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| United Kingdom Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs | |
|---|---|
_(Tudor_Crown).svg) | |
Incumbent since 5 July 2024Vacant | |
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | |
| Type | Minister of the Crown |
| Status | Secretary of State |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister Foreign Secretary |
| Nominator | The Prime Minister |
| Appointer | The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister) |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation | 12 April 2024 |
| First holder | Andrew Mitchell |
| Website | Deputy Foreign Secretary |
Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, also known as Deputy Foreign Secretary or Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, is a secretary of state position in the Government of the United Kingdom deputised to the Foreign Secretary and whose current responsibility is to deputise and represent the Foreign Secretary in the House of Commons.[1]
History
editIn 1947, the Labour government of Clement Attlee appointed Frank Pakenham, a member of the House of Lords, as Deputy Foreign Secretary with responsibility for the British-occupied zones in post-war Germany.[2]
In November 2023, former Prime Minister David Cameron was appointed Foreign Secretary as part of the November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and simultaneously made a life peer in the House of Lords, with Andrew Mitchell acting as Cameron's representative in the House of Commons.[3][4]
In April 2024 during a mini-reshuffle by Sunak, Andrew Mitchell, a Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, was officially appointed and given the honorary title of Deputy Foreign Secretary, acting as a deputy of Foreign Secretary David Cameron, currently in the House of Lords, in the House of Commons, a responsibility he has de facto undertaken since Cameron was appointed Foreign Secretary.[5][1][6] Mitchell's appointment as Deputy Foreign Secretary was done in the context that Cameron as a member of the House of Lords could not be properly scrutinised in the House of Commons to the same extent as other ministers.[7]
The House of Commons’ Procedure Committee initially suggested that Cameron could come to “the bar of the Commons” to answer questions in the elected house.[7] But the government rejected this, arguing that Cameron faces more scrutiny than any other minister as he has a specific question time session in the Lords, as well as answering to the various Commons committees covering the work of the FCDO.[8] The government also argued that such an arrangement would establish a precedent that may not be helpful, and would risk undermining the ability of the House of Lords to manage its own affairs.[7][8] Since the Conservative Party lost the 2024 United Kingdom general election to the Labour Party in July 2024, the Deputy Foreign Secretary post has been vacant.
List of Deputy Foreign Secretaries
edit| Deputy Foreign Secretary | Term of office | Other ministerial portfolios held during tenure | Party | Ministry | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Andrew Mitchell MP for Sutton Coldfield |
12 April 2024 |
5 July 2024 |
Conservative | Sunak | ||
References
edit- ^ a b "Deputy Foreign Secretary - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ Bowie, D. (2018). The Oxford Labour Party since 1940. In Reform and Revolt in the City of Dreaming Spires: Radical, Socialist and Communist Politics in the City of Oxford 1830-1980 (pp. 217–242). University of Westminster Press
- ^ Brown, Thomas (21 November 2023). "Peerages awarded to former UK prime ministers". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
- ^ Smith, Benedict (2023-11-17). "David Cameron to be known as Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: 12 April 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ James, Rhiannon (2024-04-12). "Rishi Sunak carries out mini-reshuffle after energy minister steps down". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ a b c "Andrew Mitchell's new job title doesn't resolve how to best scrutinise Lords ministers like David Cameron". Institute for Government. 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ a b Procedure Committee (17 April 2024). "Commons scrutiny of Secretaries of State in the House of Lords: Government Response to the Committee's First Report". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 June 2024.