Minister of State for Northern Ireland

United Kingdom Minister of State for Northern Ireland
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Vacant since 5 July 2024
Northern Ireland Office
Style	Minister
Nominator	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Appointer	The Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Website	Official website

The role of Minister of State for Northern Ireland is a mid-level position in the Northern Ireland Office in the British government. It is currently vacant, following the 2024 general election. ^[1] The role is also known as Deputy Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Responsibilities

The minister has the following ministerial responsibilities:

Driving economic and domestic policy

• Long-term economic recovery from COVID-19 ^[2]
• Promotion of the economy, levelling up and innovation - including City Deals and the Shared Prosperity Fund ^[2]
• Leading the department's work on the most critical constitution and rights issues in NI ^[2]

Supporting the secretary of state in their responsibilities, including:

• Legacy stakeholder engagement
• Strengthening and sustaining the Union in Northern Ireland ^[2]
• Vital security casework
• Building substantive relationships across sectors and communities ^[2]
• Leading workstreams on New Decade, New Approach agreement and the NI Protocol ^[2]

List of ministers of state for Northern Ireland

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Notes
	Paul Channon		26 March 1972	5 November 1972	Conservative	[3]
	The Lord Windlesham		26 March 1972	5 June 1973	Conservative	[4]
	William van Straubenzee		5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative	[5]
	David Howell		5 November 1972	8 January 1974	Conservative	[6]
	Stan Orme		7 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	[7]
	Roland Moyle		27 June 1974	10 September 1976	Labour	[8] [9]
	Don Concannon		14 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	[10] [11]
	The Lord Melchett		10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	[12] [13]
	Michael Alison		7 May 1979	15 September 1981	Conservative	[14]
	Hugh Rossi		7 May 1979	5 January 1981	Conservative	[15]
	The Earl of Gowrie		15 September 1981	10 June 1983	Conservative	[16]
	Adam Butler		5 January 1981	11 September 1984	Conservative	[17] [18]
	The Earl of Mansfield		13 June 1983	12 April 1984	Conservative	[19]
	Rhodes Boyson		11 September 1984	10 September 1986	Conservative	[20] [21]
	Nicholas Scott		10 September 1986	13 June 1987	Conservative	[22] [23]
	John Stanley		13 June 1987	25 July 1988	Conservative	[24]
	Ian Stewart		25 July 1988	25 July 1989	Conservative	[25]
	John Cope		25 July 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative	[26]
	Brian Mawhinney		28 November 1990	14 April 1992	Conservative	[27] [28]
	The Lord Belstead		28 November 1990	14 April 1992	Conservative	[29] [30]
	Robert Atkins		14 April 1992	11 January 1994	Conservative	[31]
	Michael Mates		15 April 1992	24 June 1993	Conservative	[32] [33]
	John Wheeler		25 June 1993	2 May 1997	Conservative	[34]
	Michael Ancram		11 January 1994	2 May 1997	Conservative	[35] [36]
	Adam Ingram		2 May 1997	7 June 2001	Labour	[37] [38]
	Jane Kennedy		7 June 2001	13 June 2003	Labour	[39]
	John Spellar		13 June 2003	10 May 2005	Labour	[40]
	David Hanson		11 May 2005	8 May 2007	Labour	[41]
	Paul Goggins		8 May 2007	11 May 2010	Labour	[42]
	Hugo Swire		12 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	[43]
	Mike Penning		4 September 2012	7 October 2013	Conservative	[44]
	Andrew Robathan		7 October 2013	14 July 2014	Conservative	[45]
	Andrew Murrison		14 July 2014	12 May 2015	Conservative	[46] [2]
	Ben Wallace		12 May 2015	17 July 2016	Conservative	[47] [2]
	Andrew Dunlop		17 July 2016	9 June 2017	Conservative	[2] [ citation needed ]
	vacant		9 June 2017	9 January 2018		[ citation needed ]
	Shailesh Vara		9 January 2018	15 November 2018	Conservative	[48] [2]
	John Penrose		16 November 2018	25 July 2019	Conservative	[49] [2]
	Nick Hurd		25 July 2019	16 December 2019	Conservative	[50] [2]
	Robin Walker		13 February 2020	16 September 2021	Conservative	[51] [52]
	Conor Burns		16 September 2021	6 September 2022	Conservative	[53] [54]
	Steve Baker		6 September 2022	5 July 2024	Conservative	[55] [56]
	vacant		5 July 2024

See also

• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Office

References

1. "Fleur Anderson appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland". NI Elects. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024. The mid-level position within the Northern Ireland Office, the Minister of State, has not yet been appointed.
2. "Minister of State - Northern Ireland Office". gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
3. "Obituaries - Lord Kelvedon". The Independent. 31 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
4. "DAVID JAMES GEORGE HENNESSY (E51), THE THIRD BARON WINDLESHAM 28 January 1932 - 21 December 2010" (PDF). The Ampleforth Journal. Vol. 115. July 2011. p. 88. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
5. Barnes, John (8 November 1999). "Obituary: Sir William van Straubenzee". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
6. "Parliamentary career for Lord Howell of Guildford". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
7. "Parliamentary career for Lord Orme". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
8. "Parliamentary career for Roland Moyle". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
9. Langdon, Julia (19 September 2017). "Roland Moyle obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
10. "Parliamentary career for Don Concannon". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
11. Roth, Andrew (18 December 2003). "Obituary: Don Concannon". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
12. "Parliamentary career for Lord Melchett". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
13. Rose, Chris (3 September 2018). "Lord Melchett obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
14. "Parliamentary career for Michael Alison". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
15. "Parliamentary career for Hugh Rossi". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
16. "Parliamentary career for Earl of Gowrie". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
17. "Parliamentary career for Sir Adam Butler". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
18. Dalyell, Tam (14 January 2008). "Sir Adam Butler: Tory minister and PPS to Thatcher". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
19. "Parliamentary career for The Earl of Mansfield". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
20. "Parliamentary career for Sir Rhodes Boyson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
21. Pearce, Edward (30 August 2012). "Sir Rhodes Boyson obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
22. "Parliamentary career for Sir Nicholas Scott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
23. "Obituary: Sir Nicholas Scott". BBC News. 7 January 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
24. "Parliamentary career for Sir John Stanley". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
25. "Parliamentary career for Lord Stewartby". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
26. "Parliamentary career for Lord Cope of Berkeley". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
27. "Parliamentary career for Lord Mawhinney". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
28. "Brian Mawhinney obituary: Ulsterman served in British cabinet and chaired football league". The Irish Times. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
29. "Parliamentary career for Lord Belstead". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
30. Townley, Peter (6 December 2005). "Obituaries: Lord Belstead". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
31. "Parliamentary career for Sir Robert Atkins". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
32. "Parliamentary career for Mr Michael Mates". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
33. "Michael Mates". BBC News. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
34. "Parliamentary career for Sir John Wheeler". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
35. "Parliamentary career of The Marquess of Lothian". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
36. Craig, Jon (1 October 2024). "Former Conservative deputy leader Michael Ancram dies aged 79". Sky News. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
37. "Parliamentary career for Mr Adam Ingram". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
38. Lynn, B (19 November 2002). "Biographies of People Prominent During 'the Troubles - I". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
39. "Parliamentary career for Jane Kennedy". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
40. "Parliamentary career for Lord Spellar". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
41. "Parliamentary career for Lord Hanson of Flint". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
42. "Parliamentary career for Paul Goggins". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
43. "Parliamentary career for Lord Swire". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
44. "Parliamentary career for Sir Mike Penning". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
45. "Parliamentary career for Lord Robathan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
46. "Parliamentary career of Dr Andrew Murrison". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
47. "Parliamentary career of Mr Ben Wallace". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
48. "Parliamentary career for Shailesh Vara". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
49. "Parliamentary career for John Penrose". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
50. "Parliamentary career for Mr Nick Hurd". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
51. "Parliamentary career for Mr Robin Walker". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
52. "The Ulster Business Podcast with Bank of Ireland UK: Episode 39 - Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Robin Walker MP". Belfast Telegraph. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
53. "Ministerial appointments: September 2021". gov.uk. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
54. "Conor Burns appointed minister of state at Northern Ireland Office". BBC News. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
55. "Ministerial Appointments: September - October 2022". gov.uk. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
56. Reid, Kurtis (7 September 2022). "Who is Steve Baker? All you need to know about new Minister of State for NI as Belfast MP slams appointment" . Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2024.