Wikipedia

Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)

Not to be confused with Minister of State without Portfolio.

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.

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
StyleThe Right Honourable
Reports toThe Prime Minister
NominatorThe Prime Minister
AppointerThe British Monarch
on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term lengthNo fixed term
Salary£159,038 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £86,584 MP salary)[2]
WebsiteGOV.UK

The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Minister without Portfolio.

List of office holders

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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

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References

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  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.
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