerial position held at the Home Office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Holders of this office have previously held additional responsibilities such as for security, counter-te ...

(joint with Ministry of Justice) **

Minister of State for Home Affairs (United Kingdom) The Minister of State for Home Affairs is a mid-level position in the Home Office in the British government. The office has been vacant since 30 October 2022. Responsibilities The current Minister has following responsibilities: *migration and ...

Minister of State for Building Safety and Communities Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

* Cabinet Office ** Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution **

(joint with HM Treasury) ** Minister of State * Ministry of Justice **

Minister of State for Prisons The Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation is a mid-level ministerial office in the Ministry of Justice. It has, at times, been seen as the deputy to the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. Responsibilities The mi ...

(joint with Home Office) * Ministry of Defence **

Minister of State for Defence Procurement The Minister of State for Defence Procurement is, as a Minister of State, a mid-level defence minister in the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence of the British Government frontbench, British Government. The current incumbent ...

Minister of State for Defence The Minister of State for Defence is a mid-level position in the Ministry of Defence in the British government. It is currently held by Baroness Goldie, who took the office on 26 July 2019. Responsibilities The minister has the following min ...

* Department of Health and Social Care **

Minister of State for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate Minister of Mental Health, ministers ...

** Minister of State for Social Care **

Minister of State for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health The Minister of State for Social Care is a mid-level position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the British government. It is held by Helen Whately MP who took office on 26 October 2022. The minister often deputises for the Secret ...

* Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy **

Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth The minister of state for energy and climate is a mid-level position in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the Government of the United Kingdom. It is currently held by Graham Stuart. The role used to be part of the p ...

* Department for International Trade **

Minister of State for Trade Policy The Minister of State for Trade Policy is a mid-level role at the Department for International Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. It is currently held by Greg Hands, who took the office on 9 October 2022. The minister deputizes for ...

* Department for Work and Pensions **

Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work The Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work is a mid-level minister in the Department for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for disabled people. The position is currently held by Tom Pursglove. ...

* Department for Education **

Minister of State for Universities The Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, formerly the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills, Further and Higher Education, previously the Minister of State for Universities, is a mid-level position in ...

Minister of State for School Standards The Minister of State for Schools, formerly the Minister of State for School Standards and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for School Standards, is a mid-level position in the Department for Education in the British government. The curren ...

* Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ** Minister of State for Pacific and the Environment (joint with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) * Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government **

Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

Minister of State for Housing The Minister of State for Housing and Planning is a mid-level position in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in the British government. The position has been held by Lee Rowley since 8 September 2022. The position was formerl ...

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

** Minister of State ** Minister of State * Northern Ireland Office **

Minister of State for Northern Ireland The Minister of State for Northern Ireland is a mid-level position in the Northern Ireland Office in the British government. It is currently held by Steve Baker, who took the office on 7 September 2022. Responsibilities The minister has the ...

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

Minister of State for Digital and Culture In the Government of the United Kingdom, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts and Heritage is a ministerial post in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The post is usually a junior to middle-ranking minister to the more ...

** Minister of State for Media and Data

Historic Ministers of State

Department of Energy and Climate Change The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom created on 3 October 2008, by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take over some of the functions related to energy of the Department for Busin ...

** Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change *

Department for Exiting the European Union The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU; also known as the Department for Brexit or Brexit Department) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for overseeing negotiations relating to Brexit, and establi ...

Minister of State for Exiting the European Union The Minister of State for Exiting the European Union was a position in the Department for Exiting the European Union in the Government of the United Kingdom. The minister deputised for the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union He ...

Department for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

Minister of State for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

*Technology ** Minister of State for Technology *Scotland **

Minister of State for Scotland The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland is a junior ministerial post (of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank) in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland. The post is also kno ...

References

{{reflist Ministerial offices in the United Kingdom