UK/Foreign Secretary
 UK/Foreign Secretary  (Foreign minister) | |
|---|---|
| Start | 27 March 1782 |
| Website | https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/foreign-secretary |
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs or UK Foreign Secretary is the head of the UK government's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. MI6 and GCHQ are, officially at least, directly accountable to this person.
In 2008 Sir Richard Dearlove admitted that, under the UK's Intelligence Services Act, MI6 agents were allowed to conduct illegal activities in the interests of "national security", if given the written permission of the UK Foreign Secretary for a "Class Seven authorisation".[1]
Office Holders on Wikispooks
| Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| David Lammy | 5 July 2024 | |
| David Cameron | 13 November 2023 | 5 July 2024 |
| James Cleverly | 6 September 2022 | 13 November 2023 |
| Liz Truss | 15 September 2021 | 6 September 2022 |
| Dominic Raab | 24 July 2019 | 15 September 2021 |
| Jeremy Hunt | 9 July 2018 | 24 July 2019 |
| Boris Johnson | 13 July 2016 | 9 July 2018 |
| Philip Hammond | 15 July 2014 | 13 July 2016 |
| William Hague | 12 May 2010 | 14 July 2014 |
| David Miliband | 28 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 |
| Margaret Beckett | 5 May 2006 | 27 June 2007 |
| Jack Straw | 8 June 2001 | 5 May 2006 |
| Robin Cook | 2 May 1997 | 8 June 2001 |
| Malcolm Rifkind | 5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 |
| Douglas Hurd | 26 October 1989 | 5 July 1995 |
| John Major | 24 July 1989 | 26 October 1989 |
| Geoffrey Howe | 11 June 1983 | 24 July 1989 |
| Francis Pym | 6 April 1982 | 11 June 1983 |
| Peter Carrington | 4 May 1979 | 5 April 1982 |
| David Owen | 21 February 1977 | 4 May 1979 |
| Anthony Crosland | 8 April 1976 | 19 February 1977 |
Related Quotation
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dominic Cummings | “So if you think of two roles, right, the foreign secretary in Great Britain and the private secretary in the PM' office responsible for foreign affairs, an official whose name has never been in the newspapers, that person was like 10 times more powerful and important than the secretary of state was.
And I think this is something which people just don't really realize. And it's part of how the whole system has just become fake. So you have fake meritocracy, fake responsibility, and then fake cabinet government. When you sit in Whitehall now, right, in meetings, they are literally scripted. So when the prime minister has a meeting with ministers, what happens is that before the prime minister has that meeting, officials go into the prime minister's study and they give them a folder. And in the folder at the front is a thing called chairman's notes. And that's the script. And that's what the prime minister reads out. And the conclusions for the meeting are in the chairman's notes drafted before the meeting happens. Right. Well, how does the psychology of it work? Officials are happy because they have almost all the real power. The cabinet secretary is now 100 times more powerful than any cabinet minister apart from the PM. And the MPs are happy because this whole system pretends that they're in charge. So both sides are basically happy with the fake version of the government.” | Dominic Cummings | 2024 |
