Minister of State for Trade

"Trade Minister" redirects here. For general usage, see Commerce minister.

United Kingdom
Minister of State for Trade
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
since 22 July 2026
Department for Business and Trade
StyleMinister
NominatorPrime Minister of the United Kingdom
AppointerThe Monarch
on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation3 September 1953
First holderDerick Heathcoat-Amory
Websitewww.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-of-state--239

The Minister of State for Trade[1] is a mid-level role at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. It is currently held by Anas Sarwar, who was appointed on 22 July 2026.[2]

History

Although a Minister of State position, it was considered to be one of the most important jobs outside Cabinet rank as when Douglas Alexander became Minister of State for Trade in September 2004, he was given a special provision to attend the Cabinet meetings.

This position replaced the office of Secretary for Overseas Trade, created in 1917.

The subsequent role of Minister of State for Investment was created in 2021.

The minister formerly worked at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Department for International Trade.

List of ministers

Minister Entered office Left office Political party Prime Minister
Derick Heathcoat-Amory 3 September 1953 18 October 1954 Conservative Winston Churchill
Derek Walker-Smith 18 October 1954 6 April 1955 Conservative
Derick Heathcoat-Amory 6 April 1955 16 January 1957 Conservative Anthony Eden
Derek Walker-Smith 16 January 1957 17 September 1957 Conservative Harold Macmillan
John Vaughan-Morgan 17 September 1957 22 October 1959 Conservative
Frederick Erroll 22 October 1959 9 October 1961 Conservative
Keith Joseph 9 October 1961 16 July 1962 Conservative
Alan Green 16 July 1962 23 October 1963 Conservative
The Lord Derwent 6 September 1962 23 October 1963 Conservative
The Lord Drumalbyn 23 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Alec Douglas-Home
Edward du Cann 23 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative
George Darling 20 October 1964 6 April 1968 Labour Harold Wilson
Edward Redhead 20 October 1964 11 October 1965 Labour
Roy Mason 20 October 1964 7 January 1967 Labour
The Lord Brown 11 October 1965 19 June 1970 Labour
Joseph Mallalieu 7 January 1967 1 July 1968 Labour
Edmund Dell 6 April 1968 13 October 1969 Labour
William Rodgers 1 July 1968 13 October 1969 Labour
Goronwy Roberts 13 October 1969 19 June 1970 Labour
Frederick Corfield 24 June 1970 15 October 1970 Conservative Edward Heath
Michael Noble 15 October 1970 5 November 1972 Conservative
Geoffrey Howe[a] 5 November 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative
Eric Deakins 4 March 1974 5 April 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
Stanley Clinton-Davis 4 March 1974 4 May 1979 Labour
Michael Meacher 5 April 1976 4 May 1979 Labour James Callaghan
Cecil Parkinson 7 May 1979 14 September 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
Peter Rees 14 September 1981 9 June 1983 Conservative
Paul Channon 9 June 1983 24 January 1986 Conservative
Alan Clark 24 January 1986 25 July 1989 Conservative
The Lord Trefgarne 25 July 1989 23 July 1990 Conservative
Tim Sainsbury 23 July 1990 14 April 1992 Conservative John Major
Richard Needham 14 April 1992 6 July 1995 Conservative
Anthony Nelson 6 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative
The Lord Clinton-Davis 2 May 1997 28 July 1998 Labour Tony Blair
Brian Wilson 28 July 1998 28 July 1999 Labour
Richard Caborn 28 July 1999 11 June 2001 Labour
The Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean 11 June 2001 13 June 2003 Labour
Mike O'Brien 13 June 2003 9 September 2004 Labour
Douglas Alexander 9 September 2004 11 May 2005 Labour
Ian Pearson 11 May 2005 8 May 2006 Labour
Ian McCartney[b] 8 May 2006 28 June 2007 Labour
The Lord Jones of Birmingham 29 June 2007 3 October 2008 Independent[c] Gordon Brown
Gareth Thomas[d] 3 October 2008 5 June 2009 Labour
The Lord Davies of Abersoch 14 January 2009 11 May 2010 Labour Gordon Brown
Mark Prisk[e] 11 May 2010 11 January 2011 Conservative David Cameron
The Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint 11 January 2011 11 December 2013 Conservative David Cameron
The Lord Livingston of Parkhead 11 December 2013 11 May 2015 Conservative
The Lord Maude of Horsham 11 May 2015 10 February 2016 Conservative David Cameron
The Lord Price[f] 4 April 2016 3 September 2017 Conservative Theresa May
The Baroness Fairhead 28 September 2017 7 May 2019 Conservative Theresa May
Greg Hands 15 July 2016 21 June 2018 Conservative Theresa May
George Hollingbery 21 June 2018 25 July 2019 Conservative
Conor Burns 25 July 2019 4 May 2020 Conservative Boris Johnson
Greg Hands 13 February 2020 15 September 2021 Conservative
Penny Mordaunt 16 September 2021 6 September 2022 Conservative
Conor Burns 7 September 2022 7 October 2022 Conservative Liz Truss
Greg Hands 9 October 2022 7 February 2023 Conservative
Rishi Sunak
Vacant 7 February 2023 13 November 2023
Greg Hands 13 November 2023 5 July 2024 Conservative
Douglas Alexander 6 July 2024 6 September 2025 Labour Keir Starmer
Sir Chris Bryant 6 September 2025 20 July 2026 Labour Keir Starmer
The Lord Sarwar 22 July 2026 Incumbent Labour Andy Burnham

Notes

  1. ↑ Attended Cabinet.
  2. ↑ Attended Cabinet.
  3. ↑ Jones sat on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, but never joined the party.
  4. ↑ Thomas apparently continued as a Trade Minister after the appointment of Davies. BERR described him simply as Minister for Trade, rather than Minister for Trade and Investment, as he was prior to Davies' appointment.[3]
  5. ↑ He handled UK Trade & Investment until Green entered the government.
  6. ↑ Joyce Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St John's was given Maude's responsibilities on an interim basis until Price took up the role in March 2016.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Minister of State for Trade - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar 'delighted' to accept trade minister job". BBC News. 22 July 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  3. ↑ BERR - Ministerial TeamArchived 2008-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Ministerial appointment: Mark Ian Price". Retrieved 10 February 2016.
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