Minister for London explained

Post:
Minister for London
Insigniacaption:Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
Department:Department for Business and Trade
Status:Minister of the Crown
Reports To:The Prime Minister
Incumbent:Vacant
Seat:Westminster
Termlength:At His Majesty's Pleasure
Incumbentsince:5 July 2024
Appointer:The King
Inaugural:John Gummer
Formation:1994

The Minister for London is a United Kingdom Government ministerial post in His Majesty's Government. The officeholder is responsible for policy relating to London including informing Members of Parliament in the House of Commons on the activities of the Greater London Authority. The role is currently vacant as of 5 July 2024.

History

London had been under the authority of the London County Council and then the Greater London Council, but Margaret Thatcher abolished the GLC in 1986 after clashes with its leader, Ken Livingstone. Most of the municipal powers were then devolved to the 32 individual boroughs. Under John Major, however, the need for more centralised organisation was addressed by a series of moves. John Gummer was appointed Minister of London concurrently with his tenure as Secretary of State for Environment, and in 1994 the Government Office for London was established.[1] After Tony Blair entered office, the Labour government set up an elected Mayor of London.[1] This office, along with a reconstituted Greater London Authority, worked with the Minister and the Government Office.

The post was scrapped by David Cameron after he came to office in 2010.[2] In 2016 however, the post was revived by Theresa May and was assigned to Gavin Barwell.

List of ministers for London

Colour key (for political parties):

PortraitNameTerm of officeConcurrently held officePolitical partyPrime Minister
John Gummer
MP for Suffolk Coastal
19942 May
1997
Secretary of State for the EnvironmentConservativeJohn Major
Nick Raynsford
MP for Greenwich and Woolwich
2 May
1997
29 July
1999
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for ConstructionLabourTony Blair
Keith Hill
MP for Streatham
29 July
1999
7 June
2001
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for TransportLabour
Nick Raynsford
MP for Greenwich and Woolwich
7 June
2001
12 March
2003
Minister of State for Local and Regional GovernmentLabour
Tony McNulty
MP for Harrow East
12 March 200313 June
2003
[3]
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for TransportLabour
Keith Hill
MP for Streatham
13 June
2003
6 May
2005
[4]
Minister of State for Housing and PlanningLabour
Jim Fitzpatrick
MP for Poplar and Canning Town
6 May
2005
28 June
2007
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International DevelopmentLabour
Tessa Jowell
MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
28 June
2007
3 October
2008
Minister for the Olympics
Paymaster General
LabourGordon Brown
Tony McNulty
MP for Harrow East
3 October
2008
5 June
2009
Minister of State for Employment and Welfare ReformLabour
Tessa Jowell
MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
5 June
2009
11 May
2010
Paymaster General
Minister for the Olympics
Minister for the Cabinet Office
Labour
Office not in use11 May
2010
17 July
2016
Gavin Barwell
MP for Croydon Central
17 July
2016
9 June
2017
Minister of State for Housing and PlanningConservativeTheresa May
Greg Hands
MP for Chelsea and Fulham
13 June
2017
9 January
2018
Minister of State for Trade PolicyConservative
Jo Johnson
MP for Orpington
9 January
2018
9 November
2018
Minister of State for TransportConservative
Nick Hurd
MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
14 November
2018
18 December
2019
Minister for Policing and the Fire ServiceConservative
Boris Johnson
Chris Philp
MP for Croydon South
18 December
2019
13 February
2020
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice (until 25 July 2019)
Minister of State for Northern Ireland (from 25 July 2019)
Conservative
Paul Scully
MP for Sutton and Cheam
13 February
2020
13 November
2023
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets (until 8 July 2022)
Minister of State for Local Government and Building Safety (8 July 2022 to 27 October 2022)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy (from 27 October 2022)
Conservative
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Greg Hands
MP for Chelsea and Fulham
13 November
2023
5 July 2024Minister of State for Trade PolicyConservative

Shadow Minister

The position of Shadow Minister for London was retained by Labour under the leadership of Ed Miliband, and was held by Sadiq Khan throughout Miliband's leadership. However, since Khan's nomination as Labour's candidate for Mayor of London and Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, the office has remained vacant.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Governing London. Ben Pimlott. Nirmala Rao. 2002. Oxford University Press. 0-19-924492-8.
  2. News: Minister for London post abolished by David Cameron. Mulholland. Hélène. 4 June 2010. The Guardian. 24 June 2010.
  3. Web site: Press release: Association of London Government looking forward to working with new Minister for London. https://web.archive.org/web/20071127000618/http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=7683&cat=1019. 27 November 2007. 12 March 2003.
  4. http://www.londonhousing.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=9329&cat=1467