Minister for Women and Equalities

Last updated

United Kingdom
Minister
for Women and Equalities
Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
Bridget Phillipson Official Cabinet Portrait, July 2024 (cropped).jpg
since 8 July 2024
Department for Education
Style The Right Honourable
Appointer The Monarch
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Inaugural holder Harriet Harman
Formation3 May 1997;28 years ago (1997-05-03) (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.

Contents

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.

History

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.

List of ministers

Minister for Women

Cabinet ministerTerm of officeJunior ministersPolitical partyMinistry
Official portrait of Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP crop 2.jpg Harriet Harman
MP for Camberwell and Peckham
Social Security Secretary
3 May 199727 July 1998 Joan Ruddock Labour Blair

(I)

Official portrait of Baroness Jay of Paddington crop 2, 2019.jpg Margaret Jay
Baroness Jay of Paddington
Leader of the House of Lords
27 July 19988 June 2001 Tessa Jowell
Patricia Hewitt.jpg Patricia Hewitt
MP for Leicester West
Trade and Industry Secretary
8 June 20015 May 2005 Baroness Morgan of Huyton
(2001)
Blair

(II)

Barbara Roche
(2001–2003)
Jacqui Smith
(2003–2005)
Tessa Jowell Cropped.jpg Tessa Jowell
MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
Minister for the Olympics
5 May 2005 5 May 2006 Meg Munn Blair

(III)

RuthKellyMP.jpg Ruth Kelly
MP for Bolton West
Communities and Local Govt. Secretary
5 May 2006 28 June 2007

Minister for Women and Equality

Cabinet ministerTerm of officeJunior ministersPolitical partyMinistry
Official portrait of Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP crop 2.jpg Harriet Harman
MP for Camberwell and Peckham
Leader of the House of Commons
28 June 200711 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 ministerTerm of officeJunior ministersPolitical partyMinistry
Theresa May - Home Secretary and minister for women and equality.jpg Theresa May
MP for Maidenhead
Home Secretary
12 May 20104 September 2012 Lynne Featherstone
(LD)
Coalition
(ConsLD)
Cameron-Clegg)
Official portrait of Rt Hon Maria Miller MP crop 2.jpg Maria Miller
MP for Basingstoke
Culture Secretary
4 September 20129 April 2014 Jo Swinson
(LD)
Helen Grant
(Cons)

Minister for Women and Minister for Equalities

Cabinet ministersTerm of officeJunior ministersPolitical partyMinistry
Official Portrait of Baroness Morgan of Cotes.jpg Women:
Nicky Morgan
MP for Loughborough
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
9 April 2014 15 July 2014 Jo Swinson
(LD)
Helen Grant
(Cons)
Coalition
(ConsLD)
Cameron-Clegg
Official portrait of Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP crop 2.jpg Equalities:
Sajid Javid
MP for Bromsgrove
Culture Secretary

Minister for Women and Equalities

Cabinet ministerTerm of officeJunior ministersPolitical partyMinistry
Official Portrait of Baroness Morgan of Cotes.jpg Nicky Morgan
MP for Loughborough
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
15 July 20148 May 2015 Jo Swinson
(LD)
Helen Grant
(Cons)
Coalition
(ConsLD)
Cameron-Clegg
8 May 201514 July 2016 Caroline Dinenage Conservative Cameron
(II)
Official portrait of Justine Greening crop 2.jpg Justine Greening
MP for Putney
Secretary of State for Education
14 July 201614 June 2017 May
(I)
14 June 2017 8 January 2018 Women:
Anne Milton
Equalities:
Nick Gibb
May
(II)
Official portrait of Amber Rudd crop 2.jpg Amber Rudd
MP for Hastings and Rye
Home Secretary
9 January 2018 30 April 2018Women:
Victoria Atkins
Equalities:
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt.jpg Penny Mordaunt
MP for Portsmouth North
International Development Secretary
Defence Secretary
30 April 201824 July 2019
Official portrait of Amber Rudd crop 2.jpg Amber Rudd
MP for Hastings and Rye
Work and Pensions Secretary
24 July 2019 7 September 2019 Johnson
(I)


Liz Truss Official Photo (cropped).jpg Liz Truss
MP for South West Norfolk
Foreign Secretary
10 September 2019 14 February 2020
14 February 20206 September 2022Women:
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 ministerTerm of officeJunior ministersPolitical partyMinistry
Official portrait of Nadhim Zahawi MP crop 2.jpg Nadhim Zahawi
MP for Stratford-on-Avon
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
6 September 202225 October 2022Women:
Katherine Fletcher
Equalities:
Baroness Stedman-Scott
Conservative Truss

Minister for Women and Equalities

Cabinet ministerTerm of officeJunior ministersPolitical partyMinistry
Official portrait of Kemi Badenoch MP crop 2, 2024.jpg Kemi Badenoch
MP for Saffron Walden
Secretary of State for International Trade
25 October 20225 July 2024Women:
Maria Caulfield
Equalities:
Stuart Andrew
Conservative Sunak
Bridget Phillipson Official Cabinet Portrait, July 2024 (cropped) 2.jpg Bridget Phillipson
MP for Houghton and Sunderland South
Secretary of State for Education
8 July 2024IncumbentGender 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)

Timeline

Bridget PhillipsonKemi BadenochNadhim ZahawiLiz TrussPenny MordauntAmber RuddJustine GreeningNicky MorganSajid JavidMaria MillerTheresa MayRuth KellyTessa JowellPatricia HewittMargaret JayHarriet HarmanMinister for Women and Equalities

See also

References

  1. Abrams, Fran (4 June 1997). "Harman heads team to put women's issues first" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  2. "The Transfer of Functions (Equality) Order 2007". legislation.gov.uk. 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  3. Mason, Rowena (15 July 2014). "Nicky Morgan's gay-marriage stance causes equalities role confusion... again". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2014.