United Kingdom Minister for Women and Equalities | |
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![]() Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government | |
Department for Education | |
Style | The Right Honourable |
Appointer | The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister) |
Inaugural holder | Harriet Harman |
Formation | 3 May 1997 (as Minister for Women) |
Website | www.equalities.gov.uk/ |
Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom in the Department for Education. Prior to July 2024, the position led the Government Equalities Office. Its counterpart in the shadow cabinet is the shadow minister for women and equalities.
Currently, the position is deputised by the role of Minister of State for Women and Equalities, which is held by The Baroness Smith of Malvern.
The position was formerly known as Minister for Women, Minister for Women and Equality and Minister for Equalities.
The position of Minister for Women was created by Tony Blair when he became prime minister as a means of prioritising women's issues across government. Prior to that, there had been an equality unit in the Cabinet Office and a Cabinet committee, which were continued under the leadership of the new minister. [1] When Gordon Brown succeeded Blair, he created the post of Minister for Women and Equality to handle a wider range of equalities issues. The first Minister for Women and, ten years later, the first Minister for Women and Equality was Harriet Harman. On 12 October 2007 [2] a new department, the Government Equalities Office, was created to support the minister. When David Cameron became prime minister, he renamed the position to "Minister for Women and Equalities" without a change in its responsibilities. Since its creation, the position has always been held by a minister sitting in Cabinet by virtue of another office (i.e., a Secretary of State or Leader of one of the Houses of Parliament).
Justine Greening replaced Nicky Morgan as both Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities when Theresa May was appointed prime minister on 13 July 2016. Morgan initially held the title of Minister for Women after the resignation of Maria Miller in April 2014, in conjunction with being Financial Secretary to the Treasury, whilst the Equalities brief was given to Sajid Javid who had replaced Miller as Secretary of State for Culture. While the Women and Equalities briefs were recombined in July 2014, the responsibility for marriage equality was assigned to Nick Boles, who held the title of Minister of State for Skills, Enterprise and Equalities and had a base in both the Education and Business departments. Both splits in responsibilities were due to Nicky Morgan having voted against the legalisation of gay marriage. [3]
The two most recent female Prime Ministers, Theresa May and Liz Truss, served in this position.
Prior to April 2019, the minister was based at the Home Office, DFID and DfE, however, between 2019 and 2024, the position led the Government Equalities Office, an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that had the responsibility for addressing all forms of discrimination, with particular emphasis on gender inequality. During the Conservative Government from 2017 to 2024, the minister was deputised by two parliamentary under-secretaries of state in the roles of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities.
Minister for Women | |||||||||||
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Cabinet minister | Term of office | Junior ministers | Political party | Ministry | |||||||
![]() | Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham Social Security Secretary | 3 May 1997 | 27 July 1998 | Joan Ruddock | Labour | Blair (I) | |||||
![]() | Margaret Jay Baroness Jay of Paddington Leader of the House of Lords | 27 July 1998 | 8 June 2001 | Tessa Jowell | |||||||
![]() | Patricia Hewitt MP for Leicester West Trade and Industry Secretary | 8 June 2001 | 5 May 2005 | Baroness Morgan of Huyton (2001) | Blair (II) | ||||||
Barbara Roche (2001–2003) | |||||||||||
Jacqui Smith (2003–2005) | |||||||||||
![]() | Tessa Jowell MP for Dulwich and West Norwood Minister for the Olympics | 5 May 2005 | 5 May 2006 | Meg Munn | Blair (III) | ||||||
![]() | Ruth Kelly MP for Bolton West Communities and Local Govt. Secretary | 5 May 2006 | 28 June 2007 | ||||||||
Minister for Women and Equality | |||||||||||
Cabinet minister | Term of office | Junior ministers | Political party | Ministry | |||||||
![]() | Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham Leader of the House of Commons | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Maria Eagle (2009–2010, jointly with the Ministry of Justice) | Labour | Brown | |||||
Barbara Follett (2007–2008) | |||||||||||
Maria Eagle (2008–2009) | |||||||||||
Michael Foster (2009–2010) | |||||||||||
Minister for Women and Equalities | |||||||||||
Cabinet minister | Term of office | Junior ministers | Political party | Ministry | |||||||
![]() | Theresa May MP for Maidenhead Home Secretary | 12 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Lynne Featherstone (LD) | Coalition (Cons–LD) | Cameron-Clegg) | |||||
![]() | Maria Miller MP for Basingstoke Culture Secretary | 4 September 2012 | 9 April 2014 | Jo Swinson (LD) | Helen Grant (Cons) | ||||||
Minister for Women and Minister for Equalities | |||||||||||
Cabinet ministers | Term of office | Junior ministers | Political party | Ministry | |||||||
![]() | Women: Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough Financial Secretary to the Treasury | 9 April 2014 | 15 July 2014 | Jo Swinson (LD) | Helen Grant (Cons) | Coalition (Cons–LD) | Cameron-Clegg | ||||
![]() | Equalities: Sajid Javid MP for Bromsgrove Culture Secretary | ||||||||||
Minister for Women and Equalities | |||||||||||
Cabinet minister | Term of office | Junior ministers | Political party | Ministry | |||||||
![]() | Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough Financial Secretary to the Treasury | 15 July 2014 | 8 May 2015 | Jo Swinson (LD) | Helen Grant (Cons) | Coalition (Cons–LD) | Cameron-Clegg | ||||
8 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 | Caroline Dinenage | Conservative | Cameron (II) | |||||||
![]() | Justine Greening MP for Putney Secretary of State for Education | 14 July 2016 | 14 June 2017 | May (I) | |||||||
14 June 2017 | 8 January 2018 | Women: Anne Milton | Equalities: Nick Gibb | May (II) | |||||||
![]() | Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye Home Secretary | 9 January 2018 | 30 April 2018 | Women: Victoria Atkins | Equalities: Baroness Williams of Trafford | ||||||
![]() | Penny Mordaunt MP for Portsmouth North International Development Secretary Defence Secretary | 30 April 2018 | 24 July 2019 | ||||||||
![]() | Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye Work and Pensions Secretary | 24 July 2019 | 7 September 2019 | Johnson (I) | |||||||
![]() | Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk Foreign Secretary | 10 September 2019 | 14 February 2020 | ||||||||
14 February 2020 | 6 September 2022 | Women: Baroness Berridge (until 17 September 2021) | Equalities: Kemi Badenoch (Minister of State, until 6 July 2022) Mike Freer (Parliamentary Secretary, 16 September 2021 – 6 July 2022) | Johnson (II) | |||||||
Women: Baroness Stedman-Scott (17 September 2021 – 22 September 2022) | |||||||||||
Equalities: Amanda Solloway (8 July 2022 – 20 September 2022) | |||||||||||
Minister for Equalities | |||||||||||
Cabinet minister | Term of office | Junior ministers | Political party | Ministry | |||||||
![]() | Nadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for Intergovernmental Relations | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Women: Katherine Fletcher | Equalities: Baroness Stedman-Scott | Conservative | Truss | ||||
Minister for Women and Equalities | |||||||||||
Cabinet minister | Term of office | Junior ministers | Political party | Ministry | |||||||
![]() | Kemi Badenoch MP for Saffron Walden Secretary of State for International Trade | 25 October 2022 | 5 July 2024 | Women: Maria Caulfield | Equalities: Stuart Andrew | Conservative | Sunak | ||||
![]() | Bridget Phillipson MP for Houghton and Sunderland South Secretary of State for Education | 8 July 2024 | Incumbent | Gender policy: Anneliese Dodds (until 28 February 2025) | Disability policy: Sir Stephen Timms (from 8 October 2024) Race and ethnicity policy: Seema Malhotra (from 8 October 2024) LGBT+ policy: Dame Nia Griffith (8 October 2024 – 7 September 2025) Olivia Bailey (from 7 September 2025) | Labour | Starmer | ||||
Gender policy: Baroness Smith of Malvern (from 4 March 2025) |