Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)

Not to be confused with Minister of State without Portfolio.

Member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom
Minister without Portfolio

Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government

Flag of the United Kingdom

Incumbent
Ellie Reeves

since 6 July 2024

Cabinet Office
Style| The Right Honourable
Reports to| The Prime Minister
Nominator| The Prime Minister
Appointer| The British Monarch
on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term length| No fixed term
Salary| £159,038 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £86,584 MP salary)[2]
Website| GOV.UK
Political offices in the UK government

Arms of the British Government

* Prime Minister
* Deputy Prime Minister / First Secretary
* Treasury ministers
* Secretary of State
* Minister of state
* Parliamentary under-secretary of state
* Parliamentary private secretary
* Lord Chancellor
* Leader of the House of Commons
* Leader of the House of Lords
* Whips
* Law officers
* Sinecures
* Minister without portfolio

List of political offices

* v
* t
* e

In the United Kingdom, a minister without portfolio is often a cabinet position, or often attends cabinet. The role is sometimes used to enable the chairman of the governing party, contemporarily either the chairman of the Conservative Party or the chair of the Labour Party, to attend cabinet meetings. (If so, they hold the title of "Party chairman".) The sinecure positions of Lord Privy Seal, Paymaster General, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which have few responsibilities and have a higher rank in the order of precedence than minister without portfolio can also be used to similar effect. There is currently one minister without portfolio, Ellie Reeves, who was appointed following the 2024 general election.

The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Minister without Portfolio.

## List of office holders

[edit]

* The Lord Somers, as part of the Townshend ministry
* Henry Seymour Conway, as part of the Chatham ministry and Grafton ministry

Minister  | Concurrent office(s)  | Tenure  | Political party  | Prime Minister

|
|
|
|

|  | William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland |  | January 1805 –
February 1806  | Whig |  | William Pitt the Younger
|  | William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam |  | October 1806 –
March 1807  |  | William Grenville
(Ministry of All the Talents)
|  | William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland |  | 4 October 1809 –
30 October 1809  | Tory  |  | Spencer Perceval
|  | Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby |  | November 1809 –
June 1812  | Tory (Pittite)
|  | John Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden (created 1st Marquess Camden, August 1812)  |  | 8 April 1812 –
December 1812  | Tory
| Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
|  | Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave |  | January 1819 –
May 1820
|  | Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne |  | April 1827 –
July 1827  | Whig  |  | George Canning
|  | William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland |  | July 1827 –
September 1827  | Tory (Canningite)
|  | George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle |  | 22 November 1830 –
5 June 1834  | Whig  |  | Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
|  | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington |  | 3 September 1841 –
July 1846  | Conservative |  | Robert Peel
|  | Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne |  | 28 December 1852 –
21 February 1858  | Whig  |  | George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
(until February 1855)
| Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
|  | Lord John Russell |  | February 1853 –
June 1854  |  | George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
|  | Spencer Horatio Walpole |  | May 1867 –
February 1868  | Conservative  |  | Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
|  | Michael Hicks Beach |  | 7 March 1887 –
20 February 1888  |  | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
|  | Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne |  | 25 May 1915 –
December 1916  | Liberal Unionist |  | H. H. Asquith
(Coalition)
|  | Arthur Henderson | Member of the War Cabinet  | 10 December 1916 –
12 August 1917  | Labour |  | David Lloyd George
(Coalition)
|  | Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner | 10 December 1916 –
18 April 1918  | Conservative
|  | Jan Smuts | 22 June 1917 –
10 January 1919  | South African Party
|  | Edward Carson | 17 July 1917 –
21 January 1918  | Ulster Unionist Party (Irish Unionist)
|  | George Barnes | Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919)  | 13 August 1917 –
27 January 1920  | Labour
|  | Austen Chamberlain | Member of the War Cabinet  | 18 April 1918 –
10 January 1919  | Conservative
|  | Eric Campbell Geddes | 10 January 1919 –
31 October 1919
|  | Laming Worthington-Evans | Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919)  | 10 January 1919 –
13 February 1921
|  | Christopher Addison |  | 1 April 1921 –
14 July 1921  | Liberal
|  | Anthony Eden | Minister for League of Nations affairs  | 7 June 1935 –
22 December 1935  | Conservative  |  | Stanley Baldwin
(Coalition)
|  | Eustace Percy |  | 7 June 1935 –
31 March 1936
|  | Leslie Burgin | Minister of Supply-designate  | 21 April 1939 –
14 July 1939  | National Liberal Party |  | Neville Chamberlain
(Coalition)
|  | Maurice Hankey | Member of the War Cabinet  | September 1939 –
10 May 1940  | no party |  | Neville Chamberlain
(Coalition)
|  | Arthur Greenwood | 11 May 1940 –
22 February 1942  | Labour  |  | Winston Churchill
(Coalition)
|  | William Jowitt |  | 30 December 1942 –
8 October 1944
|  | A. V. Alexander |  | 4 October 1946 –
20 December 1946  | Labour Co-operative |  | Clement Attlee
|  | Arthur Greenwood |  | 17 April 1947 –
29 September 1947  | Labour
|  | Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster |  | 18 October 1954 –
1957  | Conservative |  | Winston Churchill
| Anthony Eden
|  | Stormont Mancroft, 2nd Baron Mancroft |  | 11 June 1957 –
1958  |  | Harold Macmillan
|  | Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, 11th Earl of Dundee |  | 23 October 1958 –
1961  | Unionist
|  | Percy Mills, 1st Baron Mills | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords | 9 October 1961 –
13 July 1962 | Conservative
|  | Bill Deedes |  | 13 July 1962 –
16 October 1964
| Alec Douglas-Home
|  | Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington | Leader of the House of Lords  | 20 October 1963 –
16 October 1964
|  | Eric Fletcher |  | 19 October 1964 –
6 April 1966  | Labour  |  | Harold Wilson
|  | Arthur Champion, Baron Champion | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords  | 21 October 1964 –
7 January 1967
|  | Douglas Houghton |  | 6 April 1966 –
7 January 1967
|  | Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords  | 7 January 1967 –
16 January 1968
|  | Patrick Gordon Walker |  | 7 January 1967–
21 August 1967
|  | George Thomson |  | 17 October 1968 –
6 October 1969
|  | Peter Shore |  | 6 October 1969 –
19 June 1970
|  | Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn |  | 15 October 1970 –
1974  | Unionist  |  | Edward Heath
|  | Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare |  | 8 January – March 1974  | Conservative
|  | David Young, Baron Young of Graffham | advising on unemployment | 11 September 1984 –
3 September 1985  |  | Margaret Thatcher
|  | Jeremy Hanley | Chairman of the Conservative Party | 20 July 1994 –
5 July 1995  | John Major
|  | Brian Mawhinney | 5 July 1995 –
2 May 1997
|  | Peter Mandelson[3] | called the "Dome Secretary"[4] | 5 May 1997 –
26 July 1998  | Labour  |  | Tony Blair
|  | Charles Clarke[5] | Labour Party Chair | 8 June 2001 –
24 October 2002  | Labour  |  | Tony Blair
|  | John Reid[6] | 24 October 2002 –
4 April 2003
|  | Ian McCartney[7] | 4 April 2003 –
5 May 2006
|  | Hazel Blears[8] | 5 May 2006 –
28 June 2007
no appointment | 28 June 2007 –
12 May 2010  |  | Gordon Brown
|  | Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi[9][10] | Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party | 12 May 2010 –
6 September 2012 | Conservative  |  | David Cameron
(Coalition)
|  | Grant Shapps[11] | 6 September 2012 –
8 May 2015
|  | Kenneth Clarke[12] | Trade envoy  | 6 September 2012 –
14 July 2014
|  | John Hayes[13] | Senior Parliamentary Adviser to the Prime Minister (Cabinet Office)  | 28 March 2013 –
15 July 2014
|  | Robert Halfon[14] | Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party  | 8 May 2015 –
17 July 2016  |  | David Cameron
no appointment | 17 July 2016 –
8 January 2018 |  | Theresa May
|  | Brandon Lewis[15] | Chairman of the Conservative Party | 8 January 2018 –
24 July 2019 |
|  | James Cleverly[16] | 24 July 2019 –
13 February 2020 |  | Boris Johnson
|  | Amanda Milling[17] | 13 February 2020 –
15 September 2021 |
|  | Oliver Dowden[18] | 15 September 2021 –
24 June 2022  |
no appointment | 24 June 2022 –
7 July 2022  |
|  | Andrew Stephenson | Chairman of the Conservative Party | 7 July 2022 –
6 September 2022  |
|  | Sir Jake Berry | 6 September 2022 –
25 October 2022  |  | Liz Truss
|  | Nadhim Zahawi | 25 October 2022 –
29 January 2023 |  | Rishi Sunak
|  | Greg Hands | 7 February 2023 –
13 November 2023 |
|  | Richard Holden | 13 November 2023 –
5 July 2024  |
|  | Ellie Reeves | Chair of the Labour Party | 6 July 2024 –
present  | Labour  |  | Keir Starmer

## See also

[edit]

* Minister without portfolio

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
2. ^ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
3. ^ "Lord Mandelson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
4. ^ "Mandelson and Heseltine defend Dome". BBC News. 28 January 1998. Retrieved 28 July 2021. "The Minister without Portfolio, Peter Mandelson, has told MPs the Millennium Dome is "on time and on budget" as he faced Conservative criticisms of "secrecy and arrogance" in the House of Commons. The so-called 'Dome Secretary' was joined by Michael Heseltine in a robust defence of the project..."
5. ^ "Rt Hon Charles Clarke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
6. ^ "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
7. ^ "Sir Ian McCartney". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
8. ^ "Rt Hon Hazel Blears". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
9. ^ "Baroness Warsi". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
10. ^ "Ministers Reflect - Minister Baroness Warsi". Institute for Government. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021. "Sayeeda Warsi looks back on her time in the Coalition Government, starting with figuring out what exactly was a Minister without Portfolio."
11. ^ "Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
12. ^ "Lord Clarke of Nottingham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
13. ^ "Rt Hon John Hayes MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
14. ^ "Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
15. ^ "Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
16. ^ "Rt Hon James Cleverly MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
17. ^ "Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
18. ^ "Rt Hon Oliver Dowdon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 September 2021.

* v
* t
* e

UK cabinet portfolios

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

Cabinet ministers|

* Prime Minister / First Lord of the Treasury / Minister for the Union / Minister for the Civil Service
* Deputy Prime Minister / Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary
* Chancellor of the Exchequer
* Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Secretary
* Home Secretary
* Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
* Defence Secretary
* Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary
* Justice Secretary / Lord Chancellor
* Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary
* Health and Social Care Secretary
* Lord President of the Council / Leader of the House of Commons
* Leader of the House of Lords / Lord Privy Seal
* Business and Trade Secretary / President of the Board of Trade
* Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary
* Work and Pensions Secretary
* Education Secretary / Minister for Women and Equalities
* Transport Secretary
* Culture, Media and Sport Secretary
* Northern Ireland Secretary
* Scottish Secretary
* Welsh Secretary

Also attending Cabinet|

* Chief Whip / Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
* Chief Secretary to the Treasury
* Attorney General for England and Wales / Advocate General for Northern Ireland
* Minister of State for International Development

* v
* t
* e

Cabinet Office

Ministers|

* Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
* Minister for the Cabinet Office
* Minister without Portfolio
* Leader of the House of Lords
* Leader of the House of Commons
* Paymaster General
* Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
* Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office

Civil Service|

* Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary

Ministerial departments|

* Office of the Leader of the House of Commons
* Office of the Leader of the House of Lords

Non-ministerial department|

* UK Statistics Authority

Executive agencies|

* Crown Commercial Service
* Government Property Agency

Non-departmental
public bodies|

* Civil Service Commission
* Equality and Human Rights Commission
* Advisory Committee on Business Appointments
* Boundary Commission for England
* Boundary Commission for Wales
* Committee on Standards in Public Life
* House of Lords Appointments Commission
* Security Vetting Appeals Panel
* Senior Salaries Review Body

Other organisations|

* Commissioner for Public Appointments
* Government Car Service (Prime Ministerial Car)
* Office for Equality and Opportunity
* Government Estates Management
* National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority
* Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
* Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists
* Privy Council Office

Secretariats|

* Civil Contingencies Secretariat
* Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms
* Defence and Overseas Secretariat
* Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat

Category
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template