The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the foreign secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The role is seen as one of the most senior ministers in the UK Government and is a Great Office of State. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and National Security Council, and reports directly to the prime minister.
In British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the New Penguin English Dictionary in 2000. Elements of the ideology include investment in public services, expansionary efforts in education to encourage social mobility, and increased actions in terms of mass surveillance alongside a ramping up of law enforcement powers, both of these latter changes advocated in the context of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Blairites have additionally been known for their contrast with the traditional support for socialism by those believing in left-wing politics, with Blair himself and others speaking out against the nationalisation of major industries and against also heavy regulations of business operations. On foreign policy, Blairism is supportive of close relations with the United States and liberal interventionism, including advocacy for both the Iraq war and the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. Its main offices are at 100 Parliament Street, occupying part of the building known as Government Offices Great George Street.
Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as Deputy First Minister of Wales since August 2024. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ogmore since 2016. Irranca-Davies was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ogmore from 2002 to 2016.
Maria Eagle is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Minister of State for Defence Procurement and Industry in the Ministry of Defence since 2024. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Garston and Halewood, now Liverpool Garston, since 1997. She served in the Shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.
Gordon Marsden is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Blackpool South from 1997 to 2019.
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the chief secretary to the Treasury, and the paymaster general. However, the role of First Lord of the Treasury is always held by the prime minister who is not a Treasury minister, and the position of Paymaster General is a sinecure often held by the Minister for the Cabinet Office to allow the holder of that office to draw a government salary. In practice it is, therefore, the third most senior Treasury minister and has attended Cabinet in the past.
Sir Jeremy Paul Wright is a British lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General for England and Wales from 2014 to 2018 and as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2018 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kenilworth and Southam, previously Rugby and Kenilworth, since the 2005 general election and has served as Shadow Attorney General since July 2024.
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt is a British politician who is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2024. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 2022 and 2024. He was also the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2012 to 2018 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Surrey from 2005 to 2024. Following boundary changes, he is now serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Godalming and Ash since July 2024.
The Great Offices of State are senior offices in the UK government. They are the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary or, alternatively, three of those offices excluding the prime minister.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) was a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, responsible for ensuring the delivery of venues, infrastructure and legacy for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Together with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), the ODA was one of the two main agencies that organised the London Olympic Games.
Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 1992 to 2015.
The representation of women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has been an issue in the politics of the United Kingdom at numerous points in the 20th and 21st centuries. Originally debate centred on whether women should be allowed to vote and stand for election as Members of Parliament. The Parliament Act 1918 gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. The United Kingdom has had three female Prime Ministers: Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990), Theresa May (2016–2019), and Liz Truss (2022). The publication of the book Women in the House by Elizabeth Vallance in 1979 highlighted the under-representation of women in Parliament. In more modern times concerns about the under-representation of women led the Labour Party to introduce and, decades later, abandon all-women short lists, something which was later held to breach discrimination laws.
Lisa Eva Nandy is a British Labour Party politician serving as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since 2024. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan since 2010. Nandy previously served as Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary, Shadow Energy Secretary and Shadow International Development Minister.
Lilian Rachel Greenwood is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham South since 2010, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Future of Roads since July 2024.
Ed Miliband became Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition upon being elected to the former post on 25 September 2010. The election was triggered by Gordon Brown's resignation following the party's fall from power at the 2010 general election, which yielded a Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition. Miliband appointed his first Shadow Cabinet in October 2010, following the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet elections. These elections were the last such elections before they were abolished in 2011.
The shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport (DCMS), previously the shadow secretary of state for national heritage and shadow secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, is a position in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet.
The shadow minister for women and equalities is a position in the United Kingdom's Official Opposition, and sits in the Shadow Cabinet. The shadow minister is responsible for holding the minister for women and equalities, responsible for the Government Equalities Office, to account and is responsible for Opposition policy on women's and equality issues.
Jeremy Corbyn assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition after being elected as leader of the Labour Party on 12 September 2015; the election was triggered by Ed Miliband's resignation following the Labour Party's electoral defeat at the 2015 general election when David Cameron formed a majority Conservative government. The usual number of junior shadow ministers were also appointed.
Sarah Ann Jones is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Croydon West, formerly Croydon Central, since 2017 and Minister of State for Industry since July 2024.
