Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)

In the United Kingdom, the minister without portfolio is often a cabinet position, and is sometimes used to enable the chairman of the governing party, contemporarily either the chairman of the Conservative Party or the chair of the Labour Party to attend cabinet meetings (if so, they hold the title of "Party chairman"). The sinecure positions of lord privy seal, paymaster general, and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which have few responsibilities and have a higher rank in the order of precedence than minister without portfolio can also be used to similar effect. The office is currently held by Greg Hands.

Not to be confused with Minister of State without Portfolio.
United Kingdom
Minister without Portfolio
Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
Flag of the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Greg Hands
since 7 February 2023
Cabinet Office
StyleThe Right Honourable
Reports toThe Prime Minister
NominatorThe Prime Minister
AppointerThe British Monarch
on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term lengthNo fixed term
WebsiteGOV.UK

The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow minister without portfolio.

List of office holders

18th century

19th century
Minister Concurrent office(s) Tenure Political party Prime Minister
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland January 1805 –
February 1806		 Whig William Pitt the Younger
William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam October 1806 –
March 1807		 William Grenville
(Ministry of All the Talents)
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland 4 –
30 October 1809		 Tory Spencer Perceval
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby November 1809 –
June 1812		 Tory (Pittite)
John Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden (created 1st Marquess Camden, August 1812) 8 April – December 1812 Tory
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave January 1819 –
May 1820
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne April – July 1827 Whig George Canning
William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland July – September 1827 Tory (Canningite)
George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle 22 November 1830 –
5 June 1834		 Whig Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 3 September 1841 –
July 1846		 Conservative Robert Peel
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne 28 December 1852 –
21 February 1858		 Whig George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
(until February 1855)
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Lord John Russell February 1853 –
June 1854		 George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
Spencer Horatio Walpole May 1867 –
February 1868		 Conservative Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Michael Hicks Beach 7 March 1887 –
20 February 1888		 Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

20th century (first half)
Minister Concurrent office(s) Tenure Political party Prime Minister
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne 25 May 1915 –
December 1916		 Liberal Unionist H. H. Asquith
(Coalition)
Arthur Henderson Member of the War Cabinet 10 December 1916 –
12 August 1917		 Labour David Lloyd George
(Coalition)
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner 10 December 1916 –
18 April 1918		 Conservative
Jan Smuts 22 June 1917 –
10 January 1919		 South African Party
Edward Carson 17 July 1917 –
21 January 1918		 Ulster Unionist Party (Irish Unionist)
George Barnes Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919) 13 August 1917 –
27 January 1920		 Labour
Austen Chamberlain Member of the War Cabinet 18 April 1918 –
10 January 1919		 Conservative
Eric Campbell Geddes 10 January –
31 October 1919
Laming Worthington-Evans Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919) 10 January 1919 –
13 February 1921
Christopher Addison 1 April –
14 July 1921		 Liberal
Anthony Eden Minister for League of Nations affairs 7 June –
22 December 1935		 Conservative Stanley Baldwin
(Coalition)
Eustace Percy 7 June 1935 –
31 March 1936
Leslie Burgin Minister of Supply-designate 21 April –
14 July 1939		 National Liberal Party Neville Chamberlain
(Coalition)
Maurice Hankey Member of the War Cabinet September 1939 –
10 May 1940		 no party Neville Chamberlain
(Coalition)
Arthur Greenwood 11 May 1940 –
22 February 1942		 Labour Winston Churchill
(Coalition)
William Jowitt 30 December 1942 –
8 October 1944

20th century (second half)
Minister Concurrent office(s) Tenure Political party Prime Minister
A. V. Alexander 4 October –
20 December 1946		 Labour Co-operative Clement Attlee
Arthur Greenwood 17 April –
29 September 1947		 Labour
Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster 18 October 1954 –
1957		 Conservative Winston Churchill
Anthony Eden
Stormont Mancroft, 2nd Baron Mancroft 11 June 1957 –
1958		 Harold Macmillan
Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, 11th Earl of Dundee 23 October 1958 –
1961		 Unionist
Percy Mills, 1st Baron Mills Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 9 October 1961 –
13 July 1962		 Conservative
Bill Deedes 13 July 1962 –
16 October 1964
Alec Douglas-Home
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington Leader of the House of Lords 20 October 1963 –
16 October 1964
Eric Fletcher 19 October 1964 –
6 April 1966		 Labour Harold Wilson
Arthur Champion, Baron Champion Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 21 October 1964 –
7 January 1967
Douglas Houghton 6 April 1966 –
7 January 1967
Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 7 January 1967 –
16 January 1968
Patrick Gordon Walker 7 January –
21 August 1967
George Thomson 17 October 1968 –
6 October 1969
Peter Shore 6 October 1969 –
19 June 1970
Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn 15 October 1970 –
1974		 Unionist Edward Heath
Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare 8 January – March 1974 Conservative
David Young, Baron Young of Graffham advising on unemployment 11 September 1984 –
3 September 1985		 Margaret Thatcher
Jeremy Hanley Chairman of the Conservative Party 20 July 1994 –
5 July 1995		 John Major
Brian Mawhinney 5 July 1995 –
2 May 1997
Peter Mandelson[1] called the "Dome Secretary"[2] 5 May 1997 –
26 July 1998		 Labour Tony Blair

21st century
Minister Concurrent office(s) Term of office Political party Prime Minister
Charles Clarke[3] Labour Party Chair 8 June 2001 24 October 2002 Labour Tony Blair
John Reid[4] 24 October 2002 4 April 2003
Ian McCartney[5] 4 April 2003 5 May 2006
Hazel Blears[6] 5 May 2006 28 June 2007
no appointment 28 June 2007 12 May 2010 Gordon Brown
Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi[7][8] Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party 12 May 2010 6 September 2012 Conservative David Cameron
(Coalition)
Grant Shapps[9] 6 September 2012 8 May 2015
Kenneth Clarke[10] Trade envoy 6 September 2012 14 July 2014
John Hayes[11] Senior Parliamentary Adviser to the Prime Minister (Cabinet Office) 28 March 2013 15 July 2014
Robert Halfon[12] Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party 8 May 2015 17 July 2016 David Cameron
no appointment 17 July 2016 8 January 2018 Theresa May
Brandon Lewis[13] Chairman of the Conservative Party 8 January 2018 24 July 2019
James Cleverly[14] 24 July 2019 13 February 2020 Boris Johnson
Amanda Milling[15] 13 February 2020 15 September 2021
Oliver Dowden[16] 15 September 2021 24 June 2022
no appointment 24 June 2022 7 July 2022
Andrew Stephenson Chairman of the Conservative Party 7 July 2022 6 September 2022
Sir Jake Berry 6 September 2022 25 October 2022 Liz Truss
Nadhim Zahawi 25 October 2022 29 January 2023 Rishi Sunak
Greg Hands 7 February 2023 Incumbent

See also

References
  1. "Lord Mandelson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  2. "Mandelson and Heseltine defend Dome". BBC News. 28 January 1998. Retrieved 28 July 2021. The Minister without Portfolio, Peter Mandelson, has told MPs the Millennium Dome is "on time and on budget" as he faced Conservative criticisms of "secrecy and arrogance" in the House of Commons. The so-called 'Dome Secretary' was joined by Michael Heseltine in a robust defence of the project...
  3. "Rt Hon Charles Clarke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  5. "Sir Ian McCartney". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  6. "Rt Hon Hazel Blears". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  7. "Baroness Warsi". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  8. "Ministers Reflect - Minister Baroness Warsi". Institute for Government. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021. Sayeeda Warsi looks back on her time in the Coalition Government, starting with figuring out what exactly was a Minister without Portfolio.
  9. "Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  10. "Lord Clarke of Nottingham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  11. "Rt Hon John Hayes MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  12. "Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  13. "Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  14. "Rt Hon James Cleverly MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  15. "Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  16. "Rt Hon Oliver Dowdon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
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