The Ministry of Defence is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
The secretary of state for defence 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.
Winifred Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, is a British politician and life peer who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1974 to 1983, and Dewsbury from 1987 to 2005.
Sir Peter James Luff is Chair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Formerly a British Conservative Party politician, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Worcestershire from 1997 to 2015 and for Worcester from 1992 until 1997. He was a junior Defence Minister from 2010 to 2012.
Andrew William Murrison is a British doctor, naval officer and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Wiltshire, previously Westbury, since the 2001 general election. He has been serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Service Families since October 2022.
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The chief of the defence staff is based at the Ministry of Defence and works alongside the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the ministry's senior civil servant. The Chief of Defence is the highest ranking officer to currently serve in the armed forces. Its role is equivalent to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the US military.
In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the Treasury, and four or more junior lords acting as assistant whips in the House of Commons to whom this title is usually applied.
The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the chief secretary to the Treasury, and the paymaster general. However, the role of First Lord of the Treasury is always held by the prime minister who is not a Treasury minister, and the position of Paymaster General is a sinecure often held by the Minister for the Cabinet Office to allow the holder of that office to draw a government salary. In practice it is, therefore, the third most senior Treasury minister and has attended Cabinet in the past.
Philip Martin Dunne is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ludlow constituency in Shropshire since the 2005 general election. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe, formerly the Minister of State for Europe, is a ministerial position within the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with Europe. The Minister can also be responsible for government policy towards European security; defence and international security; the Falkland Islands; polar regions; migration; protocol; human resources; OSCE and Council of Europe; relations with Parliament; British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus; and FCO finance, knowledge and technology.
Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson, is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced Ian Pearson. In June 2009 he was additionally appointed as Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform at the Ministry of Defence. After losing his ministerial positions in the General Election 2010 he decided to devote himself totally towards his motorsports company Drayson Racing Technology. He is chairman and CEO of Drayson Technologies Ltd.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and alongside the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. It ranks at Parliamentary Secretary level and is not a Cabinet office. Unlike the other posts of Secretary to the Treasury, it is only used occasionally, normally when the post of Paymaster General is allocated to a minister outside the Treasury.
Andrew George Stephenson is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care since November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pendle in Lancashire since 2010.
William James Quince is a British politician and former lawyer who served as Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care from September 2022 to November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected at the 2015 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Colchester, defeating the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Sir Bob Russell. From 2011 to 2016, Quince was a borough councillor in Colchester. On 9 June 2023, Quince announced he would not run as an MP at the next general election.
James Stephen Heappey is a British politician serving as Minister of State for the Armed Forces since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wells in Somerset since 2015.
Jeremy Mark Quin is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Horsham since the 2015 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire under Prime Minister Liz Truss from September to October 2022. After Truss resigned and Rishi Sunak succeeded her, Quin was appointed to be Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office. Quin resigned from Sunak's government on 13th November 2023.
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).
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, often referred to simply as the Welsh Office Minister, is a junior ministerial post in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Wales.
Andrew John Griffith is a British politician and former senior media executive who, since 2019, has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arundel and South Downs.
