The parliamentary under-secretary of state for foreign affairs was a junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the secretary of state for foreign affairs and since 1945 also to the minister of state for foreign affairs. The post is based at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which was created by the merger of the Foreign Office, where the position was initially based, with the Commonwealth Office in 1968 and the Department for International Development in 2020. Notable holders of the office include Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, and Anthony Eden.

List of ministers

NamePortrait Term of officePolitical partyP.M.F.Sec.Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign AffairsWilliam Fraser17821789Richard Brinsley Sheridan17821782WhigMarquess of RockinghamFoxGeorge Maddison17821783Earl of ShelburneLord GranthamDuke of PortlandFoxSt Andrew St John17831789Pitt the YoungerEarl TempleDuke of LeedsDudley Ryder17891789TorySir James Burges, 1st Baronet1789January 1796Lord GrenvilleGeorge CanningJanuary 1796April 1799ToryJohn Hookham FrereApril 1799September 1800Edward FisherSeptember 1800February 1801Frederick Hervey, Baron HerveyFebruary 1801November 1803AddingtonLord HawkesburyCharles ArbuthnotNovember 1803June 1804ToryWilliam EliotJune 1804February 1805Pitt the YoungerLord HarrowbyRobert WardFebruary 1805February 1806Lord MulgraveGeorge WalpoleFebruary 1806March 1807Lord GrenvilleFoxCharles Grey, Viscount HowickSir Francis Vincent, 9th BaronetFebruary 1806March 1807Duke of PortlandCanningJames Harris, Viscount FitzHarrisMarch 1807August 1807Charles BagotAugust 1807December 1809PercevalEarl BathurstCulling Charles SmithDecember 1809February 1812Marquess WellesleyEdward CookeFebruary 18121817Earl of LiverpoolMarquess of LondonderryJoseph Planta25 July 181722 January 1822Haydn's Book of DignitiesToryRichard Meade, 3rd Earl of ClanwilliamJanuary 1822January 1823CanningLord Francis ConynghamJanuary 1823January 1826ToryCharles Ellis, 6th Baron Howard de WaldenJuly 1824June 1828Earl of DudleyUlick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of ClanricardeJanuary 18261827Cospatrick Douglas-Home, Lord DunglassJune 1828November 1830Duke of WellingtonEarl of AberdeenSir George Shee, 2nd Baronet26 November 183013 November 1834WhigEarl GreyViscount PalmerstonViscount MelbourneGeorge Cowper, Viscount Fordwich13 November 183417 December 1834Duke of WellingtonDuke of WellingtonPhilip Stanhope, Viscount Mahon17 December 183418 April 1835ConservativePeelWilliam Fox-Strangways18 April 18357 March 1840WhigViscount MelbourneViscount PalmerstonGranville Leveson-Gower, Baron Leveson7 March 18404 September 1841Charles Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning4 September 184127 January 1846ConservativePeelEarl of AberdeenGeorge Smythe27 January 18466 July 1846Edward Stanley6 July 184612 February 1852WhigRussellViscount PalmerstonEarl GranvilleAusten Henry Layard12 February 185218 May 1852Edward Stanley, Baron Stanley18 May 185228 December 1852ConservativeEarl of DerbyEarl of MalmesburyJohn Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse28 December 18525 July 1856WhigEarl of AberdeenLord John RussellEarl of ClarendonHenry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne5 July 185626 February 1858Viscount PalmerstonWilliam Vesey-FitzGerald26 February 185819 June 1859ConservativeEarl of DerbyEarl of MalmesburyJohn Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse19 June 185915 August 1861LiberalViscount PalmerstonEarl RussellAusten Henry Layard15 August 18616 July 1866Earl RussellEarl of ClarendonEdward Egerton6 July 186612 December 1868ConservativeEarl of DerbyEdward Stanley, Baron StanleyDisraeliArthur Otway12 December 18689 January 1871LiberalGladstoneEarl of ClarendonEarl GranvilleGeorge Byng, Viscount Enfield9 January 187123 February 1874Robert Bourke23 February 187428 April 1880ConservativeDisraeliEarl of DerbyMarquess of SalisburySir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet28 April 18801 January 1883LiberalGladstoneEarl GranvilleLord Edmond Fitzmaurice1 January 188325 June 1885Robert Bourke25 June 188528 January 1886ConservativeMarquess of SalisburyMarquess of SalisburyJames Bryce7 February 188620 July 1886LiberalGladstoneEarl of RoseberySir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet4 August 188622 September 1891ConservativeMarquess of SalisburyEarl of IddesleighMarquess of SalisburyJames Lowther22 September 189118 August 1892Sir Edward Grey, 3rd Baronet18 August 189220 June 1895LiberalGladstoneEarl of RoseberyEarl of RoseberyEarl of KimberleyGeorge Curzon20 June 189515 October 1898ConservativeMarquess of SalisburyMarquess of SalisburySt John Brodrick15 October 189812 November 1900James Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne12 November 19009 October 1903Marquess of LansdowneBalfourHenry Percy, Earl Percy9 October 190318 December 1905Lord Edmond FitzmauriceCreated Baron Fitzmaurice in January 190618 December 190519 October 1908LiberalCampbell-BannermanGreyAsquithThomas McKinnon Wood19 October 190823 October 1911Francis Dyke Acland23 October 19114 February 1915Neil Primrose4 February 191530 May 1915Lord Robert Cecil30 May 191510 January 1919ConservativeLloyd GeorgeBalfourCecil Harmsworth10 January 191931 October 1922LiberalRonald McNeill31 October 192223 January 1924ConservativeLawMarquess Curzon of KedlestonBaldwinArthur Ponsonby23 January 192411 November 1924LabourMacDonaldMacDonaldRonald McNeill11 November 19247 December 1925ConservativeBaldwinChamberlainGodfrey Locker-Lampson7 December 192511 June 1929Hugh Dalton11 June 19293 September 1931LabourMacDonaldHendersonAnthony Eden3 September 193118 January 1934ConservativeMarquess of ReadingSimonJames Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope18 January 193416 June 1936BaldwinHoareEdenRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne18 June 193520 February 1938Baldwin (1935–37)Chamberlain (1937–40)Eden (1935–38)Viscount Halifax (1938–40)Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth30 July 193612 May 1940Rab Butler25 February 193820 July 1941ChamberlainViscount HalifaxChurchillEdenRichard Law20 July 194125 September 1943George Hall25 September 194326 May 1945LabourAlec Douglas-Home, Lord Dunglass26 May 194526 July 1945ConservativeSimon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat26 May 194526 July 1945Hector McNeil4 August 19454 October 1946LabourAttleeBevinChristopher Mayhew4 October 19462 March 1950William Henderson, 1st Baron Henderson7 June 194826 October 1951Ernest Davies2 March 195026 October 1951MorrisonGerald Isaacs, 2nd Marquess of Reading31 October 195111 November 1953ConservativeChurchillEdenAnthony Nutting31 October 195118 October 1954Douglas Dodds-Parker11 November 195318 October 1954Robin Turton18 October 195420 December 1955Churchill (1954–55)Eden (1955–56)Eden (1954–55)Macmillan (1955)Lloyd (1955–56)Lord John Hope18 October 19549 November 1956Douglas Dodds-Parker20 December 19559 January 1957EdenLloydDavid Ormsby-Gore9 November 19569 January 1957Ian Harvey18 January 195724 November 1958MacmillanArchibald Acheson, 6th Earl of Gosford18 January 195723 October 1958George Petty-Fitzmaurice, 8th Marquess of Lansdowne23 October 195820 April 1962Alec Douglas-HomeJohn Profumo28 November 195816 January 1959LloydRobert Allan16 January 19597 October 1960Joseph Godber28 October 196027 June 1961Alec Douglas-HomePeter Thomas27 June 196127 June 1963Peter Smithers16 July 196229 January 1964Douglas-HomeButlerRobert Mathew30 January 196416 October 1964Henry Walston, Baron Walston20 October 19647 January 1967LabourWilsonWalkerStewartBrownBill Rodgers7 January 19673 July 1968Maurice Foley3 July 196817 October 1968StewartParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth AffairsMaurice Foley17 October 196819 June 1970LabourWilsonStewartWilliam Whitlock17 October 196813 October 1969Evan Luard13 October 196919 June 1970Anthony Royle24 June 19708 January 1974ConservativeHeathDouglas-HomePeter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian24 June 19709 April 1972Anthony Kershaw15 October 19705 June 1973Peter Blaker 8 January 19744 March 1974Goronwy Roberts, Baron Goronwy-Roberts8 March 19744 December 1975LabourWilsonCallaghanJoan Lestor8 March 197412 June 1975Ted Rowlands12 June 197514 April 1976John Tomlinson17 March 19764 May 1979CallaghanCrosland (1976–77)Owen (1977–79)Evan Luard14 April 19764 May 1979Richard Luce 6 May 197914 September 1981ConservativeThatcherLord CarringtonDavid Trefgarne, 2nd Baron Trefgarne 14 September 19816 April 1982Malcolm Rifkind 6 April 198213 June 1983PymRay Whitney 13 June 198311 September 1984HoweTim Renton 11 September 19842 September 1985Timothy Eggar 2 September 198524 July 1989Tim Sainsbury 24 July 198924 July 1990MajorHurdMark Lennox-Boyd 24 July 199020 July 1994MajorLiam Fox 23 July 19961 May 1997ConservativeMajorRifkindElizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean2 May 199728 June 1999LabourBlairCookPatricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal28 July 199912 June 2001Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos12 June 200113 June 2003StrawBen Bradshaw12 June 200129 May 2002Mike O'Brien29 May 200213 June 2003Bill Rammell28 October 200210 May 2005Chris Mullin13 June 200310 May 2005David Triesman, Baron Triesman10 May 200528 June 2007BeckettMeg Munn29 June 20075 October 2008BrownMilibandGillian Merron5 October 20089 June 2009Chris Bryant9 June 200911 May 2010

See also

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Foreign Secretary Minister of State for Europe Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department Undersecretary

References