The post of Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 with responsibility for addressing all forms of discrimination, with particular emphasis on gender inequality

Gender inequality

Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...

.

History

The position of Minister of Women was created by Tony Blair

Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

 when he became prime minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 as a means of prioritising women's issues across government. Prior to that, there had been an equality unit in the Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....

 and a Cabinet committee

Cabinet committee

The Cabinet committee is a set of Committees in the Canadian Federal Government that are responsible for enacting the operations of the Government's agenda.-List of cabinet committees:...

, which were continued under the leadership under the new minister. When Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

 succeeded Blair, he created the post of Minister for Women and Equality to handle a wider range of equalities issues. The first Minister for Women and, ten years later, the first Minister for Women and Equality was Harriet Harman

Harriet Harman

Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...

. On 12 October 2007 a new department, the Government Equalities Office

Government Equalities Office

The Government Equalities Office is a United Kingdom government department. It was created in October 2007 when the Women and Equality Unit, based within the Department for Communities and Local Government was converted into an independent department.It has lead responsibility for gender equality...

 was created to support the minister. When David Cameron

David Cameron

David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

 became prime minister, he gave the position its current name without a change in its responsibilities. Since its creation, the position has always been held by a minister sitting in Cabinet by virtue of another office (i.e., a secretary of state or leader of one of the Houses of Parliament).

Despite calls from people such as Lord Northbourne

Christopher James, 5th Baron Northbourne

Christopher George Walter James, 5th Baron Northbourne DL, FRICS is a British farmer and businessman. He is one of the ninety hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999....

 for a minister to concentrate on issues specific to men, there is no Minister for Men or similar office.

List of Ministers

For Women

Term	Cabinet Minister	Junior Minister
1997–98	Harriet Harman Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...	Joan Ruddock Joan Ruddock Joan Mary Ruddock is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Lewisham Deptford since 1987. She is a feminist and is the wife of Frank Doran, the Labour MP for Aberdeen North...
1998–01	Baroness Jay	Tessa Jowell Tessa Jowell Tessa Jowell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood since 1992. Formerly a member of both the Blair and Brown Cabinets, she is currently the Shadow Minister for the Olympics and Shadow Minister for London.-Early life:Tessa Jane...
2001	Patricia Hewitt Patricia Hewitt Patricia Hope Hewitt is an Australian-born British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Leicester West from 1997 until 2010. She served in the Cabinet until 2007, most recently as Health Secretary....	Baroness Morgan of Huyton Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton is a British Labour Party politician.Morgan was educated at Belvedere School for Girls, Liverpool, and at Durham University, where she graduated in 1980 with a B.A. in geography. After taking a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at King's College London...
2001–03		Barbara Roche Barbara Roche Barbara Maureen Roche is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green from 1992 until 2005, when she lost the seat, despite having previously enjoyed a majority of over 10,500.During her time in Government, she held several ministerial offices;...
2003–05		Jacqui Smith Jacqui Smith Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith is a member of the British Labour Party. She served as the Member of Parliament for Redditch from 1997 until 2010 and was the first ever female Home Secretary, thus making her the third woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State — after Margaret Thatcher and...
2005–06	Tessa Jowell Tessa Jowell Tessa Jowell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood since 1992. Formerly a member of both the Blair and Brown Cabinets, she is currently the Shadow Minister for the Olympics and Shadow Minister for London.-Early life:Tessa Jane...	Meg Munn Meg Munn Margaret Patricia Munn , is a British Labour Co-operative politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Heeley since 2001.-Early life:...
2006–07	Ruth Kelly Ruth Kelly Ruth Maria Kelly is a British Labour Party politician of Irish descent who was the Member of Parliament for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010...

for Women and Equality

Term	Cabinet Minister	Minister of State	Parliamentary Secretary
2007–08	Harriet Harman Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...	Barbara Follett
2008–10		Maria Eagle Maria Eagle Maria Eagle is a British solicitor and Labour Party politician. She is the Member of Parliament for Garston and Halewood, having been the MP for Liverpool Garston from 1997 to 2010....	Michael Foster Michael Jabez Foster Michael Jabez Foster is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Hastings and Rye from 1997 until 2010...

For Women and Equalities

Term	Cabinet Minister	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
2010–	Theresa May Theresa May Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...	Lynne Featherstone Lynne Featherstone Lynne Choona Featherstone , is a British Liberal Democrat politician, and the Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green....