Foreign Secretary

The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the foreign secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.^[2] The role is seen as one of the most senior ministers in the UK Government and is a Great Office of State. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and National Security Council, and reports directly to the prime minister.

This article is about Foreign secretary of the United Kingdom. For other uses, see Foreign secretary.

United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent David Lammy since 5 July 2024
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Style	Foreign Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State Great Office of State
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council National Security Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Residence	No. 1 Carlton Gardens (Official) Chevening (Country House)
Seat	King Charles Street
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	27 March 1782 (as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) 2 September 2020 (as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs)
First holder	Charles James Fox (as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs)
Salary	£106,363 per annum (2022)[1]
Website	Foreign Secretary

The officeholder works alongside the other Foreign Office ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow foreign secretary. The Foreign Affairs Select Committee also evaluates the secretary of state's performance.^[3]

The current foreign secretary is David Lammy. He was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on 5 July 2024.

In contrast to what is generally known as a foreign minister in many other countries, the Foreign Secretary's remit includes:

• British relations with foreign countries and governments^[4]
• Promotion of British interests abroad^[5]
• Matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the Overseas Territories^[5]
• Oversight for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)^[6]

The official residence of the foreign secretary is 1 Carlton Gardens, in London.^[7] The foreign secretary also has the use of Chevening House, a country house in Kent, South East England,^[8] and works from the Foreign Office in Whitehall.^[9]

History of English and British government departments with responsibility for foreign affairs and those with responsibility for the colonies, dominions and the Commonwealth

Northern Department 1660–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries	Southern Department 1660–1768 Secretaries — Undersecretaries		—
	Southern Department 1768–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries 1782: diplomatic responsibilities transferred to new Foreign Office	Colonial Office 1768–1782 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries	Home Office 1782–1794 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	War Office 1794–1801 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	War and Colonial Office 1801–1854 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	Colonial Office 1854–1925 Secretaries — Undersecretaries		India Office 1858–1937 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
	Colonial Office 1925–1966 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries	Dominions Office 1925–1947 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
			India Office and Burma Office 1937–1947 Secretaries — Undersecretaries
		Commonwealth Relations Office 1947–1966 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
	Commonwealth Office 1966–1968 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1968–2020 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Since 2020 Secretaries — Ministers — Undersecretaries

The title secretary of state in the government of England dates back to the early 17th century. The position of secretary of state for foreign affairs was created in the British governmental reorganisation of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Foreign Office and Home Office respectively.^[10] The India Office which, like the Colonial Office and the Dominions Office, had been a constituent predecessor department of the Foreign Office, was closed down in 1947.^[11]

Eventually, the position of secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs came into existence in 1968 with the merger of the functions of secretary of the state for foreign affairs and the secretary of state for Commonwealth affairs into a single department of state. Margaret Beckett, appointed in 2006 by Tony Blair, was the first woman to have held the post.^[12]

The post of secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs was created in 2020 when position holder Dominic Raab absorbed the responsibilities of the secretary of state for international development.^[13]

Secretaries of state for foreign affairs (1782–1968)

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs^[14]

Portrait		Name[15]	Term of office		Party	Ministry	Monarch (Reign)
		Charles James Fox[14] MP for Westminster	27 March 1782	5 July 1782	Whig	Rockingham II	George III (1760–1820) [1782 1]
		Thomas Robinson 2nd Baron Grantham[14]	13 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig	Shelburne (Whig–Tory)
		Charles James Fox[14] MP for Westminster	2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Whig	Fox–North
		George Nugent-Temple-Grenville 3rd Earl Temple[14]	19 December 1783	23 December 1783	Tory	Pitt I
		His Grace Francis Osborne 5th Duke of Leeds[14]	23 December 1783	May 1791	Tory
		William Grenville 1st Baron Grenville[14]PC FRS	8 June 1791	20 February 1801	Tory
​		Robert Jenkinson 2nd Earl of Liverpool KG PC[14] MP for Rye[1782 2]	20 February 1801	14 May 1804	Tory
						Addington
		Dudley Ryder 2nd Baron Harrowby[14]	14 May 1804	11 January 1805	Tory	Pitt II
		Henry Phipps 3rd Baron Mulgrave[14]	11 January 1805	7 February 1806	Tory
		Charles James Fox[14] MP for Westminster	7 February 1806	13 September 1806†	Whig	All the Talents (Whig–Tory)
		Charles Grey Viscount Howick[14] MP for Northumberland	24 September 1806	25 March 1807	Whig
		George Canning[14] MP for Newtown (Isle of Wight) → Hastings[1782 3]	25 March 1807	11 October 1809	Tory	Portland II
		Henry Bathurst 3rd Earl Bathurst[14]	11 October 1809	6 December 1809	Tory	Perceval
		Richard Wellesley 1st Marquess Wellesley[14]	6 December 1809	4 March 1812	Independent
		Robert Stewart 2nd Marquess of Londonderry[14]	4 March 1812	12 August 1822†	Tory	Liverpool
							George IV
		George Canning[14] MP for 3 constituencies respectively	16 September 1822	30 April 1827	Tory
		John Ward 1st Earl of Dudley[14]	30 April 1827	2 June 1828	Tory	Canning (Canningite–Whig)
						Goderich
​						Wellington–Peel
		George Hamilton-Gordon 4th Earl of Aberdeen[14]	2 June 1828	22 November 1830	Tory
							William IV
		Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston[14] MP for 3 constituencies respectively	22 November 1830	14 November 1834	Whig	Grey
						Melbourne I
		Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington[14]	14 November 1834	18 April 1835	Tory	Wellington Caretaker
					Conservative	Peel I
		Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston[14] MP for Tiverton	18 April 1835	2 September 1841	Whig	Melbourne II
							Victoria (1837–1901)
		George Hamilton-Gordon 4th Earl of Aberdeen[14]	2 September 1841	6 July 1846	Conservative	Peel II
		Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston[14] MP for Tiverton	6 July 1846	26 December 1851	Whig	Russell I
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville[14]	26 December 1851	27 February 1852	Whig
		James Howard Harris 3rd Earl of Malmesbury[14]	27 February 1852	28 December 1852	Conservative	Who? Who?
		Lord John Russell[14] MP for the City of London	28 December 1852	21 February 1853	Whig	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)
​		George Villiers 4th Earl of Clarendon[14]	21 February 1853	26 February 1858	Whig
						Palmerston I
		James Howard Harris 3rd Earl of Malmesbury[14]	26 February 1858	18 June 1859	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
		John Russell 1st Earl Russell[14]	18 June 1859	3 November 1865	Liberal	Palmerston II
		George Villiers 4th Earl of Clarendon	3 November 1865	6 July 1866	Liberal	Russell II
		Edward Stanley Lord Stanley[14] MP for King's Lynn	6 July 1866	9 December 1868	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
		George Villiers 4th Earl of Clarendon[14]	9 December 1868	6 July 1870	Liberal	Gladstone I
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville[14]	6 July 1870	21 February 1874	Liberal
		Edward Stanley 15th Earl of Derby[14]	21 February 1874	2 April 1878	Conservative	Disraeli II
		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury[14]	2 April 1878	28 April 1880	Conservative
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville[14]	28 April 1880	24 June 1885	Liberal	Gladstone II
		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury[14]	24 June 1885	6 February 1886	Conservative	Salisbury I
		Archibald Primrose 5th Earl of Rosebery[14]	6 February 1886	3 August 1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
		Stafford Northcote 1st Earl of Iddesleigh[14]	3 August 1886	12 January 1887†	Conservative	Salisbury II
		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury[14]	14 January 1887	11 August 1892	Conservative
		Archibald Primrose 5th Earl of Rosebery[14]	18 August 1892	11 March 1894	Liberal	Gladstone IV
		John Wodehouse 1st Earl of Kimberley[14]	11 March 1894	21 June 1895	Liberal	Rosebery
		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury[14]	29 June 1895	12 November 1900	Conservative	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
​		Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 5th Marquess of Lansdowne[14]	12 November 1900	4 December 1905	Liberal Unionist
​							Edward VII (1901–1910)
						Balfour
		Edward Grey[14] MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed	10 December 1905	10 December 1916	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
​						Asquith (I–III)
​							George V
						Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–et al.)
		Arthur Balfour[14] MP for the City of London	10 December 1916	23 October 1919	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II)
​		George Curzon 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston[14]	23 October 1919	22 January 1924	Conservative
						Law
						Baldwin I
		Ramsay MacDonald[14] MP for Aberavon	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		Austen Chamberlain[14] MP for Birmingham West	6 November 1924	4 June 1929	Conservative	Baldwin II
		Arthur Henderson[14] MP for Burnley	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	MacDonald II
		Rufus Isaacs 1st Marquess of Reading[14]	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	Liberal	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–et al.)
		John Simon[14] MP for Spen Valley	5 November 1931	7 June 1935	Liberal National	National II
		Samuel Hoare[14] MP for Chelsea	7 June 1935	18 December 1935	Conservative	National III (Con.–N.Lab.–et al.)
​		Anthony Eden[14] MP for Warwick & Leamington	22 December 1935	20 February 1938	Conservative
							Edward VIII (1936)
​							George VI
​						National IV
​		Edward Wood 3rd Viscount Halifax[14]	21 February 1938	22 December 1940	Conservative
						Chamberlain War
						Churchill War (All parties)
		Anthony Eden[14] MP for Warwick & Leamington	22 December 1940	26 July 1945	Conservative
						Churchill Caretaker (Con.–Lib.N.)
		Ernest Bevin[14] MP for Wandsworth Central → Woolwich East[1782 4]	27 July 1945	9 March 1951	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		Herbert Morrison[14] MP for Lewisham South	9 March 1951	26 October 1951	Labour