The minister of state for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, is a ministerial position within the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, in charge of affairs with

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The minister can also be responsible for government policy towards European security; defence and international security; the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

; polar regions; migration; protocol; human resources;

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

and

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

; relations with Parliament;

British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

and

Sovereign Base Areas Akrotiri and Dhekelia (), officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA), is a British Overseas Territory made of two non-contiguous areas on the island of Cyprus. The areas, which include British military bases and instal ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

; and FCO finance, knowledge and technology.

History

The office currently a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

at the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

. Despite being a junior ministerial role, the position has sometimes conferred the right to attend meetings of the Cabinet, which is occasionally granted to other such ministers at the Prime Minister's discretion. This first occurred when

Denis MacShane Denis MacShane (born Josef Denis Matyjaszek; 21 May 1948) is a British former politician, author, commentator and convicted criminal who served as Minister of State for Europe from 2002 to 2005. He joined the Labour Party in 1970 and has held ...

was replaced by

Douglas Alexander Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October 1967) is a British politician who has served as Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security since 2024, having previously held the role from 2004 to 2005. He has also served as Minister o ...

after the 2005 general election, although Alexander's successor ceased to have this right. When

Chris Bryant Sir Christopher John Bryant (born 11 January 1962) is a British politician and former Anglican priest who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Rhondda and Ogmore (UK Parliament constituency), Rhondda ...

held the office, it was not as Minister of State but as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe and Asia. The responsibilities of the office were next appointed to a Minister of State in 2010 by then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. He appointed

David Lidington Sir David Roy Lidington (born 30 June 1956) is a former British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and ...

, who held the office for over six years. In July 2016, the responsibility for the relationship with the European Union, which represented the greater part of British policy towards Europe, became the brief of a new Cabinet level post,

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union or, informally, Brexit Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the business of the Department for Exiting the European Union, as well ...

, or more informally, Brexit Secretary. With the winding up of DEXEU, the department led by the Brexit Secretary, responsibility was transferred to the Cabinet Office, first under

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist who served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rish ...

, and then under

Lord Frost David George Hamilton Frost, Baron Frost (born 21 February 1965) is a former British diplomat, civil servant and politician who served as a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office between March and December 2021. Frost was Chief Negotiator ...

who was made a member of the Cabinet and held the ministerial position of

Minister of State at the Cabinet Office The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lanca ...

. Through this period, any residual responsibilities for European relations that remained with the Foreign Office were combined with the portfolio of the traditionally more junior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. The post of Minister of State for Europe and the Americas was held by

Alan Duncan Sir Alan James Carter Duncan (born 31 March 1957) is a British former politician who served as Minister of State for International Development from 2010 to 2014 and Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 2016 to 2019. A member of ...

until he resigned on 22 July 2019; Duncan was largely regarded as the second most senior-ranking Foreign Office Minister behind the Foreign Secretary. On 25 July 2019, newly elected Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for Tamworth,

Christopher Pincher Christopher John Pincher (born 24 September 1969) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamworth from 2010 until his resignation in 2023. Pincher served as Government Deputy Chief Whip, and Treasurer of t ...

to the role as part of his ministerial reshuffle. Johnson promoted Wendy Morton to the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for European Neighbourhood and the Americas to replace Pincher in February 2020. In December 2021, upon the resignation of Lord Frost, ministerial responsibility returned to the Foreign Secretary

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

and

Chris Heaton-Harris Christopher Heaton-Harris (born 28 November 1967) is a British former politician who served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from September 2022 to July 2024, and as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliament ...

became Minister of State for Europe as responsibility for the United Kingdom's relations with the European Union was moved from the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

back to the Foreign Office. In February 2022,

James Cleverly Sir James Spencer Cleverly (born 4 September 1969) is a British politician and Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve Commissioned officer, officer who served as Home Secretary from November 2023 to July 2024 and as Foreign Secretary (Unit ...

was appointed Minister of State for Europe and North America. His former position as

Minister of State for Middle East, North Africa and North America The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Latin America and Caribbean is a ministerial office in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the British government. The office of Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa was ...

was the second highest position in the Foreign Office; his new position as Europe Minister then took its place as the deputy to the Foreign Secretary. The post is not to be confused with the

within the

Department for Exiting the European Union The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU; also known as the Department for Brexit or Brexit Department) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for overseeing negotiations relating to Brexit, and establi ...

, the department created by Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

following the UK's vote to leave the EU in 2016 and abolished by Boris Johnson following the UK's exit from the EU on 31 January 2020. They supported the work of the department overseeing the UK's exit from the EU rather than overseeing government policy towards all-European affairs.

History

List of ministers

References

See also