Foreign Secretary | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Foreign Secretary | Vacant |
| Shadow Foreign Secretary | Vacant |
| Department | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister |
| Member of | Cabinet |
| Appointed by | The Sovereign, on the advice of the Prime Minister |
| Seat | King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH |
| Shadowed by | Shadow Foreign Secretary |
The Foreign Secretary is the minister in charge of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, responsible for the United Kingdom's relations with other countries, its embassies abroad and its aid programme. The office holder is a member of the Cabinet and is appointed by The Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister.
History
The Foreign Secretary is one of the four Great Offices of State, alongside the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Home Secretary. The Foreign Secretary leads the country's diplomacy, meets foreign governments, speaks for the United Kingdom at international bodies and answers in the Commons for its policy abroad.
Role
The Foreign Secretary leads the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. They decide the department's policy within the government's programme, defend its budget, answer questions about it in the House of Commons, and bring forward the bills it needs through Parliament. Like every Cabinet minister, they are bound by collective responsibility: once the Cabinet has decided something, all its members must support it in public or resign.
On the UKOGB website the Foreign Secretary is the head of the department. They can edit its page, choose who works there and post its announcements, and they get the Cabinet and HM Government roles in the Discord server.
Opposition counterpart
The Shadow Cabinet includes a Shadow Foreign Secretary, chosen by the Leader of the Opposition. The shadow minister questions the Foreign Secretary in the Commons, responds to the department's announcements and sets out what the Opposition would do instead.
See also
This page was last edited on 3 November 2026.