The Cabinet


OFFICE	NAME	TERM

Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Minister for the Civil Service	Tony Blair	1997–2007

Deputy Prime Minister First Secretary of State	John Prescott	1997–2007
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Gordon Brown	1997–2007
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Irvine of Lairg	1997–2003
	The Lord Falconer of Thoroton	2003–2007
Leader of the House of Commons	Ann Taylor	1997–1998
	Margaret Beckett	1998–2001
	Robin Cook	2001–2003
	John Reid	2003
	Peter Hain	2003–2005
	Geoff Hoon	2005–2006
	Jack Straw	2006–2007
Lord President of the Council	Ann Taylor	1997–1998
	Margaret Beckett	1998–2001
	Robin Cook	2001–2003
	John Reid	2003
	The Lord Williams of Mostyn	2003
	The Baroness Amos	2003–2007
Lord Privy Seal	The Lord Richard	1997–1998
	The Baroness Jay of Paddington	1998–2001
	The Lord Williams of Mostyn	2001–2003
	Peter Hain	2003–2005
	Geoff Hoon	2005–2006
	Jack Straw	2006–2007
Leader of the House of Lords	The Lord Richard	1997–1998
	The Baroness Jay of Paddington	1998–2001
	The Lord Williams of Mostyn	2001–2003
	The Baroness Amos	2003–2007
Foreign Secretary	Robin Cook	1997–2001
	Jack Straw	2001–2006
	Margaret Beckett	2006–2007
Home Secretary	Jack Straw	1997–2001
	David Blunkett	2001–2004
	Charles Clarke	2004–2006
	John Reid	2006–2007
Secretary of State for Defence	George Robertson	1997–1999
	Geoff Hoon	1999–2005
	John Reid	2005–2006
	Des Browne	2006–2007
Secretary of State for Education and Employment	David Blunkett	1997–2001
Secretary of State for Education and Skills	Estelle Morris	2001–2002
	Charles Clarke	2002–2004
	Ruth Kelly	2004–2006
	Alan Johnson	2006–2007
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	Jack Cunningham	1997–1998
	Nick Brown	1998–2001
Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Margaret Beckett	2001–2006
	David Miliband	2006–2007
Secretary of State for Health	Frank Dobson	1997–1999
	Alan Milburn	1999–2003
	John Reid	2003–2005
	Patricia Hewitt	2005–2007
Secretary of State for Social Security	Harriet Harman	1997–1998
	Alistair Darling	1998–2001
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions	Alistair Darling	2001–2002
	Andrew Smith	2002–2004
	Alan Johnson	2004–2005
	David Blunkett	2005–2005
	John Hutton	2005–2007
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry	Margaret Beckett	1997–1998
	Peter Mandelson	1998
	Stephen Byers	1999–2001
	Patricia Hewitt	2001–2005
	Alan Johnson	2005–2006
	Alistair Darling	2006–2007
Secretary of State for International Development	Clare Short	1997–2003
	The Baroness Amos	2003
	Hilary Benn	2003–2007
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport	Chris Smith	1997–2001
	Tessa Jowell	2001–2007
Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions	John Prescott	1997–2001
Minister for Transport	Gavin Strang	1997–1998
	John Reid	1998–1999
	Helen Liddell	1999
	Gus Macdonald	1999–2001
Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions	Stephen Byers	2001–2002
Secretary of State for Transport	Alistair Darling	2002–2006
	Douglas Alexander	2006–2007
Secretary of State for Wales	Ron Davies	1997–1998
	Alun Michael	1998–1999
	Paul Murphy	1999–2002
	Peter Hain	2002–2007
Secretary of State for Scotland	Donald Dewar	1997–1999
	John Reid	1999–2001
	Helen Liddell	2001–2003
	Alistair Darling	2003–2006
	Douglas Alexander	2006–2007
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland	Mo Mowlam	1997–1999
	Peter Mandelson	1999–2001
	John Reid	2001–2002
	Paul Murphy	2002–2005
	Peter Hain	2005–2007
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	David G. Clark	1997–1998
	Jack Cunningham	1998–1999
	Mo Mowlam	1999–2001
	Gus Macdonald	2001–2003
	Douglas Alexander	2003–2004
	Alan Milburn	2004–2005
	John Hutton	2005–2006
	Hilary Armstrong	2006–2007
Chief Secretary to the Treasury	Alistair Darling	1997–1998
	Stephen Byers	1998
	Alan Milburn	1998–1999
	Andrew Smith	1999–2002
	Paul Boateng	2002–2005
	Des Browne	2005–2006
	Stephen Timms	2006–2007

Cabinets listed chronologically

These are the cabinets under Prime Minister Tony Blair (from May 1997 to June 2007).

Tony Blair's first Cabinet, May 1997 to June 2001

Also attending Cabinet:

Nick Brown — Chief Whip
John Morris — Attorney General

Changes

July 1998 — Margaret Beckett becomes Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons. Baroness Jay of Paddington becomes Lord Privy Seal, Leader of the House of Lords and Minister for Women. Stephen Byers becomes Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Ann Taylor becomes Chief Whip, which is now a cabinet position. Jack Cunningham becomes Cabinet Office Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Nick Brown becomes Agriculture Minister. Alistair Darling becomes Social Security Secretary. Peter Mandelson enters the cabinet as Trade & Industry Secretary. John Reid becomes Transport Minister, which is no longer a cabinet position (although Dr Reid will continue attending cabinet meetings). Lord Richard, Harriet Harman, David G. Clark, and Gavin Strang leave the cabinet. The President of the Board of Trade is no longer a title used by the Trade Secretary.
October 1998 — Alun Michael becomes Welsh Secretary. Ron Davies leaves the Cabinet.
December 1998 — Stephen Byers becomes Trade & Industry Seretary. Alan Milburn becomes Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Peter Mandelson leaves the cabinet.
May 1999 — John Reid becomes Scottish Secretary. Donald Dewar leaves the cabinet.
July 1999 — Paul Murphy becomes Welsh Secretary. Alun Michael leaves the cabinet.
October 1999 — Andrew Smith becomes Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Geoff Hoon becomes Defence Secretary. Alan Milburn becomes Health Secretary. Peter Mandelson returns to the cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary. Mo Mowlam becomes Cabinet Office Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Lord Williams becomes Attorney General. John Morris, George Robertson, Jack Cunningham, and Frank Dobson leave the cabinet.
January 2001 — Peter Mandelson resigns as Northern Ireland Secretary and is succeeded by John Reid. Helen Liddell enters the cabinet and succeeds John Reid as Scottish Secretary.

Tony Blair's second Cabinet, June 2001 to May 2005

Changes

May 2002 — Stephen Byers resigns and the Department of Transport, Local Government & the Regions is broken up. Alistair Darling becomes Secretary of State for Transport. John Prescott's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister assumes the Local Government & the Regions portfolio. Andrew Smith becomes Work & Pensions Secretary. Paul Boateng becomes Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Complete list of changes
October 2002 — Estelle Morris resigns. Charles Clarke becomes Education Secretary; John Reid becomes Minister without Portfolio and Labour Party Chairman. Paul Murphy becomes Northern Ireland Secretary. Peter Hain becomes Welsh Secretary.
March 2003 — Robin Cook resigns. John Reid becomes Lord President of the Council & Leader of the House of Commons. Ian McCartney becomes Minister without Portfolio and Labour Party Chairman.
May 2003 — Clare Short resigns and is succeed by Baroness Amos as International Development Secretary.
June 2003 — In a reshuffle John Reid becomes Health Secretary. Lord Falconer of Thoroton assumes the new position of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, also becoming Lord Chancellor. Alistair Darling becomes Scottish Secretary remaining also Transport Secretary. Peter Hain becomes Lord Privy Seal & Leader of the House of Commons, remaining also Welsh Secretary. Alan Milburn, Lord Irvine of Lairg, and Helen Liddell leave the Cabinet. Complete list of changes
October 2003 — Baroness Amos becomes Lord President of the Council & Leader of the House of Lords, following the death of Lord Williams of Mostyn. Hilary Benn becomes International Development Secretary.
September 2004 — Andrew Smith resigns as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and is succeeded by Alan Johnson. Alan Milburn returns to government with a seat in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster mainly at the head of policy co-ordination; he replaces Douglas Alexander, who was not in the Cabinet.
December 2004 — David Blunkett resigns as Home Secretary and is succeeded by Charles Clarke. Ruth Kelly succeeds Clarke as Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

Tony Blair's third Cabinet, May 2005 to June 2007

Changes

November 2005 — David Blunkett resigns his post as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He is replaced by John Hutton, leaving the post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster vacant for six months.
May 2006 — Following a poor showing in the local council elections, Blair reshuffles his cabinet. Charles Clarke, Geoff Hoon, and Ian McCartney leave the Cabinet. Jack Straw becomes Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal. Margaret Beckett is promoted to Foreign Secretary, John Reid to Home Secretary, David Miliband to Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Des Browne to Secretary of State for Defence. Ruth Kelly takes a new post of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which replaces the post held by David Miliband and takes a number of responsibilities previously held by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Kelly will also serve as Minister for Women and Equality. Alan Johnson becomes Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Alistair Darling becomes Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Hilary Armstrong becomes Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Minister for Social Exclusion. Douglas Alexander enters the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Scotland. Hazel Blears enters the Cabinet as Minister Without Portfolio and Party Chair, Stephen Timms as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Jacqui Smith as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip.

Further information: 2006 United Kingdom Cabinet reshuffle

External links

The Public Whip - Ministerial Whirl tool showing Tony Blair's Cabinet changes since 1997 (java applet)

Preceded by Major Ministry	Government of the United Kingdom 1997-2007	Succeeded by Brown Ministry

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v • d • e Tony Blair

Politics	Premiership · Blair Ministry · Criticism

Ideology	Blairite · Third Way

General elections	1997 · 2001 · 2005

Party election	1994

Post-premiership	Quartet on the Middle East · Africa Progress Panel

Family	Cherie Blair · Euan Blair · Nicky Blair · Kathryn Blair · Leo Blair · Leo Blair (senior)

Contents

The Cabinet

Cabinets listed chronologically

Tony Blair's first Cabinet, May 1997 to June 2001

Changes

Tony Blair's second Cabinet, June 2001 to May 2005

Changes

Tony Blair's third Cabinet, May 2005 to June 2007

Changes

External links