Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

This article is about a junior ministerial role in Britain's Foreign & Commonwealth Office. For the senior civil servant in that department, see Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The parliamentary under-secretary of state for foreign affairs was a junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the secretary of state for foreign affairs and since 1945 also to the minister of state for foreign affairs. The post is based at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which was created by the merger of the Foreign Office, where the position was initially based, with the Commonwealth Office in 1968 and the Department for International Development in 2020. Notable holders of the office include Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, and Anthony Eden.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Royal Arms of HM Government
Incumbent Inactive Position since 11 May 2010
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Reports to	Foreign Secretary
Nominator	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Appointer	The Prime Minister approved and sworn in by the Queen-in-Council
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	1782
First holder	William Fraser

List of ministers

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	P.M.		F.Sec.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
	William Fraser		1782	1789
	Richard Brinsley Sheridan		1782	1782	Whig		Marquess of Rockingham	Fox
	George Maddison		1782	1783			Earl of Shelburne	Lord Grantham
							Duke of Portland	Fox
	St Andrew St John		1783	1789			Pitt the Younger	Earl Temple
								Duke of Leeds
	Dudley Ryder		1789	1789	Tory
	Sir James Burges, 1st Baronet		1789	January 1796
								Lord Grenville
	George Canning		January 1796	April 1799	Tory
	John Hookham Frere		April 1799	September 1800
	Edward Fisher		September 1800	February 1801
	Frederick Hervey, Baron Hervey		February 1801	November 1803			Addington	Lord Hawkesbury
	Charles Arbuthnot		November 1803	June 1804	Tory
	William Eliot		June 1804	February 1805			Pitt the Younger	Lord Harrowby
	Robert Ward		February 1805	February 1806				Lord Mulgrave
	George Walpole		February 1806	March 1807			Lord Grenville	Fox
								Charles Grey, Viscount Howick
	Sir Francis Vincent, 9th Baronet		February 1806	March 1807			Duke of Portland	Canning
	James Harris, Viscount FitzHarris		March 1807	August 1807
	Charles Bagot		August 1807	December 1809
							Perceval	Earl Bathurst
	Culling Charles Smith		December 1809	February 1812				Marquess Wellesley
	Edward Cooke		February 1812	1817[1]
							Earl of Liverpool	Marquess of Londonderry
	Joseph Planta		25 July 1817	22 January 1822[2]	Tory
	Richard Meade, 3rd Earl of Clanwilliam		January 1822	January 1823
								Canning
	Lord Francis Conyngham		January 1823	January 1826	Tory
	Charles Ellis, 6th Baron Howard de Walden		July 1824	June 1828
								Earl of Dudley
	Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde		January 1826	1827
	Cospatrick Douglas-Home, Lord Dunglass		June 1828	November 1830			Duke of Wellington
								Earl of Aberdeen
	Sir George Shee, 2nd Baronet		26 November 1830	13 November 1834	Whig		Earl Grey	Viscount Palmerston
							Viscount Melbourne
	George Cowper, Viscount Fordwich		13 November 1834	17 December 1834			Duke of Wellington	Duke of Wellington
	Philip Stanhope, Viscount Mahon		17 December 1834	18 April 1835	Conservative		Peel
	William Fox-Strangways		18 April 1835	7 March 1840	Whig		Viscount Melbourne	Viscount Palmerston
	Granville Leveson-Gower, Baron Leveson		7 March 1840	4 September 1841
	Charles Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning		4 September 1841	27 January 1846	Conservative		Peel	Earl of Aberdeen
	George Smythe		27 January 1846	6 July 1846
	Edward Stanley		6 July 1846	12 February 1852	Whig		Russell	Viscount Palmerston
								Earl Granville
	Austen Henry Layard		12 February 1852	18 May 1852
	Edward Stanley, Baron Stanley		18 May 1852	28 December 1852	Conservative		Earl of Derby	Earl of Malmesbury
	John Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse		28 December 1852	5 July 1856	Whig		Earl of Aberdeen	Lord John Russell
								Earl of Clarendon
	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne		5 July 1856	26 February 1858			Viscount Palmerston
	William Vesey-FitzGerald		26 February 1858	19 June 1859	Conservative		Earl of Derby	Earl of Malmesbury
	John Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse		19 June 1859	15 August 1861	Liberal		Viscount Palmerston	Earl Russell
	Austen Henry Layard		15 August 1861	6 July 1866
							Earl Russell	Earl of Clarendon
	Edward Egerton		6 July 1866	12 December 1868	Conservative		Earl of Derby	Edward Stanley, Baron Stanley
							Disraeli
	Arthur Otway		12 December 1868	9 January 1871	Liberal		Gladstone	Earl of Clarendon
								Earl Granville
	George Byng, Viscount Enfield		9 January 1871	23 February 1874
	Robert Bourke		23 February 1874	28 April 1880	Conservative		Disraeli	Earl of Derby
								Marquess of Salisbury
	Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet		28 April 1880	1 January 1883	Liberal		Gladstone	Earl Granville
	Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice		1 January 1883	25 June 1885
	Robert Bourke		25 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative		Marquess of Salisbury	Marquess of Salisbury
	James Bryce		7 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal		Gladstone	Earl of Rosebery
	Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet		4 August 1886	22 September 1891	Conservative		Marquess of Salisbury	Earl of Iddesleigh
								Marquess of Salisbury
	James Lowther		22 September 1891	18 August 1892
	Sir Edward Grey, 3rd Baronet		18 August 1892	20 June 1895	Liberal		Gladstone	Earl of Rosebery
							Earl of Rosebery
								Earl of Kimberley
	George Curzon		20 June 1895	15 October 1898	Conservative		Marquess of Salisbury	Marquess of Salisbury
	St John Brodrick		15 October 1898	12 November 1900
	James Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne		12 November 1900	9 October 1903				Marquess of Lansdowne
							Balfour
	Henry Percy, Earl Percy		9 October 1903	18 December 1905
	Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice[3]		18 December 1905	19 October 1908	Liberal		Campbell-Bannerman	Grey
							Asquith
	Thomas McKinnon Wood		19 October 1908	23 October 1911
	Francis Dyke Acland		23 October 1911	4 February 1915
	Neil Primrose		4 February 1915	30 May 1915
	Lord Robert Cecil		30 May 1915	10 January 1919	Conservative
							Lloyd George	Balfour
	Cecil Harmsworth		10 January 1919	31 October 1922	Liberal
	Ronald McNeill		31 October 1922	23 January 1924	Conservative		Law
								Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
							Baldwin
	Arthur Ponsonby		23 January 1924	11 November 1924	Labour		MacDonald	MacDonald
	Ronald McNeill		11 November 1924	7 December 1925	Conservative		Baldwin	Chamberlain
	Godfrey Locker-Lampson		7 December 1925	11 June 1929
	Hugh Dalton		11 June 1929	3 September 1931	Labour		MacDonald	Henderson
	Anthony Eden		3 September 1931	18 January 1934	Conservative			Marquess of Reading
								Simon
	James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope		18 January 1934	16 June 1936
							Baldwin	Hoare
								Eden
	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne		18 June 1935	20 February 1938			Baldwin (1935–37) Chamberlain (1937–40)	Eden (1935–38) Viscount Halifax (1938–40)
	Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth		30 July 1936	12 May 1940
	Rab Butler		25 February 1938	20 July 1941			Chamberlain	Viscount Halifax
							Churchill
								Eden
	Richard Law		20 July 1941	25 September 1943
	George Hall		25 September 1943	26 May 1945	Labour
	Alec Douglas-Home, Lord Dunglass		26 May 1945	26 July 1945	Conservative
	Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat		26 May 1945	26 July 1945
	Hector McNeil		4 August 1945	4 October 1946	Labour		Attlee	Bevin
	Christopher Mayhew		4 October 1946	2 March 1950
	William Henderson, 1st Baron Henderson		7 June 1948	26 October 1951
	Ernest Davies		2 March 1950	26 October 1951
								Morrison
	Gerald Isaacs, 2nd Marquess of Reading		31 October 1951	11 November 1953	Conservative		Churchill	Eden
	Anthony Nutting		31 October 1951	18 October 1954
	Douglas Dodds-Parker		11 November 1953	18 October 1954
	Robin Turton		18 October 1954	20 December 1955			Churchill (1954–55) Eden (1955–56)	Eden (1954–55) Macmillan (1955) Lloyd (1955–56)
	Lord John Hope		18 October 1954	9 November 1956
	Douglas Dodds-Parker		20 December 1955	9 January 1957			Eden	Lloyd
	David Ormsby-Gore		9 November 1956	9 January 1957
	Ian Harvey		18 January 1957	24 November 1958			Macmillan
	Archibald Acheson, 6th Earl of Gosford		18 January 1957	23 October 1958
	George Petty-Fitzmaurice, 8th Marquess of Lansdowne		23 October 1958	20 April 1962
								Alec Douglas-Home
	John Profumo		28 November 1958	16 January 1959				Lloyd
	Robert Allan		16 January 1959	7 October 1960
	Joseph Godber		28 October 1960	27 June 1961				Alec Douglas-Home
	Peter Thomas		27 June 1961	27 June 1963
	Peter Smithers		16 July 1962	29 January 1964
							Douglas-Home	Butler
	Robert Mathew		30 January 1964	16 October 1964
	Henry Walston, Baron Walston		20 October 1964	7 January 1967	Labour		Wilson	Walker
								Stewart
								Brown
	Bill Rodgers		7 January 1967	3 July 1968
	Maurice Foley		3 July 1968	17 October 1968				Stewart
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
	Maurice Foley		17 October 1968	19 June 1970	Labour		Wilson	Stewart
	William Whitlock		17 October 1968	13 October 1969
	Evan Luard		13 October 1969	19 June 1970
	Anthony Royle		24 June 1970	8 January 1974	Conservative		Heath	Douglas-Home
	Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian		24 June 1970	9 April 1972
	Anthony Kershaw		15 October 1970	5 June 1973
	Peter Blaker		8 January 1974	4 March 1974
	Goronwy Roberts, Baron Goronwy-Roberts		8 March 1974	4 December 1975	Labour		Wilson	Callaghan
	Joan Lestor		8 March 1974	12 June 1975
	Ted Rowlands		12 June 1975	14 April 1976
	John Tomlinson		17 March 1976	4 May 1979			Callaghan	Crosland (1976–77) Owen (1977–79)
	Evan Luard		14 April 1976	4 May 1979
	Richard Luce		6 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative		Thatcher	Lord Carrington
	David Trefgarne, 2nd Baron Trefgarne		14 September 1981	6 April 1982
	Malcolm Rifkind		6 April 1982	13 June 1983				Pym
	Ray Whitney		13 June 1983	11 September 1984				Howe
	Tim Renton		11 September 1984	2 September 1985
	Timothy Eggar		2 September 1985	24 July 1989
	Tim Sainsbury		24 July 1989	24 July 1990				Major
								Hurd
	Mark Lennox-Boyd		24 July 1990	20 July 1994
							Major
Office vacant from 1994 to 1996
	Liam Fox		23 July 1996	1 May 1997	Conservative		Major	Rifkind
	Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean		2 May 1997	28 June 1999	Labour		Blair	Cook
	Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal		28 July 1999	12 June 2001
	Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos		12 June 2001	13 June 2003				Straw
	Ben Bradshaw		12 June 2001	29 May 2002
	Mike O'Brien		29 May 2002	13 June 2003
	Bill Rammell		28 October 2002	10 May 2005
	Chris Mullin		13 June 2003	10 May 2005
	David Triesman, Baron Triesman		10 May 2005	28 June 2007
								Beckett
	Meg Munn		29 June 2007	5 October 2008			Brown	Miliband
	Gillian Merron		5 October 2008	9 June 2009
	Chris Bryant		9 June 2009	11 May 2010
Role merged into Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific

See also

• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• Foreign Secretary
• Minister of State for Europe
• Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
• Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa
• Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Undersecretary