Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

United Kingdom Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Flag of the United Kingdom
Incumbent Andrea Leadsom since 14 July 2016
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Style	The Right Honourable (Formal prefix) Environment Secretary
Appointer	Elizabeth II
Inaugural holder	Margaret Beckett
Formation	8 June 2001
Website	ww2.defra.gov.uk/

Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or informally Environment Secretary is a UK cabinet-level position in charge of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the successor to the positions of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

The post is currently held by Andrea Leadsom.

Responsibilities

The Secretary of State has three main responsibilities at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to:

• bear overall responsibility for all Departmental issues.
• represent the UK at the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council and at the EU Environment Council.
• lobby for the UK in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change.

Secretaries of State

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
As Secretary of State for the Environment
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Peter Walker		15 October 1970	5 November 1972	Conservative	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Heath
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Geoffrey Rippon		5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Anthony Crosland		5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Peter Shore		8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Callaghan
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Michael Heseltine		5 May 1979	6 January 1983	Conservative	rowspan=6 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Thatcher
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Tom King		6 January 1983	11 June 1983	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Patrick Jenkin		11 June 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Kenneth Baker		2 September 1985	21 May 1986	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Nicholas Ridley		21 May 1986	24 July 1989	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Chris Patten		24 July 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Michael Heseltine		28 November 1990	11 April 1992	Conservative	rowspan=3 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Major
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Michael Howard		11 April 1992	27 May 1993	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Gummer		27 May 1993	2 May 1997	Conservative
As Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Prescott		2 May 1997	8 June 2001	Labour	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Blair
Ministers of State responsible for the Environment: Michael Meacher (1997–2001) Richard Caborn (1997–99) Nick Raynsford (1999–2001)
As Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Margaret Beckett		8 June 2001	5 May 2006	Labour	rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Blair
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Miliband		5 May 2006	27 June 2007	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Hilary Benn		28 June 2007	11 May 2010	Labour	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Brown
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Caroline Spelman		12 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	rowspan=4 style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Cameron (Coalition)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Owen Paterson		4 September 2012	14 July 2014	Conservative
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Elizabeth Truss		15 July 2014	14 July 2016	Conservative
Cameron (II)
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Andrea Leadsom		14 July 2016	Incumbent	Conservative	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	May

See also

• List of Secretaries of state for the environment; Secretaries of state for the environment, transport and the regions