Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. In 1903, an Act was passed to transfer to the new styled Board of Agriculture and Fisheries certain powers and duties relating to the fishing industry, and the post was renamed President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.
In 1919, it was renamed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. In 1954, the separate position of Minister of Food was merged into the post and it was renamed Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Successive Prime Ministers asked the Minister to upgrade the Ministry to a Department of State taking the title 'Secretary of State', but all refused.
On 8 June 2001, the Ministry merged with Secretary of State for the Environment into the office of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was not formally abolished until The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/794) came into force on 27 March 2002.
Until the Dissolution Order also made the necessary amendments to the law when it did come into force, many statutory functions were still vested in the holder of the office of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, rather in the Secretary of State at large. For that reason, in a final twist, Margaret Beckett had to be appointed formally as the last ever Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as well as becoming the first Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
List of Agriculture Ministers and Board Presidents
Presidents of the Board of Agriculture (1889–1903)
Post created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889.[2]
Presidents of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries (1903–1919)
Board of Agriculture superseded by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1903.
Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries, (1919–1954)
Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Party | Ministry | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Right Honourable
Arthur Lee
1st Baron Lee of Fareham
GBE KCB PC (1868–1947) | 15 August 1919 | 13 February 1921 | Conservative | Lloyd George
(I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.) | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen MP for Taunton (1865–1946) | 13 February 1921 | 24 October 1922 | Conservative | ||
The Right Honourable
Sir Robert Sanders
Bt MP for Wells (1867–1940) [1] | 24 October 1922 | 22 January 1924 | Conservative | Law | ||
Baldwin I | ||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Noel Buxton MP for North Norfolk (1869–1948) | 22 January 1924 | 3 November 1924 | Labour | MacDonald I | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
E. F. L. Wood MP for Ripon (1881–1959) | 6 November 1924 | 4 November 1925 | Conservative | Baldwin II | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Walter Guinness
DSO MP for Ripon (1880–1944) | 4 November 1925 | 4 June 1929 | Conservative | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Noel Buxton MP for North Norfolk (1869–1948) | 7 June 1929 | 5 June 1930 | Labour | MacDonald II | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Christopher Addison
FRCS MP for Swindon (1869–1951) | 5 June 1930 | 24 August 1931 | Labour | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Sir John Gilmour
Bt DSO TD JP DL MP for Glasgow Pollok (1876–1940) | 25 August 1931 | 28 September 1932 | Conservative | National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) | |
National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) | ||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Walter Elliot
MC FRSE MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove (1888–1958) | 28 September 1932 | 29 October 1936 | Conservative | ||
National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) | ||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
William Morrison
MC QC MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (1893–1961) | 29 October 1936 | 29 January 1939 | Conservative | ||
National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) | ||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith
GBE MP for Petersfield (1899–1977) | 29 January 1939 | 14 May 1940 | Conservative | ||
Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) | ||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Robert Hudson
CH MP for Southport (1886–1957) | 14 May 1940 | 26 July 1945 | Conservative | Churchill War (All parties) | |
Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.) | ||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Tom Williams MP for Don Valley (1888–1967) | 3 August 1945 | 26 October 1951 | Labour | Attlee (I & II) | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Sir Thomas Dugdale
Bt TD MP for Richmond (1897–1977) | 31 October 1951 | 20 July 1954 | Conservative | Churchill III | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Derick Heathcoat-Amory
TD MP for Tiverton (1899–1981) | 28 July 1954 | 18 October 1954 | Conservative |
Ministers of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1954–2001)
Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Party | Ministry | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | The Right Honourable
Derick Heathcoat-Amory
TD MP for Tiverton (1899–1981) | 18 October 1954 | 6 January 1958 | Conservative | Churchill III | [5] | |
Eden | |||||||
Macmillan (I & II) | |||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
John Hare
OBE MP for Sudbury and Woodbridge (1911–1982) | 6 January 1958 | 27 July 1960 | Conservative | [6] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Christopher Soames
CBE MP for Bedford (1920–1987) | 27 July 1960 | 16 October 1964 | Conservative | [7] | ||
Douglas-Home | |||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Fred Peart MP for Workington (1914–1988) | 16 October 1964 | 6 April 1968 | Labour | Wilson (I & II) | [8] | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Cledwyn Hughes MP for Anglesey (1916–2001) | 6 April 1968 | 19 June 1970 | Labour | [9] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Jim Prior MP for Lowestoft (1927–2016) | 20 June 1970 | 5 November 1972 | Conservative | Heath | [10] | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Joseph Godber MP for Grantham (1914–1980) | 5 November 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | [11] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Fred Peart MP for Workington (1914–1988) | 5 March 1974 | 10 September 1976 | Labour | Wilson (III & IV) | ||
Callaghan | |||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
John Silkin MP for Worcester (1923–1987) | 10 September 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | [12] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Peter Walker
MBE MP for Worcester (1932–2010) | 5 May 1979 | 11 June 1983 | Conservative | Thatcher I | [13] | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Michael Jopling MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale (1930–) | 11 June 1983 | 13 June 1987 | Conservative | Thatcher II | [14] | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
John MacGregor
OBE MP for South Norfolk (1937–) | 13 June 1987 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | Thatcher III | [15] | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
John Gummer MP for Suffolk Coastal (1939–) | 24 July 1989 | 27 May 1993 | Conservative | [16] | ||
Major I | |||||||
Major II | |||||||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Gillian Shephard MP for South West Norfolk (1940–) | 27 May 1993 | 20 July 1994 | Conservative | [17] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
William Waldegrave MP for Bristol West (1946–) | 20 July 1994 | 5 July 1995 | Conservative | [18] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Douglas Hogg
QC MP for Grantham (1945–) | 5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | [19] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Jack Cunningham
DL MP for Copeland (1939–) | 3 May 1997 | 27 July 1998 | Labour | Blair (I–III) | [20] | |
![]() | The Right Honourable
Nick Brown MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend (1950–) | 27 July 1998 | 8 June 2001 | Labour | [21] | ||
![]() | The Right Honourable
Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South (1943–) | 8 June 2001 | 27 March 2002 | Labour | [22] |
From 2002 the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was dissolved and ministerial responsibility formerly transferred to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.