Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)

The secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, commonly 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. The role is 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.

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.

The current foreign secretary is Ed Miliband. He was appointed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham on 20 July 2026.

Responsibilities

The foreign secretary is responsible for overseeing the United Kingdom's foreign policy and international relations. The role broadly corresponds to that of a foreign minister in many other countries, while also encompassing additional responsibilities.

The foreign secretary's remit includes:

• Conducting relations with foreign states and international organisations
• Promoting British interests abroad
• Overseeing matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the British Overseas Territories
• Responsibility for the activities of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), including ministerial authorisation of certain intelligence operations

Residence

The official residence of the foreign secretary is 1 Carlton Gardens in London. The foreign secretary also has the use of Chevening House, a country house in Kent.

History

The title of 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 Department and Southern Department became the Foreign Office and Home Office respectively. The India Office was closed down in 1947. It had been a constituent predecessor department of the Foreign Office, like the Colonial Office and the Dominions Office.

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 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 hold the post.

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. The position was incorporated as a corporation sole later that year.

The deputy secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the deputy foreign secretary, was a minister of state position from 2023 to 2024, with responsibility to represent the foreign secretary in the House of Commons. It was created due to prime minister Rishi Sunak appointing former prime minister David Cameron a life peer in November 2023 to serve as foreign secretary from the House of Lords. Andrew Mitchell was the only holder of the office.

List of foreign secretaries

Secretaries of state for foreign affairs (1782–1968)

^† Died in office.

Secretaries of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs (1968–2020)

Post created through the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.

Secretaries of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs (2020–present)

Post created through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development.

Timeline

See also

• Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
• Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
• Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
• Secretary of State for the Colonies
• Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
• Ministry of foreign affairs
• Great Offices of State

Further reading

• Cecil, Algernon. British Foreign Secretaries, 1807–1916: Studies in Personality and Policy (1927). pp.89–130.
• Goodman, Sam. The Imperial Premiership: The Role of the Modern Prime Minister in Foreign Policy Making, 1964–2015 (Oxford UP, 2016).
• Hughes, Michael. British Foreign Secretaries in an Uncertain World, 1919–1939. (Routledge, 2004).
• Hurd, Douglas. Choose Your Weapons: The British Foreign Secretary. 200 Years of Argument, Success and Failure (2010).
• Johnson, Gaynor. "Introduction: The Foreign Office and British Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century", Contemporary British History, (2004) 18:3, 1–12, doi:
• Morris, Ted. Managing Decline: British Foreign Secretaries of the Twentieth Century (Troubador, 2026).
• Neilson, Keith, and Thomas G. Otte. The Permanent Under-secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1854–1946 (Routledge, 2008).
• Otte, Thomas G. The Foreign Office Mind: The Making of British Foreign Policy, 1865–1914 (Cambridge UP, 2011).
• Seldon, Anthony. The Impossible Office? The History of the British Prime Minister (2021) major scholarly history. Covers the relations with Prime Minister in Chapter 8.
• Shlaim, Avi; Jones, Peter and Sainsbury, Keith, ed. British Foreign Secretaries Since 1945 (David & Charles, 1977). Covers up to Sir Alec Douglas-Home leaving office in 1974.
• Steiner, Zara. The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy, 1898–1914 (1986).
• Temperley, Harold. "British Secret Diplomacy from Canning to Grey." Cambridge Historical Journal 6.1 (1938): 1–32.
• Theakston, Kevin, ed. British Foreign Secretaries since 1974 (Routledge, 2004).
• Wilson, Keith M., ed. British Foreign Secretaries and Foreign Policy: From Crimean War to First World War (1987).
• Ziegner, Graham, ed. British Diplomacy: Foreign Secretaries Reflect (Politico's, 1907).

External links