Minister of State for Development

The minister of state for development, formerly the minister of state for development and Africa<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the secretary of state for international development, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom.

The officeholder headed the Department for International Development (DFID) as secretary of state from 1997 to 2020. The office formed part of the British Cabinet. The Department for International Development was abolished in September 2020, and Anne-Marie Trevelyan was the final holder of the post.

The post was made a ministerial position attending Cabinet in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 2022. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow cabinet minister for international development.

History

A separate Ministry of Overseas Development was established by Harold Wilson when he came to office in 1964. The first three holders of the office served in the Cabinet, but from 29 August 1967 the office was demoted. Under Edward Heath, the Ministry was re-incorporated into the FCO on 15 October 1970. Wilson again established the Ministry in 1974, but later merged it into the FCO once again: from 10 June 1975 to 8 October 1979 the foreign secretary served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister for Overseas Development in the cabinet, while the minister for overseas development held the rank of Minister of State within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The minister of state had day-to-day responsibility. Under the Labour government of the 1970s, Reg Prentice sat in the Cabinet during his term.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The post's last and main format was created in 1997 when the Department for International Development was made independent of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

In June 2020, it was announced the Department for International Development would be dissolved, and its operations would be merged into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The process was completed by 2 September 2020, with the last international development secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan remaining in place until that time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2022, the position was revised in the as a minister of state attending Cabinet during the Truss ministry.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From 2022 to 2024 under the Sunak ministry, the position was combined with responsibility for Africa as the Minister of State for Development and Africa.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Responsibilities

The Minister's responsibilities include:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• international development
• Caribbean and Small Island Developing States
• soft power (including FCDO arms-length bodies British Council, BBC World Service and Wilton Park)
• devolution

List of ministers and secretaries of state

Minister			Term of office		Party	Ministry
Ministers of Overseas Development (1964–1970)
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Barbara Castle, 1965 (cropped).jpg	Barbara Castle	18 October 1964	23 December 1965	Labour	rowspan=5 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Wilson Template:Small
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Anthony Greenwood.jpg	Anthony Greenwood	23 December 1965	11 August 1966	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Arthur Bottomley MP.jpg	Arthur Bottomley	11 August 1966	29 August 1967	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Reg Prentice	29 August 1967	6 October 1969	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Judith Hart	6 October 1969	19 June 1970	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Richard Wood	23 June 1970	15 October 1970	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Heath
Ministers for Overseas Development (1970–1997)
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Richard Wood	15 October 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Heath
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Judith Hart	7 March 1974	10 June 1975	Labour	rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Wilson Template:Small
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Reg Prentice	10 June 1975	21 December 1976 (resigned)	Labour
rowspan=3 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |						Callaghan
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Lord Judd crop 2.jpg	Frank Judd	21 December 1976	21 February 1977	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Judith Hart	21 February 1977	4 May 1979	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Neil Marten	6 May 1979	6 January 1983	Conservative	rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Thatcher Template:Small
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Timothy Raison	6 January 1983	10 September 1986	Conservative
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Lord Patten of Barnes crop 2.jpg	Chris Patten	10 September 1986	24 July 1989	Conservative
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Baroness Chalker of Wallasey crop 2.jpg	Lynda Chalker Template:Small	24 July 1989	2 May 1997	Conservative
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |						Major Template:Small
Secretaries of State for International Development (1997–2020)
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Paris 2011 192 (5494065443) (cropped 2).jpg	Clare Short	3 May 1997	12 May 2003	Labour	rowspan=3 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Blair Template:Small
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Valerie Amos DFID 2013.jpg	Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos	12 May 2003	6 October 2003	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Hilary Benn.jpg	Hilary Benn	6 October 2003	28 June 2007	Labour
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Douglas Alexander MP crop 2, 2024.jpg	Douglas Alexander	28 June 2007	11 May 2010	Labour	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Brown
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Andrew Mitchell MP crop 2, 2024.jpg	Andrew Mitchell	12 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative		Cameron-Clegg
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Justine Greening.jpg	Justine Greening	4 September 2012	14 July 2016	Conservative
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |						Cameron Template:Small
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Priti Patel 2016.jpg	Priti Patel	14 July 2016	8 November 2017	Conservative	rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	May Template:Small
May Template:Small
	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Penny Mordaunt in 2019 (cropped).jpg	Penny Mordaunt	9 November 2017	1 May 2019	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |
	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Rory Stewart crop 2.jpg	Rory Stewart	1 May 2019	24 July 2019	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Alok Sharma crop 2.jpg	Alok Sharma	24 July 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative	rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Johnson Template:Small
Johnson Template:Small
	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan crop 2.jpg	Anne-Marie Trevelyan	13 February 2020	2 September 2020	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |
	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Vacant	2 September 2020	6 September 2022	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |
Minister of State for Development (2022)
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Vicky Ford MP crop 2.jpg	Vicky Ford	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Truss
Minister of State for Development and Africa (2022–2024)
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Andrew Mitchell MP crop 2, 2024.jpg	Andrew Mitchell	25 October 2022	5 July 2024	Conservative	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Sunak
Minister of State for Development (2024–2025)
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Anneliese Dodds MP crop 2.jpg	Anneliese Dodds	8 July 2024	28 February 2025	Labour	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Starmer
Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean
style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	File:Official portrait of Baroness Chapman of Darlington crop 2, 2021.jpg	The Baroness Chapman of Darlington	28 February 2025	Incumbent	Labour	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Starmer