Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing

United Kingdom Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Josh MacAlister since 7 September 2025
Department for Education
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	Website

The office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, ^[1] formerly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing, ^[2] is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Education, previously the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department for Education and Skills, in the Government of the United Kingdom. ^[3] The incumbent minister is Josh MacAlister. ^[4]

The post was previously known as Minister of State for Schools and Childhood following the appointment of Kelly Tolhurst on 7 September 2022, who succeeded Brendan Clarke-Smith. ^{[5] [6]}

History

Margaret Hodge was the first person to hold the position after it was announced in 2003. Maria Eagle was the minister from 2005 to 2006 taking Hodge's place, and Beverley Hughes held the position from 2006 until June 2009, ^[7] when Dawn Primarolo took over until Labour lost office in May 2010.

List of ministers

Colour key (for political parties):
   Labour    Conservative

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	P.M.		Ed.Sec.
Minister of State for Children
	Margaret Hodge		13 June 2003	9 May 2005	Labour		Blair	Clarke
								Kelly
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
	Maria Eagle		9 May 2005	5 May 2006	Labour		Blair	Kelly
Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families
	Beverley Hughes		5 May 2006	28 June 2007	Labour		Blair	Johnson
Minister of State for Children and Youth Justice
	Beverley Hughes		28 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour		Blair	Balls ( CSF Sec. )
Minister of State for Children, Schools and Families
	Dawn Primarolo		5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour		Brown	Balls ( CSF Sec. )
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
	Tim Loughton		13 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative		Cameron	Gove
	Edward Timpson [8]		4 September 2012	8 June 2017	Conservative
								Morgan
							May	Greening
	Robert Goodwill		12 June 2017	9 January 2018	Conservative
	Nadhim Zahawi		9 January 2018	25 July 2019	Conservative	Hinds
	Kemi Badenoch [a]		27 July 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative		Johnson	Williamson
	Michelle Donelan [b]		4 September 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative
	Vicky Ford		14 February 2020	16 September 2021	Conservative
	Will Quince		16 September 2021	6 July 2022	Conservative			Zahawi
								Donelan
	Brendan Clarke-Smith		8 July 2022	7 September 2022	Conservative			Cleverly
Minister of State for Schools and Childhood
	Kelly Tolhurst		7 September 2022	28 October 2022	Conservative		Truss	Malthouse
							Sunak	Keegan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing
	Claire Coutinho		28 October 2022	31 August 2023	Conservative		Sunak	Keegan
	David Johnston		31 August 2023	5 July 2024
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
	Janet Daby		6 July 2024	7 September 2025	Labour		Starmer	Phillipson
	Josh MacAlister		7 September 2025	Incumbent

Notes

1. Michelle Donelan appointed on 4 September 2019 to cover the portfolio during Badenoch's maternity leave.
2. Donelan was appointed to cover the portfolio during the maternity leave of Badenoch.

References

1. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Children and Families) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
2. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
3. About Us: Who's Who
4. "Ministerial Appointments: 31 August 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
5. "Minister of State (Minister for Schools and Childhood) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
6. "DfE names Kelly Tolhurst as minister for schools and childhood". CYP Now. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
7. Lewin, Tamar. The Need to Invest in Young Children . New York Times. Accessed 30 December 2008.
8. Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Until 12 May 2015)