Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People

For the minister in Scotland, see Minister for Veterans (Scotland).

United Kingdom Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Alistair Carns since 8 July 2024
Ministry of Defence
Style	Veterans Minister (informal)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Reports to	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	July 1989: (as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence) July 2022: (as Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs) July 2024: (as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans)
First holder	Earl of Arran (as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence)
Website	Official website

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. ^[1]

History

It was formerly known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence from 1989 to 2005 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel under Tobias Ellwood.^{[ citation needed ]}

Johnny Mercer was appointed minister in July 2019 to the new government by incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson. On 20 April 2021, Mercer was "sacked by text" after offering to resign at the end of Wednesday 21 April, but refusing to go earlier. ^[2] In a tweet, Mercer said he was "relieved of [his] responsibilities in Government" because of his disagreements with the scope of the proposed Overseas Operations Bill. ^{[3] [4]} This new government law is designed to protect veterans from unfounded prosecutions. However, Mercer said it was a "red line" for him that British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland are excluded. ^{[5] [6]}

On 7 July 2024, after the 2024 United Kingdom General Election Mercer criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s new Labour government for failing to appoint a new Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs at the same time as the rest of his cabinet. He said; "You will note already that, despite his explicit personal promises in the election campaign, Keir Starmer has not appointed a veterans minister to his cabinet", adding, "If you understand what veterans need from their Government, this matters very much". ^[7]

Alistair Carns was appointed Minister for Veterans on 9 July 2024; the position is now that of a parliamentary under-secretary of state, the most junior level of minister. ^{[8] [9]}

Responsibilities

The minister has the following ministerial responsibilities: ^[10]

• Civilian and service personnel policy
• Armed forces pay, pensions and compensation
• Armed Forces Covenant
• Welfare and service families
• Community engagement
• Equality, diversity and inclusion
• Veterans (including resettlement, transition, defence charities and Ministerial Covenant and Veterans Board, and Office of Veteran Affairs)
• Legacy issues and non-operational public inquiries and inquests
• Mental health
• Defence Medical Services
• The people programme (Flexible Engagement Strategy, Future Accommodation Model and Enterprise Approach)
• Estates service family accommodation policy and engagement with welfare

List of ministers

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence
	The Earl of Arran		25 July 1989	26 July 1990	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
	Kenneth Carlisle		October 1990	March 1992	Conservative	John Major
	The Earl of Arran		28 November 1990	15 April 1992	Conservative	John Major
	Viscount Cranborne		22 April 1992	20 July 1994	Conservative	John Major
	The Lord Henley		20 July 1994	5 July 1995	Conservative	John Major
	The Earl Howe		5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative	John Major
	John Spellar		6 May 1997	28 July 1999	Labour	Tony Blair
	Peter Kilfoyle		28 July 1999	30 January 2000	Labour	Tony Blair
	Lewis Moonie		31 January 2001	13 June 2003	Labour	Tony Blair
	Ivor Caplin		13 June 2003	11 May 2005	Labour	Tony Blair
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans
	Don Touhig		11 May 2005	5 May 2006	Labour	Tony Blair
	Tom Watson		5 May 2006	6 September 2006	Labour	Tony Blair
	Derek Twigg		6 September 2006	5 October 2008	Labour	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
	Kevan Jones		5 October 2008	11 May 2010	Labour	Gordon Brown
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare and Veterans
	Andrew Robathan		13 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	David Cameron
Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans
	Mark Francois		4 September 2012	7 October 2013	Conservative	David Cameron
	Anna Soubry		7 October 2013	11 May 2015	Conservative	David Cameron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel
	Mark Lancaster		12 May 2015	13 June 2017	Conservative	David Cameron Theresa May
	Tobias Ellwood		14 June 2017	26 July 2019	Conservative	Theresa May
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans
	Johnny Mercer		28 July 2019	20 April 2021	Conservative	Boris Johnson
	Leo Docherty		20 April 2021	7 July 2022	Conservative	Boris Johnson
Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs
	Johnny Mercer		7 July 2022	6 September 2022 [11]	Conservative	Boris Johnson
			25 October 2022	5 July 2024		Rishi Sunak
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People
	Alistair Carns		9 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour	Keir Starmer

References

1. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Defence People and Veterans)". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
2. "Johnny Mercer: Sacked minister attacks 'distrustful' government". BBC News. 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
3. "Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament". bills.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
4. Johnny Mercer [@JohnnyMercerUK] (April 20, 2021). "I'm sorry to have been relieved of my responsibilities in Government tonight" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. "Johnny Mercer: Tory MP resigns as defence minister". BBC News. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
6. "Defence minister Johnny Mercer resigns from government". The Guardian. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
7. Sheridan, Danielle (July 7, 2024). "Starmer criticised for failure to appoint veterans minister". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 8, 2024– via MSN.
8. Zeffman, Henry. "Starmer makes five new Labour MPs ministers - instantly". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
9. "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. Retrieved 18 July 2024. Alistair Carns MP as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence (Minister for Veterans)
10. "Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Veterans and People)". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
11. "Johnny Mercer twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-09-06.