United Kingdom Minister for Women and Equalities | |
---|---|
Government Equalities Office | |
Style | The Right Honourable |
Appointer | The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister) |
Inaugural holder | Harriet Harman |
Formation | 3 May 1997 (as Minister for Women) |
Website | www.equalities.gov.uk/ |
The Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom which leads the Government Equalities Office. This is an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that has responsibility for addressing all forms of discrimination, with particular emphasis on gender inequality. Prior to April 2019, the minister was based at the Home Office, DFID and DfE. Its counterpart in the shadow cabinet is the shadow secretary of state for women and equalities.
The minister is deputised by two parliamentary under-secretaries of state; the parliamentary under-secretary of state for women and the parliamentary under-secretary of state for equalities.
The position was formerly known as; "Minister for Women", "Minister for Women and Equality", and "Minister for Equalities".
The position of Minister for Women was created by Tony Blair when he became prime minister as a means of prioritising women's issues across government. Prior to that, there had been an equality unit in the Cabinet Office and a Cabinet committee, which were continued under the leadership of the new minister. [1] When Gordon Brown succeeded Blair, he created the post of Minister for Women and Equality to handle a wider range of equalities issues. The first Minister for Women and, ten years later, the first Minister for Women and Equality was Harriet Harman. On 12 October 2007 [2] a new department, the Government Equalities Office, was created to support the minister. When David Cameron became prime minister, he renamed the position to "Minister for Women and Equalities" without a change in its responsibilities. Since its creation, the position has always been held by a minister sitting in Cabinet by virtue of another office (i.e., a Secretary of State or Leader of one of the Houses of Parliament).
Justine Greening replaced Nicky Morgan as both Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities when Theresa May was appointed Prime Minister on 13 July 2016. Morgan initially held the title of Minister for Women after the resignation of Maria Miller in April 2014, in conjunction with being Financial Secretary to the Treasury, whilst the Equalities brief was given to Sajid Javid who had replaced Miller as Secretary of State for Culture. While the Women and Equalities briefs were recombined in July 2014, the responsibility for marriage equality was assigned to Nick Boles, who held the title of Minister of State for Skills, Enterprise and Equalities and had a base in both the Education and Business departments. Both splits in responsibilities were due to Nicky Morgan having voted against the legalisation of gay marriage. [3]
In 2004, Lord Northbourne called for the creation of a minister to concentrate on issues specific to men. [4] This call was repeated by Nick Fletcher in September 2023, to deal with issues such as reducing male suicide, improving paternity rights and tackling misogyny. [5]
A Council of Europe report [6] [7] in September 2021 criticised the Minister for Equalities, stating that rhetoric from the minister is in contradiction with international human rights standards and has contributed to a sharp increase in transphobic crimes since 2015.
The two most recent female Prime Ministers, Theresa May and Liz Truss, served in this position.
Minister for Women | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cabinet minister | Junior ministers | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham Social Security Secretary | Joan Ruddock | 3 May 1997 | 27 July 1998 | Labour | Blair (I) | ||||
Margaret Jay Baroness Jay of Paddington Leader of the House of Lords | Tessa Jowell | 27 July 1998 | 8 June 2001 | ||||||
Patricia Hewitt MP for Leicester West Trade and Industry Secretary | Baroness Morgan of Huyton (2001) Barbara Roche (2001–2003) Jacqui Smith (2003–2005) | 8 June 2001 | 5 May 2005 | Blair (II) | |||||
Tessa Jowell MP for Dulwich and West Norwood Minister for the Olympics | Meg Munn | 5 May 2005 | 5 May 2006 | Blair (III) | |||||
Ruth Kelly MP for Bolton West Communities and Local Govt. Secretary | 5 May 2006 | 28 June 2007 | |||||||
Minister for Women and Equality | |||||||||
Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham Leader of the House of Commons | Minister of State: Maria Eagle (2009–2010) (jointly with the Ministry of Justice) Parliamentary Secretary: Barbara Follett (2007–2008) Maria Eagle (2008–2009) Michael Foster (2009–2010) | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Brown | ||||
Minister for Women and Equalities | |||||||||
Cabinet Minister | Parliamentary Secretary | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
Theresa May MP for Maidenhead Home Secretary | Lynne Featherstone (LD) | 12 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | Cameron-Clegg) | ||||
Maria Miller MP for Basingstoke Culture Secretary | Jo Swinson (LD) Helen Grant (Cons) | 4 September 2012 | 9 April 2014 | ||||||
Ministers for Women and Minister for Equalities | |||||||||
Cabinet Ministers | Junior ministers | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
Women Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough Financial Secretary to the Treasury | Jo Swinson (LD) Helen Grant (Cons) | 9 April 2014 | 15 July 2014 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | Cameron-Clegg | ||||
Equalities Sajid Javid MP for Bromsgrove Culture Secretary | |||||||||
Minister for Women and Equalities | |||||||||
Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough Secretary of State for Education | Jo Swinson (LD) Helen Grant (Cons) | 15 July 2014 | 8 May 2015 | Coalition (Cons–LD) | Cameron-Clegg | ||||
Caroline Dinenage | 8 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron (II) | |||||
Justine Greening MP for Putney Secretary of State for Education | 14 July 2016 | 14 June 2017 | May (I) | ||||||
Nick Gibb (Equalities) Anne Milton (Women) | 14 June 2017 | 8 January 2018 | May (II) | ||||||
Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye Home Secretary | Baroness Williams of Trafford (Equalities) Victoria Atkins (Women) | 9 January 2018 | 30 April 2018 | ||||||
Penny Mordaunt MP for Portsmouth North International Development Secretary Defence Secretary | 30 April 2018 | 24 July 2019 | |||||||
Amber Rudd MP for Hastings and Rye Work and Pensions Secretary | 24 July 2019 | 7 September 2019 | Johnson (I) | ||||||
Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk Foreign Secretary | 10 September 2019 | 14 February 2020 | |||||||
Kemi Badenoch (Equalities) (until 6 July 2022 ) Mike Freer (Equalities) (16 September 2021 – 6 July 2022) | 14 February 2020 | 6 September 2022 | Johnson (II) | ||||||
Minister for Equalities | |||||||||
Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
Nadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for Intergovernmental Relations | Katherine Fletcher (Women) Baroness Stedman-Scott (Equalities) | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Conservative | Truss | ||||
Minister for Women and Equalities | |||||||||
Cabinet Minister | Junior ministers | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
Kemi Badenoch MP for Saffron Walden Secretary of State for International Trade | Stuart Andrew (Equalities) Maria Caulfield (Women) | 25 October 2022 | Incumbent | Conservative | Sunak |
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, more commonly known as the Home Secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, making the home secretary one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council.
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of His Majesty's Government. A committee of the Privy Council, it is chaired by the Prime Minister and its members include Secretaries of State and other senior ministers. Members of the Cabinet are appointed by the Prime Minister and are by convention chosen from members of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, is a British Labour peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 2007.
The Secretary of State for Education, also referred to as the Education Secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Harriet Ruth Harman is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet positions.
Maria Eagle is a British politician who served in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. She later served in the Shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Garston and Halewood, previously Liverpool Garston, since 1997.
Sir David Roy Lidington is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2018 to 2019 and was frequently described as being Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister.
The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The position is currently the third highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Dame Maria Frances Miller is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Basingstoke since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 2012 to 2014 under Prime Minister David Cameron.
Patrick Bosco McFadden is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Labour National Campaign Coordinator since September 2023. He served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2021 and 2023. A member of the Labour Party, he has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since 2005.
The representation of women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has been an issue in the politics of the United Kingdom at numerous points in the 20th and 21st centuries. Originally debate centred on whether women should be allowed to vote and stand for election as Members of Parliament. The Parliament Act 1918 gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. The United Kingdom has had three female Prime Ministers: Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990), Theresa May (2016–2019), and Liz Truss (2022). The publication of the book Women in the House by Elizabeth Vallance in 1979 highlighted the under-representation of women in Parliament. In more modern times concerns about the under-representation of women led the Labour Party to introduce and, decades later, abandon all-women short lists, something which was later held to breach discrimination laws.
Nicola Ann Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2019 to 2020. She was the first woman to chair the Treasury Select Committee. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough from 2010 to 2019.
The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, following the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010, after the general election on 6 May. It was the UK's first coalition government since the Churchill caretaker ministry in 1945.
Ed Miliband became Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition upon being elected to the former post on 25 September 2010. The election was triggered by Gordon Brown's resignation following the party's fall from power at the 2010 general election, which yielded a Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition. Miliband appointed his first Shadow Cabinet in October 2010, following the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet elections. These elections were the last such elections before they were abolished in 2011.
The Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities is a position in the United Kingdom's Official Opposition, and sits in the Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Secretary of State is responsible for holding the Minister for Women and Equalities, responsible for the Government Equalities Office, to account and is responsible for Opposition policy on women's and equality issues.
Tony Blair was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from his election as Leader on 21 July 1994 until he became Prime Minister on 2 May 1997. Blair became leader upon the death of John Smith. Under Blair, the Labour Party was rebranded as New Labour to distance itself from previous Labour politics and the traditional idea of socialism. Despite opposition from Labour's left-wing, he abolished Clause IV, the party's formal commitment to the nationalisation of the economy, weakened trade union influence in the party, and committed to the free market and the European Union.
Out4Marriage is a 'multi-platform' political campaign that was started on 8 May 2012 in response to the British Government's consultation concerning the legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales. It centres on YouTube—and other social media—videos in which those filmed give their views on why they support marriage for same-sex individuals, with each video finishing with the tagline "And that's why I'm out for marriage. Are you?". Creators of the videos have included members of the public, Members of Parliament, peers and celebrities.
Olukemi Olufunto "Kemi" Badenoch is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Business and Trade since 2023 and President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden in Essex since 2017.
The third Blair ministry lasted from May 2005 to June 2007. The election on 5 May 2005 saw Labour win a historic third successive term in power, though their majority now stood at 66 seats – compared to 167 four years earlier – and they failed to gain any new seats. Blair had already declared that the new term in parliament would be his last.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and export trade. The department existed between 2016 and 2023.