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Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom

Field	Value
post	United Kingdom
Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
insignia	Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg
insigniacaption	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
incumbent	Emma Reynolds
image	Official_portrait_of_Emma_Reynolds_MP_crop_2,_2024.jpg
incumbentsince	5 September 2025
department	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
style
type	Minister of the Crown
status	Secretary of State
member_of
reports_to	The Prime Minister
seat	Westminster
nominator	The Prime Minister
appointer	The Monarch
appointer_qualified	(on the advice of the Prime Minister)
termlength	At His Majesty's pleasure
formation	* 15 October 1970
(as Secretary of State for the Environment)
salary	£159,038 per annum (2022)
(including £86,584 MP salary)
first	Peter Walker (as Secretary of State for the Environment)
website

(as Secretary of State for the Environment)

8 June 2001 (as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (including £86,584 MP salary) 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 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	Party	Ministry	Conservative Party (UK)}}"
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:No image.svg	60px]]	Peter Walker
MP for Worcester	15 October
1970	5 November
1972
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Geoffrey Rippon (1970).jpg	75px]]	Geoffrey Rippon
MP for Hexham	5 November
1972	4 March
1974
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Charles-Anthony-Raven-Crosland (cropped).jpg	75px]]	Anthony Crosland
MP for Great Grimsby	5 March
1974	8 April
1976
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:No image.svg	60px]]	Peter Shore
MP for Stepney and Poplar	8 April
1976	4 May
1979
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Meeting of the Kangaroo group in December 1988 with British MP Michael HESELTINE 2 (cropped).jpg	99x99px]]	Michael Heseltine
MP for Henley	5 May
1979	6 January
1983
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Official portrait of Lord King of Bridgwater crop 2.jpg	75px]]	Tom King
MP for Bridgwater	6 January
1983	11 June
1983
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:No image.svg	60px]]	Patrick Jenkin
MP for Wanstead and Woodford	11 June
1983	2 September
1985
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Official portrait of Lord Baker of Dorking 2020 crop 2.jpg	75px]]	Kenneth Baker
MP for Mole Valley	2 September
1985	21 May
1986
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:No image.svg	75px]]	Nicholas Ridley
MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury	21 May
1986	24 July
1989
Thatcher III
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Lord PLUMB - EP President meets with UK Minister Chris PATTEN at the European Parliament in Strasbourg (cropped).jpg	99x99px]]	Chris Patten
MP for Bath	24 July
1989	28 November
1990
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Meeting of the Kangaroo group in December 1988 with British MP Michael HESELTINE (cropped).jpg	100x100px]]	Michael Heseltine
MP for Henley	28 November
1990	11 April
1992
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Michael Howard as Home Secretary.jpg	99x99px]]	Michael Howard
MP for Folkestone and Hythe	11 April
1992	27 May
1993
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:John GUMMER 1991.jpg	100x100px]]	John Gummer
MP for Suffolk Coastal	27 May
1993	2 May
1997
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:John Prescott official portrait (cropped).jpg	100x100px]]	John Prescott
MP for Kingston upon Hull East	2 May
1997	8 June
2001
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Official portrait of Margaret Beckett as Environment Secretary (cropped).jpg	100x100px]]	Margaret Beckett
MP for Derby South	8 June
2001	[5 May
2006](2006-british-cabinet-reshuffle)
Blair III
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:David Miliband 11 April 2007.JPG	100x100px]]	David Miliband
MP for South Shields	[5 May
2006](2006-british-cabinet-reshuffle)	28 June
2007
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:HilaryBennMPPortrait.jpg	116x116px]]	Hilary Benn
MP for Leeds Central	28 June
2007	11 May
2010
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Caroline Spelman Official.jpg	100x100px]]	Caroline Spelman
MP for Meriden	12 May
2010	[4 September
2012](2012-british-cabinet-reshuffle)
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Owen-Paterson.jpg	100x100px]]	Owen Paterson
MP for North Shropshire	[4 September
2012](2012-british-cabinet-reshuffle)	[14 July
2014](2014-british-cabinet-reshuffle)
[[File:Elizabeth truss2014.jpg	112x112px]]	Liz Truss
MP for South West Norfolk	[15 July
2014](2014-british-cabinet-reshuffle)	14 July
2016	Conservative Party (UK)}}"

Cameron II
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Andrea Leadsom 2017.jpg	104x104px]]	Andrea Leadsom
MP for South Northamptonshire	14 July
2016	11 June
2017
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Official portrait of Michael Gove crop 2.jpg	100x100px]]	Michael Gove
MP for Surrey Heath	11 June
2017	24 July
2019
Conservative Party (UK)}}; border:none"		[[File:Theresa_Villiers_Official_Portrait.jpg	frameless	100x100px]]	Theresa Villiers
MP for Chipping Barnet	24 July
2019	[13 February
2020](2020-british-cabinet-reshuffle)
Conservative Party (UK)}}; border:none"		Johnson II
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Official portrait of George Eustice MP crop 2.jpg	frameless	100x100px]]	George Eustice
MP for Camborne and Redruth	[13 February
2020](2020-british-cabinet-reshuffle)	6 September 2022
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Ranil Jayawardena official portrait (cropped).jpg	frameless	100x100px]]	Ranil Jayawardena
MP for North East Hampshire	6 September 2022	25 October 2022
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Thérèse Coffey Official Cabinet Portrait, October 2022 (cropped).jpg	frameless	99x99px]]	Thérèse Coffey
MP for Suffolk Coastal	25 October 2022	13 November 2023
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Steve Barclay Official Cabinet Portrait, November 2023 (cropped).jpg	frameless	100x100px]]	Steve Barclay
MP for North East Cambridgeshire	13 November 2023	5 July 2024
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Steve Reed Official Cabinet Portrait, July 2024 (cropped) 4.jpg	frameless	99x99px]]	Steve Reed
MP for Streatham and Croydon North	5 July 2024	5 September 2025
Labour Party (UK)}}"		[[File:Official_portrait_of_Emma_Reynolds_MP_crop_2,_2024.jpg	frameless	100x100px]]	Emma Reynolds
MP for Wycombe	5 September 2025	Incumbent

Timeline of environment secretaries

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DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

Colors = id:con value:rgb(0,0.53,0.86) legend: Conservative id:lab value:rgb(0.84,0.08,0.28) legend: Labour id:liteline value:gray(0.8) id:line value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3)

ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:1970 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1970

Define $now =

TextData = pos:(20,60) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"

BarData = bar:Walker bar:Rippon bar:Crosland bar:Shore bar:Heseltine bar:King bar:Jenkin bar:Baker bar:Ridley bar:Patten bar:Howard bar:Gummer bar:Prescott bar:Beckett bar:Miliband bar:Benn bar:Spelman bar:Paterson bar:Truss bar:Leadsom bar:Gove bar:Villiers bar:Eustice bar:Jayawardena bar:Coffey bar:Barclay bar:Reed bar:Reynolds

PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:s shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Walker from: 15/10/1970 till: 05/11/1972 color:con text:"Peter Walker" bar:Rippon from: 05/11/1972 till: 04/03/1974 color:con text:"Geoffrey Rippon" bar:Crosland from: 05/03/1974 till: 08/04/1976 color:lab text:"Anthony Crosland" bar:Shore from: 08/04/1976 till: 04/05/1979 color:lab text:"Peter Shore" bar:Heseltine from: 05/05/1979 till: 06/01/1983 color:con from: 28/11/1990 till: 27/05/1992 color:con text:"Michael Heseltine" bar:King from: 06/01/1983 till: 11/06/1983 color:con text:"Tom King" bar:Jenkin from: 11/06/1983 till: 02/09/1985 color:con text:"Patrick Jenkin" bar:Baker from: 02/09/1985 till: 21/05/1986 color:con text:"Kenneth Baker" bar:Ridley from: 21/05/1986 till: 24/07/1989 color:con text:"Nicholas Ridley" bar:Patten from: 24/07/1989 till: 28/11/1990 color:con text:"Chris Patten" bar:Howard from: 11/04/1992 till: 27/05/1993 color:con text:"Michael Howard" bar:Gummer from: 27/05/1993 till: 02/05/1997 color:con text:"John Gummer" bar:Prescott from: 02/05/1997 till: 08/06/2001 color:lab text:"John Prescott" bar:Beckett from: 08/06/2001 till: 05/05/2006 color:lab text:"Margaret Beckett" bar:Miliband from: 05/05/2006 till: 28/06/2007 color:lab text:"David Miliband" bar:Benn from: 28/06/2007 till: 11/05/2010 color:lab text:"Hilary Benn" bar:Spelman from: 12/05/2010 till: 04/09/2012 color:con text:"Caroline Spelman" bar:Paterson from: 04/09/2012 till: 14/07/2014 color:con text:"Owen Paterson" bar:Truss from: 15/07/2014 till: 14/07/2016 color:con text:"Liz Truss" bar:Leadsom from: 14/07/2016 till: 11/06/2017 color:con text:"Andrea Leadsom" bar:Gove from: 11/06/2017 till: 24/07/2019 color:con text:"Michael Gove" bar:Villiers from: 24/07/2019 till: 13/02/2020 color:con text:"Theresa Villiers" bar:Eustice from: 13/02/2020 till: 06/09/2022 color:con text:"George Eustice" bar:Jayawardena from: 06/09/2022 till: 25/10/2022 color:con text:"Ranil Jayawardena" bar:Coffey from: 25/10/2022 till: 13/11/2023 color:con text:"Thérèse Coffey" bar:Barclay from: 13/11/2023 till: 05/07/2024 color:con text:"Steve Barclay" bar:Reed from: 05/07/2024 till: 05/09/2025 color:lab text:"Steve Reed" bar:Reynolds from: 05/09/2025 till: end color:lab text:"Emma Reynolds"

References

pl:Ministrowie środowiska Wielkiej Brytanii

References

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

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