Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, also referred to as the environment secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The office holder works alongside the other Defra ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

Responsibilities

The secretary of state has two main responsibilities at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to:

• bear overall responsibility for all departmental issues.
• lobby for the United Kingdom in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change.

List of environment secretaries

Timeline of environment secretaries

References

1. "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
2. "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
3. "Secretary of State for Environment". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 23 October 2017.
4. "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
5. "Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
6. "Rt Hon David Miliband". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
7. "Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
8. "Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
9. "Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
10. "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
11. "Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
12. "Rt Hon Michael Gove MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
13. "Theresa Villiers replaces Gove as Defra secretary". Farmers Weekly. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.