The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.
The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
A commander-in-chief or supreme commander is the person who exercises supreme command and control over an armed force or a military branch. As a technical term, it refers to military competencies that reside in a country's executive leadership, a head of state, head of government, or other designated government official.
The secretary of state for defence, also known as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Kevan David Jones, Baron Beamish,, is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Durham from 2001 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Lords since 2024.
John Healey is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Defence since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough, previously Wentworth and Wentworth and Dearne, since 1997.
The parliamentary under-secretary of state is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister of State, which is itself junior to a Secretary of State.
The Ministry of Defence is the public service department of New Zealand responsible for advising the government on strategic defence policy, acquiring military equipment to meet defence capability and conducting audits and assessments of the New Zealand Defence Force.
The Ministry of Defence is the Dutch ministry responsible for the armed forces of the Netherlands and veterans' affairs. The ministry was created in 1813 as the Ministry of War and in 1928 was combined with the Ministry of the Navy. After World War II in the ministries were separated again, in this period the Minister of War and Minister of the Navy were often the same person and the state secretary for the Navy was responsible for daily affairs of the Royal Netherlands Navy. In 1959 the ministries were merged once again. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Defence, currently Ruben Brekelmans, assisted by the Chief of the Defence, Onno Eichelsheim.
The Ministry of Defence is the cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for implementation of government defence policy and acts as the overall headquarters of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.
The Ministry of Defence is a government ministry of Nigeria with the statutory responsibility of overseeing and supervising the Nigerian Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defence is headed by the Minister of Defence, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Its main mission is to provide administrative and support services, timely and effectively to enable the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Head of the Armed Forces is the position of the sovereign of the United Kingdom as commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces. Supreme military authority vests in the monarch and extends to the exercise of several personal prerogatives. However, routine administration of the military is delegated as a matter of law to the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, a body officially charged with the direction and command of the Armed Forces. As the Defence Council and its service boards are all a part of the Ministry of Defence, which itself is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom, the prime minister makes the key decisions on the use of the Armed Forces, while the secretary of state for defence assists the prime minister in the development of defence policy and administers the day-to-day military operations.
Stephen James Morgan is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth South since 2017.
Luke Pollard is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport since 2017. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces since July 2024.
The Navy Department was a former ministerial service department of the British Ministry of Defence responsible for the control and direction of His Majesty's Naval Service. It was established on 1 April 1964 when the Admiralty was absorbed into a unified Ministry of Defence, where it became the Navy Department. Political oversight of the department originally lay with the Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy (1964–1967) it then passed to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy (1967–1981), then later to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (1981–1990), and finally the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (1991–1997).
Abena Oppong-Asare is a British Labour Party politician who has served as a Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office since July 2024. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erith and Thamesmead in the 2019 general election. She and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, both elected in the 2019 general election, are the first female British Ghanaian MPs.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People is a ministerial position in the Ministry of Defence in British government, currently held by Alistair Carns. From 2022 to 2024, the role was Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs in Cabinet Office and the minister attended the Cabinet.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Families was a ministerial position in the Ministry of Defence in the British government.
The Sunak ministry began on 25 October 2022 when Rishi Sunak was invited by King Charles III to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Truss resigned as leader of the Conservative Party the previous day after Sunak was elected unopposed as her successor. The Sunak ministry was formed from the 2019 Parliament of the United Kingdom, as a Conservative majority government. Sunak reshuffled his cabinet twice, first in February 2023 and later in November 2023.
