Minister of State for Northern Ireland

The role of Minister of State for Northern Ireland is a mid-level position in the Northern Ireland Office in the British government. It is currently vacant, after the 2024 general election.^[1] The role is also known as Deputy Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

United Kingdom Minister of State for Northern Ireland
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Vacant since 5 July 2024
Northern Ireland Office
Style	Minister
Nominator	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Appointer	The Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Website	Official website

Responsibilities

The minister has the following ministerial responsibilities:

Driving economic and domestic policy

• Long-term economic recovery from COVID-19^[2]
• Promotion of the economy, levelling up and innovation - including City Deals and the Shared Prosperity Fund^[2]
• Leading the department's work on the most critical constitution and rights issues in NI^[2]

Supporting the secretary of state in their responsibilities, including:

• Legacy stakeholder engagement
• Strengthening and sustaining the Union in Northern Ireland^[2]
• Vital security casework
• Building substantive relationships across sectors and communities^[2]
• Leading workstreams on New Decade, New Approach agreement and the NI Protocol^[2]

List of ministers of state for Northern Ireland

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Notes
	Paul Channon		26 March 1972	5 November 1972	Conservative	[3]
	The Lord Windlesham		26 March 1972	5 June 1973	Conservative	[4]
	William van Straubenzee		5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative	[5]
	David Howell		5 November 1972	8 January 1974	Conservative	[6]
	Stan Orme		7 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	[7]
	Roland Moyle		27 June 1974	10 September 1976	Labour	[8][9]
	Don Concannon		14 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	[10][11]
	The Lord Melchett		10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	[12][13]
	Michael Alison		7 May 1979	15 September 1981	Conservative	[14]
	Hugh Rossi		7 May 1979	5 January 1981	Conservative	[15]
	The Earl of Gowrie		15 September 1981	10 June 1983	Conservative	[16]
	Adam Butler		5 January 1981	11 September 1984	Conservative	[17][18]
	The Earl of Mansfield		13 June 1983	12 April 1984	Conservative	[19]
	Rhodes Boyson		11 September 1984	10 September 1986	Conservative	[20][21]
	Nicholas Scott		10 September 1986	13 June 1987	Conservative	[22][23]
	John Stanley		13 June 1987	25 July 1988	Conservative	[24]
	Ian Stewart		25 July 1988	25 July 1989	Conservative	[25]
	John Cope		25 July 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative	[26]
	Brian Mawhinney		28 November 1990	14 April 1992	Conservative	[27][28]
	The Lord Belstead		28 November 1990	14 April 1992	Conservative	[29][30]
	Robert Atkins		14 April 1992	11 January 1994	Conservative	[31]
	Michael Mates		15 April 1992	24 June 1993	Conservative	[32][33]
	John Wheeler		25 June 1993	2 May 1997	Conservative	[34]
	Michael Ancram		11 January 1994	2 May 1997	Conservative	[35][36]
	Adam Ingram		2 May 1997	7 June 2001	Labour	[37][38]
	Jane Kennedy		7 June 2001	13 June 2003	Labour	[39]
	John Spellar		13 June 2003	10 May 2005	Labour	[40]
	David Hanson		11 May 2005	8 May 2007	Labour	[41]
	Paul Goggins		8 May 2007	11 May 2010	Labour	[42]
	Hugo Swire		12 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	[43]
	Mike Penning		4 September 2012	7 October 2013	Conservative	[44]
	Andrew Robathan		7 October 2013	14 July 2014	Conservative	[45]
	Andrew Murrison		14 July 2014	12 May 2015	Conservative	[46][2]
	Ben Wallace		12 May 2015	17 July 2016	Conservative	[47][2]
	Andrew Dunlop		17 July 2016	9 June 2017	Conservative	[2][citation needed]
	vacant		9 June 2017	9 January 2018		[citation needed]
	Shailesh Vara		9 January 2018	15 November 2018	Conservative	[48][2]
	John Penrose		16 November 2018	25 July 2019	Conservative	[49][2]
	Nick Hurd		25 July 2019	16 December 2019	Conservative	[50][2]
	Robin Walker		13 February 2020	16 September 2021	Conservative	[51][52]
	Conor Burns		16 September 2021	6 September 2022	Conservative	[53][54]
	Steve Baker		6 September 2022	5 July 2024	Conservative	[55][56]
	vacant		5 July 2024

See also

• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Office