Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (United Kingdom)

Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Vacant since 15 September 2022
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Reports to	Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Nominator	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Appointer	The King (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	1943
First holder	Richard Law

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant mid-level ministerial position in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of His Majesty's Government. The office was known as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 2010 to 2020. It was most recently merged into the office of Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment.

Responsibilities

The Minister’s responsibilities include:

• International environment, climate, biodiversity and conservation
• Animal Welfare
• Forestry policy – domestic and international
• International Whaling Commission
• International ocean (including ocean and climate, marine biodiversity (including overseas territories marine biodiversity), marine litter and blue finance)
• Illegal wildlife trade, Corridors, Kaza
• Green recovery
• International green finance
• Lead for Forestry Commission
• Lords Minister for environment, including Environment Bill

The Minister’s additional Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office responsibilities include:

• The Pacific region

List of ministers

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	P.M.		F.Sec.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
	Richard Law		25 September 1943	25 May 1945	Conservative		Churchill	Eden
	William Mabane		25 May 1945	26 July 1945	National Liberal
	Philip Noel-Baker		3 August 1945	4 October 1946	Labour		Attlee	Bevin
	Hector McNeil		4 October 1946	28 February 1950
	Kenneth Younger		28 February 1950	26 October 1951
								Morrison
	Selwyn Lloyd		30 October 1951	18 October 1954	Conservative		Churchill	Eden
	The Marquess of Reading	File:Gerald Isaacs.jpg	11 November 1953	9 January 1957			Churchill (1953–55) Eden (1955–57)	Eden (1953–55) Macmillan (1955) Lloyd (1955–59)
	Anthony Nutting		18 October 1954	3 November 1956
	Allan Noble		9 November 1956	16 January 1959			Eden	Lloyd
	David Ormsby-Gore		16 January 1957	27 June 1961			Macmillan
	John Profumo		16 January 1959	27 July 1960
	Joseph Godber		27 June 1961	27 June 1963				Douglas-Home
	The Earl of Dundee		9 October 1961	16 October 1964
							Douglas-Home	Butler
	Peter Thomas		27 June 1963	16 October 1964
	George Thomson		16 October 1964	31 March 1966	Labour		Wilson	Gordon Walker (1964–65) Stewart (1965–66) Brown (1965–68)
	The Lord Caradon		16 October 1964	17 October 1968
	Walter Padley		19 October 1964	7 January 1967
	The Lord Chalfont		23 October 1964	17 October 1968
	Eirene White		31 March 1966	7 January 1967				Brown (1966–68) Stewart (1968)
	George Thomson		7 January 1967	29 August 1967
	Fred Mulley		7 January 1967	17 October 1968
	Goronwy Roberts		29 August 1967	17 October 1968
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
	The Lord Caradon		17 October 1968	19 June 1970	Labour		Wilson	Stewart
	The Lord Chalfont		17 October 1968	19 June 1970
	Fred Mulley		17 October 1968	13 October 1969
	Goronwy Roberts		17 October 1968	13 October 1969
	The Lord Shepherd		17 October 1968	19 June 1970
	Joseph Godber		19 June 1970	9 April 1972	Conservative		Heath	Douglas-Home
	The Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie		9 April 1972	4 March 1974
	Julian Amery		9 April 1972	4 March 1974
	Lord Balniel		9 April 1972	4 March 1974
	David Ennals		7 March 1974	10 September 1976	Labour		Wilson	Callaghan
	Roy Hattersley		7 March 1974	10 September 1976
	The Lord Goronwy-Roberts		4 December 1975	4 May 1979
							Callaghan
								Crosland (1976–77) Owen (1977–79)
	Ted Rowlands		10 September 1976	4 May 1979
	David Owen		10 September 1976	21 February 1977				Crosland
	Frank Judd		21 February 1977	4 May 1979				Owen
	Peter Blaker		4 May 1979	14 September 1981	Conservative		Thatcher	The Lord Carrington
	Nicholas Ridley		4 May 1979	14 September 1981
	Richard Luce		14 September 1981	5 April 1982
	Cranley Onslow		5 April 1982	13 June 1983				Pym
	The Lord Belstead		5 April 1982	13 June 1983
	Richard Luce		13 June 1983	2 September 1985				Howe
	The Baroness Young		13 June 1983	13 June 1987
	Tim Renton		2 September 1985	13 June 1987
	David Mellor		13 June 1987	25 July 1988
	The Lord Glenarthur		13 June 1987	24 July 1989
	William Waldegrave		26 July 1988	2 November 1990
								Major (1989) Hurd (1989–90)
	The Lord Brabazon of Tara		24 July 1989	14 July 1990
	The Earl of Caithness		14 July 1990	14 April 1992				Hurd
							Major
	Douglas Hogg		2 November 1990	5 July 1995
	Alastair Goodlad		15 April 1992	5 July 1995
	Jeremy Hanley		5 July 1995	5 May 1997				Rifkind
	Nicholas Bonsor		5 July 1995	5 May 1997
	Tony Lloyd		5 May 1997	28 July 1999	Labour		Blair	Cook
	John Battle		28 July 1999	11 June 2001
Minister of State for the Middle East
	The Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean		11 June 2001	5 May 2005	Labour		Blair	Straw
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
	Kim Howells		11 May 2005	6 October 2008	Labour		Blair Brown	Beckett Miliband
	Bill Rammell		6 October 2008	8 June 2009	Labour		Brown	Miliband
	Ivan Lewis		8 June 2009	11 May 2010
Minister of State for Europe and the Americas
	Jeremy Browne		13 May 2010	4 September 2012	Liberal Democrat		Cameron	Hague
	Hugo Swire		4 September 2012	15 July 2016	Conservative		Cameron	Hammond
	Alan Duncan		15 July 2016	22 July 2019	Conservative		May	Johnson Hunt
	Christopher Pincher		25 July 2019	13 February 2020			Johnson	Raab
Role merged into Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment

See also

• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
• Minister of State for Europe
• Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs