The Minister of State for Trade is an executive position in the Government of the United Kingdom, in both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...

 and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...

. The post is responsible for the activities of UK Trade & Investment

UK Trade & Investment

UK Trade & Investment is a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to ensure their success in international markets, and encourage the best overseas companies to look to the UK as their global partner of choice ....

 (UKTI).

Although only a junior Minister of State

Minister of State

Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...

 position, it is considered to be one of the most important jobs outside Cabinet rank. When Douglas Alexander

Douglas Alexander

Douglas Garven Alexander is a British Labour Party politician, who is currently the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the shadow cabinet of Ed Miliband. He has held cabinet posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including Secretary of State for Scotland and...

 became Minister of State for Trade in September 2004, he was given a special provision to attend the Cabinet

Cabinet of the United Kingdom

The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....

 meetings.

Ministers of State for Trade

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Notes
	Cecil Parkinson Cecil Parkinson Cecil Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC , is a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet Minister.-Early life:...		May 1979	September 1981	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Peter Rees Peter Rees Peter Wynford Innes Rees, Baron Rees PC, QC was a British politician. He was Conservative Member of Parliament for Dover and Deal from 1974 to 1983 and MP for Dover from 1970 to 1974 and 1983 to 1987...		September 1981	June 1983	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Paul Channon Paul Channon Henry Paul Guinness Channon, Baron Kelvedon, PC , was Conservative MP for Southend West for 38 years, from 1959 until 1997...		June 1983	24 January 1986	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Alan Clark Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British Conservative MP and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade, and Defence, and became a privy counsellor in 1991...		24 January 1986	1989	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	David Trefgarne		1989	1990	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Tim Sainsbury Tim Sainsbury Sir Timothy Alan Davan Sainsbury is a politician and businessman in the United Kingdom.-Early life:Sainsbury is the youngest son of Lord Sainsbury and his wife Doreen...		1990	1992	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Richard Needham Richard Needham Richard Francis Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey, Kt, PC usually known as Sir Richard Needham is a former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom...		1992	1995	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Anthony Nelson Anthony Nelson Richard Anthony Nelson is a former British Conservative politician. He was educated at Harrow School and Christ's College, Cambridge...		1995	2 May 1997	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Lord Clinton-Davis		2 May 1997	28 July 1998	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Brian Wilson		28 July 1998	28 July 1999	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Richard Caborn Richard Caborn Richard George Caborn PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central from 1983 to 2010...		28 July 1999	11 June 2001	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean Elizabeth Conway Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, PC is a British life peer and former General Secretary of the FDA Trade Union and a Minister of State...		11 June 2001	13 June 2003	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Mike O'Brien		13 June 2003	9 September 2004	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Douglas Alexander Douglas Alexander Douglas Garven Alexander is a British Labour Party politician, who is currently the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the shadow cabinet of Ed Miliband. He has held cabinet posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including Secretary of State for Scotland and...		9 September 2004	11 May 2005	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Ian Pearson Ian Pearson Ian Phares Pearson is a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1994 until 2010, representing Dudley West from 1994 until 1997, and then Dudley South from 1997 until his retirement from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election...		11 May 2005	8 May 2006	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Ian McCartney Ian McCartney Sir Ian McCartney is a former politician, who was the British Labour Party Member of Parliament for the Makerfield constituency between 1987 to 2010, and served in the Cabinet, from 2003 to 2007, when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister...		8 May 2006	28 June 2007	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Attended Cabinet Cabinet of the United Kingdom The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
	Lord Jones of Birmingham		29 June 2007	3 October 2008	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Gareth Thomas Gareth Thomas (English politician) Gareth Richard Thomas is a British Labour Co-operative politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Harrow West since 1997...		3 October 2008	5 June 2009	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Thomas apparently continued as a Trade Minister after the appointment of Lord Davies. BERR Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry , and was itself disbanded on 6 June 2009 on the creation of the Department for Business,...  described him simply as 'Minister for Trade' rather than 'Minister for Trade and Investment' as he was prior to Davies' appointment.
	Lord Davies of Abersoch		14 January 2009	11 May 2010	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	as 'Minister for Trade, Investment and Business'
	Mark Prisk Mark Prisk Michael Mark Prisk is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He is the Member of Parliament for Hertford and Stortford, and was appointed Minister of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in May 2010...		11 May 2010	11 January 2011	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Styled as 'Minister of State for Business and Enterprise'. Handled UK Trade & Investment UK Trade & Investment UK Trade & Investment is a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to ensure their success in international markets, and encourage the best overseas companies to look to the UK as their global partner of choice ....  until Lord Green entered the government
	Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint Stephen Green (banker) Stephen Keith Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint is a British Conservative politician the current Minister of State for Trade and Investment and former Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc...		11 January 2011		Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	as 'Minister of State for Trade and Investment'

External links

• Official UKTI website