Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
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Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs



Incumbent: David Miliband Took office: 28 June 2007
Style:	The Right Honourable
Appointed by:	Gordon Brown as Prime Minister
First :	Charles James Fox
Formation:	27 March 1782

United Kingdom
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The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the United Kingdom Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and responsible for relations with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the UK's overseas territories and the promotion of British interests abroad.

1 Position
2 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1782-1968)
- 2.1 Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1968 - present)
3 See also
4 External links

Position

The Foreign Secretary is a member of the Cabinet, and the post is considered one of the Great Offices of State. It came into existence in 1968 with the merger of the functions of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs into a single Department of State. The India Office was a predecessor department of the Foreign Office.

The Foreign Secretary works out of the Foreign Office in Whitehall. The post's official residences are 1 Carlton Gardens in London and Chevening in Kent.

In the Cabinet reshuffle on 5 May 2006 Margaret Beckett became the first woman to hold the post.

David Miliband was appointed to the post on 28 June 2007 by the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1782-1968)

The position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was created in the United Kingdom's governmental reorganization of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Home and Foreign Offices

Name	Term (From - To)
Charles James Fox¹	27 March 1782 - 5 July 1782
Lord Grantham	13 July 1782 - 2 April 1783
Charles James Fox	2 April 1783 - 19 December 1783
Earl Temple	19 December 1783 - 23 December 1783
The Duke of Leeds¹	23 December 1783 - May 1791
Lord Grenville	8 June 1791 - 20 February 1801
Lord Hawkesbury	20 February 1801 - 14 May 1804
Lord Harrowby	14 May 1804 - 11 January 1805
Lord Mulgrave	11 January 1805 - 7 February 1806
Charles James Fox²	7 February 1806 - 13 September 1806
Viscount Howick	24 September 1806 - 25 March 1807
George Canning¹	25 March 1807 - 11 October 1809
Earl Bathurst	11 October 1809 - 6 December 1809
Marquess Wellesley	6 December 1809 - 4 March 1812
Viscount Castlereagh²	4 March 1812 - 12 August 1822
George Canning	16 September 1822 - 30 April 1827
The Earl of Dudley	30 April 1827 - 2 June 1828
The Earl of Aberdeen	2 June 1828 - 22 November 1830
Viscount Palmerston	22 November 1830 - 15 November 1834
The Duke of Wellington	15 November 1834 - 18 April 1835
Viscount Palmerston	18 April 1835 - 2 September 1841
The Earl of Aberdeen	2 September 1841 - 6 July 1846
Viscount Palmerston	6 July 1846 - 26 December 1851
Earl Granville	26 December 1851 - 27 February 1852
The Earl of Malmesbury	27 February 1852 - 28 December 1852
Lord John Russell³	28 December 1852 - 21 February 1853
The Earl of Clarendon	21 February 1853 - 26 February 1858
The Earl of Malmesbury	26 February 1858 - 18 June 1859
Earl Russell³	18 June 1859 - 3 November 1865
The Earl of Clarendon	3 November 1865 - 6 July 1866
Lord Stanley⁴	6 July 1866 - 9 December 1868
The Earl of Clarendon	9 December 1868 - 6 July 1870
Earl Granville	6 July 1870 - 21 February 1874
The Earl of Derby⁴	21 February 1874 - 2 April 1878
The Marquess of Salisbury	2 April 1878 - 28 April 1880
Earl Granville	28 April 1880 - 24 June 1885
The Marquess of Salisbury	24 June 1885 - 6 February 1886
The Earl of Rosebery	6 February 1886 - 3 August 1886
The Earl of Iddesleigh²	3 August 1886 - 12 January 1887
The Marquess of Salisbury	14 January 1887 - 11 August 1892
The Earl of Rosebery	18 August 1892 - 11 March 1894
The Earl of Kimberley	11 March 1894 - 21 June 1895
The Marquess of Salisbury	29 June 1895 - 12 November 1900
The Marquess of Lansdowne	12 November 1900 - 4 December 1905
Sir Edward Grey	10 December 1905 - 10 December 1916
Arthur Balfour	10 December 1916 - 23 October 1919
Marquess Curzon	23 October 1919 - 22 January 1924
James Ramsay MacDonald	22 January 1924 - 3 November 1924
Sir Austen Chamberlain	6 November 1924 - 4 June 1929
Arthur Henderson	7 June 1929 - 24 August 1931
The Marquess of Reading	25 August 1931 - 5 November 1931
Sir John Simon	5 November 1931 - 7 June 1935
Sir Samuel Hoare¹	7 June 1935 - 18 December 1935
Anthony Eden¹	22 December 1935 - 20 February 1938
Viscount Halifax	21 February 1938 - 22 December 1940
Anthony Eden	22 December 1940 - 26 July 1945
Ernest Bevin	27 July 1945 - 9 March 1951
Herbert Morrison	9 March 1951 - 26 October 1951
Sir Anthony Eden	28 October 1951 - 7 April 1955
Harold Macmillan	7 April 1955 - 20 December 1955
Selwyn Lloyd	20 December 1955 - 27 July 1960
The Earl of Home	27 July 1960 - 20 October 1963
R. A. Butler	20 October 1963 - 16 October 1964
Patrick Gordon Walker⁵	16 October 1964 - 22 January 1965
Michael Stewart	22 January 1965 - 11 August 1966
George Brown¹	11 August 1966 - 16 March 1968
Michael Stewart	16 March 1968 - 17 October 1968

¹Resigned
²Died in office
³Lord John Russell was later elevated to the Peerage as the Earl Russell
⁴Lord Stanley later succeeded to the Peerage as the Earl of Derby
⁵Defeated for election to the House of Commons

Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1968 - present)

	Entered office	Left office	Political party
Michael Stewart	17 October 1968 3	19 June 1970	Labour
Sir Alec Douglas-Home	20 June 1970 5	28 February 1974	Conservative
James Callaghan	29 February 1974 5	8 April 1976 1	Labour
Anthony Crosland	9 April 1976 3	19 February 1977 4	Labour
David Owen	22 February 1977 3	4 May 1979	Labour
Lord Carrington	5 May 1979 5	5 April 1982 2	Conservative
Francis Pym	6 April 1982 3	11 June 1983 3	Conservative
Sir Geoffrey Howe	11 June 1983 3	24 July 1989 3	Conservative
John Major	24 July 1989 3	26 October 1989 3	Conservative
Douglas Hurd	26 October 1989 3	5 July 1995 2	Conservative
Malcolm Rifkind	5 July 1995 3	2 May 1997	Conservative
Robin Cook	2 May 1997 5	8 June 2001 3	Labour
Jack Straw	8 June 2001 3	5 May 2006	Labour
Margaret Beckett	5 May 2006 3	28 June 2007	Labour
David Miliband	28 June 2007 5	present	Labour