The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO, itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office, was responsible for protecting and promoting British interests worldwide.
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, also referred to as the foreign secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, fourth in the ministerial ranking.
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the senior decision making body of the Government of the United Kingdom. A committee of the Privy Council, it is chaired by the Prime Minister and its members include Secretaries of State and other senior ministers.
The Government of the United Kingdom is divided up into departments. These, according to the government, are responsible for putting government policy into practice. There are currently 23 ministerial departments, 20 non-ministerial departments and 413 agencies and other public bodies.
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, sixth in the ministerial ranking.
The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, 21st in the ministerial ranking. The office has been dubbed "Minister of Fun".
Gregory William Hands is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth since 2021 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelsea and Fulham since 2010, having previously served as the MP for Hammersmith and Fulham from 2005 to 2010. Hands was a Minister of State for Trade Policy, from February 2020 to September 2021.
James Gordon Carr is a Canadian politician. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Winnipeg South Centre since 2015. He is currently serving as a Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet of Justin Trudeau.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid, consular services and trade and investment.
Penelope Mary Mordaunt is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth North since 2010 and as Minister of State at the Department for International Trade since September 2021. Mordaunt previously served in Theresa May's Cabinet as International Development Secretary from 2017 to 2019 and Defence Secretary in 2019.
In England, regional ministers were appointed from 2007 on a part-time basis as part of Her Majesty's Government. Each minister had other departmental responsibilities, as well as specific responsibilities for one of the English regions. Their stated role was "to provide a clear sense of strategic direction for the nine English regions and to help strengthen their links with central government."
A Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy is a position in British foreign policy, within the Department for International Trade since 2016, and formerly with the UK Trade & Investment government department from 2003 to 2016.
The secretary of state for international trade, also referred to as the international trade secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for International Trade and UK Export Finance. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, 12th in the ministerial ranking. Since the office's inception, the incumbent has concurrently been appointed President of the Board of Trade.
The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, also referred to as the business secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, tenth in the ministerial ranking.
The second May ministry was formed on 11 June 2017 after Theresa May returned to office following the June 2017 snap general election. The election resulted in a hung parliament with the Conservative Party losing its governing majority in the House of Commons. On 9 June 2017, May announced her intention to form a Conservative minority government, reliant on the confidence and supply of the Democratic Unionist Party; a finalised agreement between the two parties was signed and published on 26 June 2017.
The Second Morrison Ministry is the 72nd ministry of the Australian Government. It is led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The Second Morrison Ministry succeeded the First Morrison Ministry following the 2019 Australian federal election. The ministry was announced on 26 May 2019 and was sworn in on 29 May.
The first Johnson ministry began on 24 July 2019 when Queen Elizabeth II invited Boris Johnson to form a new administration, following the resignation of the previous Prime Minister Theresa May. May had resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June 2019; Johnson was elected as her successor on 23 July 2019. The Johnson ministry was formed from the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom, as a Conservative minority government. It lost its working majority on 3 September 2019 when Tory MP Dr Phillip Lee crossed the floor to the Liberal Democrats. An election was called for 12 December 2019, which led to the formation of a Conservative majority government, the second Johnson ministry.
The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days following Boris Johnson's audience of Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election, in which the Conservative Party was returned to power with a majority of 80 seats in the House of Commons. Initially the ministers were largely identical to those at the end of the first Johnson ministry, but changed significantly in a cabinet reshuffle in February 2020.
The Government of the 33rd Dáil or the 32nd Government of Ireland is the government of Ireland which was formed on 27 June 2020, following negotiations on a programme for government for a coalition government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party that followed the 2020 general election to Dáil Éireann held on 8 February. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin will serve as Taoiseach, with Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar serving as Tánaiste. It has been agreed that the government will last until December 2022, after which the positions will rotate, with Varadkar forming a new government as Taoiseach, and Martin serving as Tánaiste. It is the first time that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have participated in the same government, which Varadkar has suggested signifies the end of what has often been referred to as Civil War politics.
