| Post: | Secretary of State for Business and Trade |
| Insignia: | Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government |
| Department: | Department for Business and Trade |
| Incumbent: | Jonathan Reynolds |
| Incumbentsince: | 5 July 2024 |
| Status: | Secretary of State Minister of the Crown |
| Appointer: | The Monarch |
| Member Of: | Cabinet Privy Council Board of Trade |
| Reports To: | The Prime Minister |
| First: | Edward Heath |
| Formation: |
|
| Salary: | £159,038 per annum [1] (including £86,584 MP salary)[2] |
| Website: | Department for Business and Trade |
The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
The incumbent business secretary is Jonathan Reynolds who was appointed by Keir Starmer on 5 July 2024.[3] The Secretary of State is shadowed by the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, currently Kevin Hollinrake since 2024.
Corresponding to what is generally known as a commerce minister in many other countries, the business secretary's remit includes:
During the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the then president of the Board of Trade, Edward Heath, was given in addition the job of secretary of state for industry, trade and regional development. This title was not continued under Harold Wilson, but when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 he decided to merge functions of the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Technology to create the Department of Trade and Industry. The head of this department became known as the secretary of state for trade and industry and also retained the title of President of the Board of Trade.
When Harold Wilson re-entered office in March 1974, the office was split into the Department of Trade, the Department of Industry and the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection, resulting in the creation of three new positions: Secretary of State for Industry, Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, and Secretary of State for Trade. The title President of the Board of Trade became the secondary title of the Secretary of State for Trade. By 1979 the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was abolished by the incoming Conservative government and its responsibilities were reintegrated into the Department of Trade. Furthermore, 1983 the offices of trade and industry were remerged and the title of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was recreated. When Michael Heseltine held this office, he preferred to be known by the older title of President of the Board of Trade, and this practice was also followed by Ian Lang and Margaret Beckett. Heseltine's decision to reuse the old title caused some controversy, and it was discovered that the Board of Trade had not in fact met since the mid-nineteenth century.
Under Gordon Brown's premiership there were two re-namings of the role and three re-alignments of responsibility. In his first cabinet of 2007, he called the post Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. With this change, the Better Regulation Executive was added to the department but the Office of Science and Innovation was lost. In 2008, the title remained the same but responsibility for energy was lost. In 2009, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was merged into the existing department and the post became Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
In July 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May decided to merge the Department for Energy and Climate Change into this department with the responsibilities for post-19 education and skills being returned to the Department for Education resulting in the position being renamed to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. At the same time in July 2016, the post of President of the Board of Trade was transferred to the newly created post of Secretary of State for International Trade.[4]
The current role of Secretary of State for Business and Trade was established on 7 February 2023 after a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saw the dissolution of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its responsibilities transferred to three new departments: Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The new Department for Business and Trade absorbed the business policy responsibilities of BEIS, and the functions of the former Department for International Trade.
| Secretary of State | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Davies | 15 October 1970 | 5 November 1972 | Conservative | Edward Heath | ||||
| Peter Walker | 5 November 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Conservative | |||||
| Secretary of State for Industry | Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection | Secretary of State for Trade | Political party | Prime Minister | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Took office | Left office | Name | Took office | Left office | Name | Took office | Left office | |||||||
Tony Benn | 5 March 1974 | 10 June 1975 | Shirley Williams | 5 March 1974 | 10 September 1976 | Peter Shore | 5 March 1974 | 8 April 1976 | Labour | Harold Wilson | |||||
Eric Varley | 10 June 1975 | 4 May 1979 | |||||||||||||
Edmund Dell | 8 April 1976 | 11 November 1978 | James Callaghan | ||||||||||||
Roy Hattersley | 10 September 1976 | 4 May 1979 | |||||||||||||
John Smith | 11 November 1978 | 4 May 1979 | |||||||||||||
Keith Joseph | 4 May 1979 | 14 September 1981 | John Nott | 5 May 1979 | 5 January 1981 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||
John Biffen | 5 January 1981 | 6 April 1982 | |||||||||||||
Patrick Jenkin | 14 September 1981 | 12 June 1983 | |||||||||||||
The Lord Cockfield | 6 April 1982 | 12 June 1983 | |||||||||||||
| Departments merged in 1983 and responsibilities transferred to the Department for Trade and Industry. | |||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State | Took office | Left office | Political party | Cabinet | Prime minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cecil Parkinson | 12 June 1983 | 11 October 1983 | Conservative | Thatcher II | Margaret Thatcher | ||||
| Norman Tebbit | 16 October 1983 | 2 September 1985 | Conservative | ||||||
| Leon Brittan | 2 September 1985 | 22 January 1986 | Conservative | ||||||
| Paul Channon | 24 January 1986 | 13 June 1987 | Conservative | ||||||
| The Lord Young of Graffham | 13 June 1987 | 24 July 1989 | Conservative | Thatcher III | |||||
| Nicholas Ridley | 24 July 1989 | 13 July 1990 | Conservative | ||||||
| Peter Lilley | 14 July 1990 | 10 April 1992 | Conservative | ||||||
| Major I | John Major | ||||||||
| Michael Heseltine | 10 April 1992 | 5 July 1995 | Conservative | Major II | |||||
| Ian Lang | 5 July 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | ||||||
| Margaret Beckett | 2 May 1997 | 27 July 1998 | Labour | Blair I | Tony Blair | ||||
| Peter Mandelson | 27 July 1998 | 23 December 1998 | Labour | ||||||
| Stephen Byers | 23 December 1998 | 8 June 2001 | Labour | ||||||
| Patricia Hewitt | 8 June 2001 | 6 May 2005 | Labour | Blair II | |||||
| Alan Johnson | 6 May 2005 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | Blair III | |||||
| Alistair Darling | 5 May 2006 | 27 June 2007 | Labour | ||||||
| Department abolished 2007. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. | |||||||||
| Secretary of State | Took office | Left office | Political party | Cabinet | Prime Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Hutton | 28 June 2007 | 3 October 2008 | Labour | Brown | Gordon Brown | ||||
| The Lord Mandelson | 3 October 2008 | 5 June 2009 | Labour | ||||||
| Department abolished 2009. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. | |||||||||
| Secretary of State | Took office | Left office | Political party | Cabinet | Prime Minister | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lord Mandelson | 5 June 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Brown | Gordon Brown | |||||
| Vince Cable | 12 May 2010 | 8 May 2015 | Liberal Democrats | Cameron-Clegg | David Cameron | |||||
| Sajid Javid | 11 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron II | ||||||
| Department abolished 2016. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. | ||||||||||
| Secretary of State | Term of office | Political party | Cabinet | Prime Minister | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Miliband | 3 October 2008 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Brown | Gordon Brown | |||||
| Chris Huhne | 12 May 2010 | 3 February 2012 | Liberal Democrats | Cameron-Clegg | David Cameron | |||||
| Ed Davey | 3 February 2012 | 8 May 2015 | Liberal Democrats | |||||||
| Amber Rudd | 11 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 | Conservative | Cameron II | ||||||
| Department abolished 2016. Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. | ||||||||||
| Secretary of State | Took office | Left office | Political party | Cabinet | Prime Minister | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Clark | 14 July 2016 | 24 July 2019 | Conservative | May I | Theresa May | |||||
| May II | ||||||||||
| Andrea Leadsom | 24 July 2019 | 13 February 2020 | Conservative | Johnson I | Boris Johnson | |||||
| Johnson II | ||||||||||
| Alok Sharma | 13 February 2020 | 8 January 2021 | Conservative | |||||||
| Kwasi Kwarteng | 8 January 2021 | 6 September 2022 | Conservative | |||||||
| Jacob Rees-Mogg | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Conservative | Truss | Liz Truss | |||||
| Grant Shapps | 25 October 2022 | 7 February 2023 | Conservative | Sunak | Rishi Sunak | |||||
| Department abolished February 2023. Responsibilities distributed to the newly created Departments for Business and Trade, Energy Security and Net Zero, and Science, Innovation and Technology. | ||||||||||
| Secretary of State | Took office | Left office | Political party | Cabinet | Prime Minister | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kemi Badenoch | 7 February 2023 | 5 July 2024 | Conservative | Sunak | Rishi Sunak | ||||||
| Jonathan Reynolds | 5 July 2024 | Incumbent | Labour | Starmer | Keir Starmer | ||||||