The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom
Secretary of State for Business and Trade
since 5 July 2024
Department for Business and Trade
Style
StatusSecretary of State
Minister of the Crown
Member ofCabinet
Privy Council
Board of Trade
Reports toThe Prime Minister
AppointerThe Monarch
(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Formation
  • 20 October 1963:
    (as Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development)
  • 7 February 2023:
    (as Secretary of State for Business and Trade)
First holderEdward Heath
(as Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development)
Salary£159,038 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £86,584 MP salary)[2]
WebsiteDepartment for Business and Trade

The incumbent business secretary is Jonathan Reynolds who was appointed by Keir Starmer on 5 July 2024.[3] The Secretary of State is shadowed by the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, currently Kevin Hollinrake since 2024.

Responsibilities

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Corresponding to what is generally known as a commerce minister in many other countries, the business secretary's remit includes:

  • Relations with domestic and international business
  • Policy relating to deregulation
  • Policy relating to international trade and trade agreements
  • Import and export policy

History

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During the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the then president of the Board of Trade, Edward Heath, was given in addition the job of secretary of state for industry, trade and regional development. This title was not continued under Harold Wilson, but when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 he decided to merge functions of the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Technology to create the Department of Trade and Industry. The head of this department became known as the secretary of state for trade and industry and also retained the title of President of the Board of Trade.

When Harold Wilson re-entered office in March 1974, the office was split into the Department of Trade, the Department of Industry and the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection, resulting in the creation of three new positions: Secretary of State for Industry, Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, and Secretary of State for Trade. The title President of the Board of Trade became the secondary title of the Secretary of State for Trade. By 1979 the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was abolished by the incoming Conservative government and its responsibilities were reintegrated into the Department of Trade. Furthermore, 1983 the offices of trade and industry were remerged and the title of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was recreated. When Michael Heseltine held this office, he preferred to be known by the older title of President of the Board of Trade, and this practice was also followed by Ian Lang and Margaret Beckett. Heseltine's decision to reuse the old title caused some controversy, and it was discovered[by whom?] that the Board of Trade had not in fact met since the mid-nineteenth century.[citation needed]

Under Gordon Brown's premiership there were two re-namings of the role and three re-alignments of responsibility. In his first cabinet of 2007, he called the post Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. With this change, the Better Regulation Executive was added to the department but the Office of Science and Innovation was lost. In 2008, the title remained the same but responsibility for energy was lost. In 2009, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was merged into the existing department and the post became Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In July 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May decided to merge the Department for Energy and Climate Change into this department with the responsibilities for post-19 education and skills being returned to the Department for Education resulting in the position being renamed to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. At the same time in July 2016, the post of President of the Board of Trade was transferred to the newly created post of Secretary of State for International Trade.[4]

The current role of Secretary of State for Business and Trade was established on 7 February 2023 after a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saw the dissolution of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its responsibilities transferred to three new departments: Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The new Department for Business and Trade absorbed the business policy responsibilities of BEIS, and the functions of the former Department for International Trade.

List of secretaries of state

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Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development (1963–1964)

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Secretary of State Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
  Edward Heath
MP for Bexley
20 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Alec Douglas-Home

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1970–1974)

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Secretary of State Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
  John Davies
MP for Knutsford
15 October 1970 5 November 1972 Conservative Edward Heath
  Peter Walker
MP for Worcester
5 November 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative

Secretaries of State for Industry; Prices; and Trade (1974–1983)

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Secretary of State for Industry

Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection

Secretary of State for Trade

Political party Prime Minister
Name Took office Left office Name Took office Left office Name Took office Left office
 
Tony Benn
MP for Bristol South East
5 March 1974 10 June 1975  
Shirley Williams
MP for Hertford and Stevenage
5 March 1974 10 September 1976  
Peter Shore
MP for Stepney and Poplar
5 March 1974 8 April 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
 
Eric Varley
MP for Chesterfield
10 June 1975 4 May 1979
 
Edmund Dell
MP for Birkenhead
8 April 1976 11 November 1978 James Callaghan
 
Roy Hattersley
MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook
10 September 1976 4 May 1979
 
John Smith
MP for North Lanarkshire
11 November 1978 4 May 1979
 
Keith Joseph
MP for Leeds North East
4 May 1979 14 September 1981 Department abolished 1979.
(Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Trade.)
 
John Nott
MP for St Ives
5 May 1979 5 January 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
 
John Biffen
MP for Oswestry
5 January 1981 6 April 1982
 
Patrick Jenkin
MP for Wanstead and Woodford
14 September 1981 12 June 1983
 
The Lord Cockfield
6 April 1982 12 June 1983
Departments merged in 1983 and responsibilities transferred to the Department for Trade and Industry.

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1983–2007)

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Secretary of State Took office Left office Political party Cabinet Prime minister
  Cecil Parkinson
MP for Hertsmere
12 June 1983 11 October 1983 Conservative Thatcher II Margaret Thatcher
  Norman Tebbit
MP for Chingford
16 October 1983 2 September 1985 Conservative
  Leon Brittan
MP for Richmond (Yorks)
2 September 1985 22 January 1986 Conservative
  Paul Channon
MP for Southend West
24 January 1986 13 June 1987 Conservative
  The Lord Young of Graffham 13 June 1987 24 July 1989 Conservative Thatcher III
  Nicholas Ridley
MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury
24 July 1989 13 July 1990 Conservative
  Peter Lilley
MP for St Albans
14 July 1990 10 April 1992 Conservative
Major I John Major
  Michael Heseltine[a]
MP for Henley
10 April 1992 5 July 1995 Conservative Major II
  Ian Lang[a]
MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative
  Margaret Beckett[a]
MP for Derby South
2 May 1997 27 July 1998 Labour Blair I Tony Blair
  Peter Mandelson
MP for Hartlepool
27 July 1998 23 December 1998 Labour
  Stephen Byers
MP for North Tyneside
23 December 1998 8 June 2001 Labour
  Patricia Hewitt
MP for Leicester West
8 June 2001 6 May 2005 Labour Blair II
  Alan Johnson[b]
MP for Hull West and Hessle
6 May 2005 5 May 2006 Labour Blair III
  Alistair Darling
MP for Edinburgh South West
5 May 2006 27 June 2007 Labour
Department abolished 2007. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
  1. ^ a b c Primarily referred to as President of the Board of Trade, and not as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
  2. ^ Alan Johnson was initially announced on 6 May 2005, after the general election, as being "Secretary of State for Productivity, Energy and Industry and President of the Board of Trade", but after just a week, on 13 May, it was declared that the new title would not be used, after widespread derision of the new name, because the abbreviation for Johnson's title, Productivity, Energy and Industry Secretary, would have been "PENIS".[5]

Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (2007–2009)

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Secretary of State Took office Left office Political party Cabinet Prime Minister
  John Hutton
MP for Barrow and Furness
28 June 2007 3 October 2008 Labour Brown Gordon Brown
  The Lord Mandelson 3 October 2008 5 June 2009 Labour
Department abolished 2009. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (2009–2016)

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Secretary of State Took office Left office Political party Cabinet Prime Minister
  The Lord Mandelson 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour Brown Gordon Brown
  Vince Cable
MP for Twickenham
12 May 2010 8 May 2015 Liberal Democrats Cameron-Clegg David Cameron
  Sajid Javid
MP for Bromsgrove
11 May 2015 14 July 2016 Conservative Cameron II
Department abolished 2016. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (2008–2016)

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Secretary of State Term of office Political party Cabinet Prime Minister
  Ed Miliband
MP for Doncaster North
3 October 2008 11 May 2010 Labour Brown Gordon Brown
  Chris Huhne
MP for Eastleigh
12 May 2010 3 February 2012 Liberal Democrats Cameron-Clegg David Cameron
  Ed Davey
MP for Kingston and Surbiton
3 February 2012 8 May 2015 Liberal Democrats
  Amber Rudd
MP for Hastings and Rye
11 May 2015 14 July 2016 Conservative Cameron II
Department abolished 2016. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2016–2023)

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Secretary of State Took office Left office Political party Cabinet Prime Minister
  Greg Clark
MP for Tunbridge Wells
14 July 2016 24 July 2019 Conservative May I Theresa May
May II
  Andrea Leadsom
MP for South Northamptonshire
24 July 2019 13 February 2020 Conservative Johnson I Boris Johnson
Johnson II
  Alok Sharma
MP for Reading West
13 February 2020 8 January 2021 Conservative
  Kwasi Kwarteng
MP for Spelthorne
8 January 2021 6 September 2022 Conservative
  Jacob Rees-Mogg
MP for North East Somerset
6 September 2022 25 October 2022 Conservative Truss Liz Truss
  Grant Shapps
MP for Welwyn Hatfield
25 October 2022 7 February 2023 Conservative Sunak Rishi Sunak
Department abolished February 2023. Responsibilities distributed to the newly created Departments for Business and Trade, Energy Security and Net Zero, and Science, Innovation and Technology.

Secretary of State for Business and Trade (2023–present)

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Secretary of State Took office Left office Political party Cabinet Prime Minister
  Kemi Badenoch
MP for Saffron Walden
7 February 2023 5 July 2024 Conservative Sunak Rishi Sunak
  Jonathan Reynolds
MP for Stalybridge and Hyde
5 July 2024 Incumbent Labour Starmer Keir Starmer

Timeline

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Jonathan ReynoldsKemi BadenochGrant ShappsJacob Rees-MoggKwasi KwartengAlok SharmaAndrea LeadsomGreg ClarkAmber RuddSajid JavidEd DaveyVince CableChris HuhneEd MilibandJohn Hutton, Baron Hutton of FurnessAlistair DarlingAlan JohnsonPatricia HewittStephen ByersPeter MandelsonMargaret BeckettIan LangMichael HeseltinePeter LilleyNicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of LiddesdaleDavid Young, Baron Young of GraffhamPaul ChannonLeon BrittanNorman TebbitCecil ParkinsonArthur Cockfield, Baron CockfieldPatrick JenkinJohn BiffenKeith JosephJohn NottJohn Smith (Labour Party leader)Roy HattersleyEdmund DellEric VarleyShirley WilliamsPeter ShoreTony BennPeter Walker, Baron Walker of WorcesterJohn Davies (British businessman)Edward Heath

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. ^ "Politics news - latest: New Tory party chair confirmed - as Rishi Sunak announces changes to top team". Sky News. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade". gov.uk.
  5. ^ "Profile: Alan Johnson". The Daily Telegraph. London. 18 June 2005.