Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)

United Kingdom
Minister without Portfolio
United Kingdom; Minister without Portfolio
	Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
	Flag of the United Kingdom
	Incumbent; Ellie Reeves; since 6 July 2024
	Cabinet Office
Style	The Right Honourable
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The British Monarch; on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	No fixed term
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022); (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	GOV.UK

In the United Kingdom, a minister without portfolio is often a cabinet position, or often attends cabinet. The role is sometimes used to enable the chairman of the governing party, contemporarily either the chairman of the Conservative Party or the chair of the Labour Party, to attend cabinet meetings. (If so, they hold the title of "Party chairman".) The sinecure positions of Lord Privy Seal, Paymaster General, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which have few responsibilities and have a higher rank in the order of precedence than minister without portfolio can also be used to similar effect. There is currently one minister without portfolio, Ellie Reeves, who was appointed following the 2024 general election.

The corresponding shadow minister is the Shadow Minister without Portfolio.

List of office holders

The Lord Somers, as part of the Townshend ministry
Henry Seymour Conway, as part of the Chatham ministry and Grafton ministry

Minister		Concurrent office(s)	Tenure	Political party
	William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland		January 1805 – February 1806	Whig	William Pitt the Younger
	William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam		October 1806 – March 1807	Whig	William Grenville (Ministry of All the Talents)
	William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland		4 October 1809 – 30 October 1809	Tory	Spencer Perceval
	Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby		November 1809 – June 1812	Tory (Pittite)
	John Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden (created 1st Marquess Camden, August 1812)		8 April 1812 – December 1812	Tory
			8 April 1812 – December 1812		Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
	Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave		January 1819 – May 1820		Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne		April 1827 – July 1827	Whig	George Canning
	William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland		July 1827 – September 1827	Tory (Canningite)	George Canning
	George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle		22 November 1830 – 5 June 1834	Whig	Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington		3 September 1841 – July 1846	Conservative	Robert Peel
	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne		28 December 1852 – 21 February 1858	Whig	George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (until February 1855)
	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne		28 December 1852 – 21 February 1858		Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
	Lord John Russell		February 1853 – June 1854		George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
	Spencer Horatio Walpole		May 1867 – February 1868	Conservative	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
	Michael Hicks Beach		7 March 1887 – 20 February 1888	Conservative	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne		25 May 1915 – December 1916	Liberal Unionist	H. H. Asquith (Coalition)
	Arthur Henderson	Member of the War Cabinet	10 December 1916 – 12 August 1917	Labour	David Lloyd George (Coalition)
	Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner		10 December 1916 – 18 April 1918	Conservative
	Jan Smuts		22 June 1917 – 10 January 1919	South African Party
	Edward Carson		17 July 1917 – 21 January 1918	Ulster Unionist Party (Irish Unionist)
	George Barnes	Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919)	13 August 1917 – 27 January 1920	Labour
	Austen Chamberlain	Member of the War Cabinet	18 April 1918 – 10 January 1919	Conservative
	Eric Campbell Geddes	Member of the War Cabinet	10 January 1919 – 31 October 1919
	Laming Worthington-Evans	Member of the War Cabinet (until October 1919)	10 January 1919 – 13 February 1921
	Christopher Addison		1 April 1921 – 14 July 1921	Liberal
	Anthony Eden	Minister for League of Nations affairs	7 June 1935 – 22 December 1935	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin (Coalition)
	Eustace Percy		7 June 1935 – 31 March 1936	Conservative	Stanley Baldwin (Coalition)
	Leslie Burgin	Minister of Supply-designate	21 April 1939 – 14 July 1939	National Liberal Party	Neville Chamberlain (Coalition)
	Maurice Hankey	Member of the War Cabinet	September 1939 – 10 May 1940	no party	Neville Chamberlain (Coalition)
	Arthur Greenwood	Member of the War Cabinet	11 May 1940 – 22 February 1942	Labour	Winston Churchill (Coalition)
	William Jowitt		30 December 1942 – 8 October 1944	Labour	Winston Churchill (Coalition)
	A. V. Alexander		4 October 1946 – 20 December 1946	Labour Co-operative	Clement Attlee
	Arthur Greenwood		17 April 1947 – 29 September 1947	Labour	Clement Attlee
	Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster		18 October 1954 – 1957	Conservative	Winston Churchill
	Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster		18 October 1954 – 1957		Anthony Eden
	Stormont Mancroft, 2nd Baron Mancroft		11 June 1957 – 1958		Harold Macmillan
	Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, 11th Earl of Dundee		23 October 1958 – 1961	Unionist
	Percy Mills, 1st Baron Mills	Deputy Leader of the House of Lords	9 October 1961 – 13 July 1962	Conservative
	Bill Deedes		13 July 1962 – 16 October 1964
	Bill Deedes		13 July 1962 – 16 October 1964		Alec Douglas-Home
	Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington	Leader of the House of Lords	20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964		Alec Douglas-Home
	Eric Fletcher		19 October 1964 – 6 April 1966	Labour	Harold Wilson
	Arthur Champion, Baron Champion	Deputy Leader of the House of Lords	21 October 1964 – 7 January 1967
	Douglas Houghton		6 April 1966 – 7 January 1967
	Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton	Deputy Leader of the House of Lords	7 January 1967 – 16 January 1968
	Patrick Gordon Walker		7 January 1967– 21 August 1967
	George Thomson		17 October 1968 – 6 October 1969
	Peter Shore		6 October 1969 – 19 June 1970
	Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn		15 October 1970 – 1974	Unionist	Edward Heath
	Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare		8 January – March 1974	Conservative	Edward Heath
	David Young, Baron Young of Graffham	advising on unemployment	11 September 1984 – 3 September 1985		Margaret Thatcher
	Jeremy Hanley	Chairman of the Conservative Party	20 July 1994 – 5 July 1995		John Major
	Brian Mawhinney	Chairman of the Conservative Party	5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997		John Major
	Peter Mandelson^[3]	called the "Dome Secretary"^[4]	5 May 1997 – 26 July 1998	Labour	Tony Blair
	Charles Clarke^[5]	Labour Party Chair	8 June 2001 – 24 October 2002	Labour	Tony Blair
	John Reid^[6]		24 October 2002 – 4 April 2003
	Ian McCartney^[7]		4 April 2003 – 5 May 2006
	Hazel Blears^[8]		5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
no appointment			28 June 2007 – 12 May 2010		Gordon Brown
	Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi^[9]^[10]	Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party	12 May 2010 – 6 September 2012	Conservative	David Cameron (Coalition)
	Grant Shapps^[11]	Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party	6 September 2012 – 8 May 2015
	Kenneth Clarke^[12]	Trade envoy	6 September 2012 – 14 July 2014
	John Hayes^[13]	Senior Parliamentary Adviser to the Prime Minister (Cabinet Office)	28 March 2013 – 15 July 2014
	Robert Halfon^[14]	Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party	8 May 2015 – 17 July 2016		David Cameron
no appointment			17 July 2016 – 8 January 2018		Theresa May
	Brandon Lewis^[15]	Chairman of the Conservative Party	8 January 2018 – 24 July 2019		Theresa May
	James Cleverly^[16]		24 July 2019 – 13 February 2020		Boris Johnson
	Amanda Milling^[17]		13 February 2020 – 15 September 2021
	Oliver Dowden^[18]		15 September 2021 – 24 June 2022
no appointment			24 June 2022 – 7 July 2022
	Andrew Stephenson	Chairman of the Conservative Party	7 July 2022 – 6 September 2022
	Sir Jake Berry		6 September 2022 – 25 October 2022		Liz Truss
	Nadhim Zahawi		25 October 2022 – 29 January 2023		Rishi Sunak
	Greg Hands		7 February 2023 – 13 November 2023
	Richard Holden		13 November 2023 – 5 July 2024
	Ellie Reeves	Chair of the Labour Party	6 July 2024 – present	Labour	Keir Starmer

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.
^ "Lord Mandelson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ "Mandelson and Heseltine defend Dome". BBC News. 28 January 1998. Retrieved 28 July 2021. The Minister without Portfolio, Peter Mandelson, has told MPs the Millennium Dome is "on time and on budget" as he faced Conservative criticisms of "secrecy and arrogance" in the House of Commons. The so-called 'Dome Secretary' was joined by Michael Heseltine in a robust defence of the project...
^ "Rt Hon Charles Clarke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
^ "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ "Sir Ian McCartney". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Hazel Blears". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ "Baroness Warsi". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ "Ministers Reflect - Minister Baroness Warsi". Institute for Government. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021. Sayeeda Warsi looks back on her time in the Coalition Government, starting with figuring out what exactly was a Minister without Portfolio.
^ "Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Lord Clarke of Nottingham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Rt Hon John Hayes MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Rt Hon James Cleverly MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Oliver Dowdon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 September 2021.

[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] "Lord Mandelson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.

[4] "Mandelson and Heseltine defend Dome". BBC News. 28 January 1998. Retrieved 28 July 2021. The Minister without Portfolio, Peter Mandelson, has told MPs the Millennium Dome is "on time and on budget" as he faced Conservative criticisms of "secrecy and arrogance" in the House of Commons. The so-called 'Dome Secretary' was joined by Michael Heseltine in a robust defence of the project...

[5] "Rt Hon Charles Clarke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.

[6] "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.

[7] "Sir Ian McCartney". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 July 2021.

[8] "Rt Hon Hazel Blears". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.

[9] "Baroness Warsi". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.

[10] "Ministers Reflect - Minister Baroness Warsi". Institute for Government. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021. Sayeeda Warsi looks back on her time in the Coalition Government, starting with figuring out what exactly was a Minister without Portfolio.

[11] "Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[12] "Lord Clarke of Nottingham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[13] "Rt Hon John Hayes MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[14] "Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[15] "Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[16] "Rt Hon James Cleverly MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[17] "Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

[18] "Rt Hon Oliver Dowdon MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 15 September 2021.

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

v t e Cabinet Office
Ministers	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for the Cabinet Office Minister without Portfolio Leader of the House of Lords Leader of the House of Commons Paymaster General Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office
Civil Service	Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary
Ministerial departments	Office of the Leader of the House of Commons Office of the Leader of the House of Lords
Non-ministerial department	UK Statistics Authority
Executive agencies	Crown Commercial Service Government Property Agency
Non-departmental public bodies	Civil Service Commission Equality and Human Rights Commission Advisory Committee on Business Appointments Boundary Commission for England Boundary Commission for Wales Committee on Standards in Public Life House of Lords Appointments Commission Security Vetting Appeals Panel Senior Salaries Review Body
Other organisations	Commissioner for Public Appointments Government Car Service (Prime Ministerial Car) Government Equalities Office Government Estates Management Infrastructure and Projects Authority Office of the Parliamentary Counsel Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists Privy Council Office
Secretariats	Civil Contingencies Secretariat Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms Defence and Overseas Secretariat Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat
Category

List of office holders

See also

References