List of British Foreign Ministers
The position of foreign minister called Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was first awarded in 1782 in the British Cabinet. In 1968, when the Foreign Office was transformed into a Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the official title was changed to Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs .
The office is one of the highest in the British Cabinet, along with Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary, and has been held by several Prime Ministers before, during or after their work as heads of government.
| Term of office | in cabinet (s) | |
| Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1782–1968) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Charles James Fox | March 27, 1782 - July 5, 1782 | Rockingham |
| Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham | July 13, 1782 - April 2, 1783 | Shelburne |
| Charles James Fox | April 2, 1783 - December 9, 1783 | Fox / North |
| George Nugent-Temple-Grenville | December 19, 1783 - December 23, 1783 | Pitt |
| Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds | December 23, 1783 - May 1791 | Pitt |
| William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville | June 8, 1791 - February 20, 1801 | Pitt |
| Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool | February 20, 1801 - May 14, 1804 | Addington |
| Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby | May 14, 1804 - January 11, 1805 | Pitt |
| Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave | January 11, 1805 - February 7, 1806 | Pitt , Grenville |
| Charles James Fox | February 7, 1806 - September 13, 1806 | Grenville |
| Charles Gray, 2nd Earl Gray | September 24, 1806 - March 25, 1807 | Grenville |
| George Canning | March 25, 1807 - October 11, 1809 | Portland |
| Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst | October 11, 1809 - December 6, 1809 | Perceval |
| Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley | December 6, 1809 - March 4, 1812 | Perceval |
| Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry | March 4, 1812 - August 12, 1822 | Perceval , Liverpool |
| George Canning | September 16, 1822 - April 30, 1827 | Liverpool |
| John Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley | April 30, 1827 - June 2, 1828 | Canning , Goderich , Wellington |
| George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen | June 2, 1828 - November 22, 1830 | Wellington |
| Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston | November 22, 1830 - November 15, 1834 | Gray |
| Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington | November 15, 1834 - April 18, 1835 | Wellington , Peel |
| Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston | April 18, 1835 - September 2, 1841 | Melbourne |
| George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen | September 2, 1841 - July 6, 1846 | Peel |
| Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston | July 6, 1846 - December 26, 1851 | Russell |
| Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville | December 26, 1851 - February 27, 1852 | Russell |
| James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury | February 27, 1852 - December 28, 1852 | Derby |
| John Russell, 1st Earl Russell | December 28, 1852 - February 21, 1853 | Aberdeen |
| George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon | February 21, 1853 - February 26, 1858 | Aberdeen , Palmerston |
| James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury | February 26, 1858 - June 18, 1859 | Derby |
| John Russell, 1st Earl Russell | June 18, 1859 - November 3, 1865 | Palmerston |
| George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon | November 3, 1865 - July 6, 1866 | Russell |
| Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby | July 6, 1866 - December 9, 1868 | Derby (the Elder), Disraeli |
| George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon | December 9, 1868 - July 6, 1870 | Gladstone |
| Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville | July 6, 1870 - February 21, 1874 | Gladstone |
| Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby | February 21, 1874 - April 2, 1878 | Disraeli |
| Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | April 2, 1878 - April 28, 1880 | Disraeli |
| Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville | April 28, 1880 - June 24, 1885 | Gladstone |
| Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | June 24, 1885 - February 6, 1886 | Salisbury |
| Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery | February 6, 1886 - August 3, 1886 | Gladstone |
| Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh | August 3, 1886 - January 12, 1887 | Salisbury |
| Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | January 14, 1887 - August 11, 1892 | Salisbury |
| Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery | August 18, 1892 - March 11, 1894 | Gladstone |
| John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley | March 11, 1894 - June 21, 1895 | Rosebery |
| Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | June 29, 1895 - November 12, 1900 | Salisbury |
| Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne | November 12, 1900 - December 4, 1905 | Salisbury , Balfour |
| Edward Gray | December 10, 1905 - December 10, 1916 | Balfour , Campbell-Bannerman , Asquith |
| Arthur Balfour | December 10, 1916 - October 23, 1919 | Lloyd George |
| George Nathaniel Curzon | October 23, 1919 - January 22, 1924 | Lloyd George , Bonar Law , Baldwin |
| Ramsay MacDonald | January 22, 1924 - November 3, 1924 | MacDonald |
| Austen Chamberlain | November 6, 1924 - June 4, 1929 | Baldwin |
| Arthur Henderson | June 7, 1929 - August 24, 1931 | MacDonald |
| Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading | August 25, 1931 - November 5, 1931 | MacDonald |
| John Simon | November 5, 1931 - June 7, 1935 | MacDonald |
| Samuel Hoare | June 7, 1935 - December 18, 1935 | Baldwin |
| Anthony Eden | December 22, 1935 - February 20, 1938 | Baldwin , Chamberlain |
| Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax | February 21, 1938 - December 22, 1940 | Chamberlain , Churchill |
| Anthony Eden | December 22, 1940 - July 26, 1945 | Churchill |
| Ernest Bevin | July 27, 1945 - March 9, 1951 | Attlee |
| Herbert Stanley Morrison | March 9, 1951 - October 26, 1951 | Attlee |
| Anthony Eden | October 28, 1951 - April 7, 1955 | Churchill |
| Harold Macmillan | April 7, 1955 - December 20, 1955 | Eden |
| Selwyn Lloyd | December 20, 1955 - July 27, 1960 | Eden , Macmillan |
| Alec Douglas Home | July 27, 1960 - October 20, 1963 | Macmillan |
| Rab butler | October 20, 1963 - October 16, 1964 | Douglas Home |
| Patrick Gordon Walker | October 16, 1964 - January 22, 1965 | Wilson |
| Michael Stewart | January 22, 1965 - August 11, 1966 | Wilson |
| George Brown | Aug. 11, 1966 - March 16, 1968 | Wilson |
| Michael Stewart | March 16, 1968 - October 17, 1968 | Wilson |
| Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (since 1968) | ||
| Michael Stewart | October 17, 1968 - June 19, 1970 | Wilson |
| Alec Douglas Home | June 20, 1970 - March 4, 1974 | Heath |
| James Callaghan | March 5, 1974 - April 8, 1976 | Wilson |
| Anthony Crosland | April 8, 1976 - February 19, 1977 | Callaghan |
| David Owen | February 22, 1977 - May 4, 1979 | Callaghan |
| Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington | May 5, 1979 - April 5, 1982 | Thatcher |
| Francis Pym | April 6, 1982 - June 11, 1983 | Thatcher |
| Geoffrey Howe | June 11, 1983 - July 24, 1989 | Thatcher |
| John Major | July 24, 1989 - October 26, 1989 | Thatcher |
| Douglas Hurd | October 26, 1989 - July 5, 1995 | Thatcher , major |
| Malcolm Rifkind | July 5, 1995 - May 2, 1997 | major |
| Robin Cook | May 2, 1997 - June 8, 2001 | Blair |
| Jack Straw | June 8, 2001 - May 5, 2006 | Blair |
| Margaret Beckett | May 5, 2006 - June 28, 2007 | Blair |
| David Miliband | June 28, 2007 - May 11, 2010 | Brown |
| William Hague | May 11, 2010 - July 14, 2014 | Cameron |
| Philip Hammond | July 14, 2014 - July 13, 2016 | Cameron |
| Boris Johnson | July 13, 2016 - July 9, 2018 | May |
| Jeremy Hunt | July 9, 2018 - July 24, 2019 | May |
| Dominic Raab | since July 24, 2019 | Johnson |
Web links
Commons : British Foreign Secretary - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
- Website of the British Foreign Office (English)
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