Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Secretary of State; for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Angela Eagle; since 20 July 2026
	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (England)
Style	Environment Secretary (informal); The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth);
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State
Member of	Cabinet; Privy Council;
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch; (on the advice of the Prime Minister);
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure;
Formation	15 October 1970; (as Secretary of State for the Environment); 8 June 2001; (as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs);
First holder	Peter Walker (as Secretary of State for the Environment)
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022); (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-environment-food-and-rural-affairs

The secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, also referred to as the environment secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The department's responsibilities are largely limited to England only as they relate to devolved policies. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The office holder works alongside the other Defra ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

Responsibilities

The secretary of state has two main responsibilities at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to:

bear overall responsibility for all departmental issues.
lobby for the United Kingdom in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change.

List of environment secretaries

Secretary of State		Term of office			Ministry
Secretaries of state for the environment (1970–1997)
	Peter Walker MP for Worcester	15 October 1970	5 November 1972	Conservative	Heath
	Geoffrey Rippon MP for Hexham	5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative	Heath
	Anthony Crosland MP for Great Grimsby	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour	Wilson (III & IV)
	Peter Shore MP for Stepney and Poplar	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	Callaghan
	Michael Heseltine MP for Henley	5 May 1979	6 January 1983	Conservative	Thatcher I
	Tom King MP for Bridgwater	6 January 1983	11 June 1983	Conservative	Thatcher I
	Patrick Jenkin MP for Wanstead and Woodford	11 June 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative	Thatcher II
	Kenneth Baker MP for Mole Valley	2 September 1985	21 May 1986	Conservative
	Nicholas Ridley MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury	21 May 1986	24 July 1989	Conservative
	Nicholas Ridley MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury	21 May 1986	24 July 1989	Conservative	Thatcher III
	Chris Patten MP for Bath	24 July 1989	28 November 1990	Conservative	Thatcher III
	Michael Heseltine MP for Henley	28 November 1990	11 April 1992	Conservative	Major I
	Michael Howard MP for Folkestone and Hythe	11 April 1992	27 May 1993	Conservative	Major II
	John Gummer MP for Suffolk Coastal	27 May 1993	2 May 1997	Conservative	Major II
Secretaries of state for the environment, transport and the regions (1997–2001)
	John Prescott MP for Kingston upon Hull East	2 May 1997	8 June 2001	Labour	Blair I
Secretaries of state for environment, food and rural affairs (2001–present)
	Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South	8 June 2001	5 May 2006	Labour	Blair II
	Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South	8 June 2001	5 May 2006	Labour	Blair III
	David Miliband MP for South Shields	5 May 2006	28 June 2007	Labour	Blair III
	Hilary Benn MP for Leeds Central	28 June 2007	11 May 2010	Labour	Brown
	Caroline Spelman MP for Meriden	12 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)
	Owen Paterson MP for North Shropshire	4 September 2012	14 July 2014	Conservative
	Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk	15 July 2014	14 July 2016	Conservative
	Liz Truss MP for South West Norfolk	15 July 2014	14 July 2016	Conservative	Cameron II
	Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire	14 July 2016	11 June 2017	Conservative	May I
	Michael Gove MP for Surrey Heath	11 June 2017	24 July 2019	Conservative	May II
	Theresa Villiers MP for Chipping Barnet	24 July 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative	Johnson I
	Theresa Villiers MP for Chipping Barnet	24 July 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative	Johnson II
	George Eustice MP for Camborne and Redruth	13 February 2020	6 September 2022	Conservative	Johnson II
	Ranil Jayawardena MP for North East Hampshire	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative	Truss
	Thérèse Coffey MP for Suffolk Coastal	25 October 2022	13 November 2023	Conservative	Sunak
	Steve Barclay MP for North East Cambridgeshire	13 November 2023	5 July 2024	Conservative	Sunak
	Steve Reed MP for Streatham and Croydon North	5 July 2024	5 September 2025	Labour	Starmer
	Emma Reynolds MP for Wycombe	5 September 2025	20 July 2026	Labour	Starmer
	Angela Eagle MP for Wallasey	20 July 2026	Incumbent	Labour	Burnham

Timeline of environment secretaries

References

↑ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
↑ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
↑ "Secretary of State for Environment". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon David Miliband". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Rt Hon Michael Gove MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
↑ "Theresa Villiers replaces Gove as Defra secretary". Farmers Weekly. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

[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] "Secretary of State for Environment". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[4] "Lord Prescott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[5] "Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[6] "Rt Hon David Miliband". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[7] "Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[8] "Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[9] "Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[10] "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[11] "Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[12] "Rt Hon Michael Gove MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

[13] "Theresa Villiers replaces Gove as Defra secretary". Farmers Weekly. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

v t e Secretaries of state for environment of the UK Government
Environment	Walker Rippon Crosland Shore Heseltine King Jenkin Baker Ridley Patten Heseltine Howard Gummer
Environment, transport and the regions	Prescott
Environment, food and rural affairs	Beckett Miliband Benn Spelman Paterson Truss Leadsom Gove Villiers Eustice Jayawardena Coffey Barclay Reed Reynolds Eagle

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 First Secretary of State / Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster / Minister for the Cabinet Office Chancellor of the Exchequer Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Secretary Home Secretary Defence Secretary Energy Security & Net Zero Secretary Housing, Communities & Local Government Secretary Justice Secretary / Lord Chancellor Health & Social Care Secretary Lord President of the Council / Leader of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Lords / Lord Privy Seal Business, Innovation, Science & Trade Secretary / President of the Board of Trade Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Secretary Work and Pensions Secretary Education Secretary Transport Secretary Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Secretary Northern Ireland Secretary Scottish Secretary Welsh Secretary Minister for Women and Equalities Chief Whip / Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
Also attending Cabinet	Chief Secretary to the Treasury Attorney General for England and Wales / Advocate General for Northern Ireland Minister for Artificial Intelligence Minister for Intergovernmental Relations & European Relations Minister for Housing & Planning

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Angela Eagle since 20 July 2026
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (England)
Style	Environment Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	15 October 1970 (as Secretary of State for the Environment) 8 June 2001 (as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
First holder	Peter Walker (as Secretary of State for the Environment)
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022) (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-environment-food-and-rural-affairs

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Responsibilities

List of environment secretaries

Secretaries of state for the environment (1970–1997)

Secretaries of state for the environment, transport and the regions (1997–2001)

Secretaries of state for environment, food and rural affairs (2001–present)

Timeline of environment secretaries

References