Secretary of State for International Development

Corresponding to what is generally known as an international development minister in many other countries, the International Development Secretary's remit includes:

• Oversight of development aid
• Oversight of international development (developing countries)
• Delivery and management of spending 0.7% GNI on development
• Communications for international development[1]

A separate Ministry of Overseas Development was established by Harold Wilson when he came to office in 1964. The first three holders of the office served in the Cabinet, but from 29 August 1967 the office was demoted. Under Edward Heath, the Ministry was re-incorporated into the FCO on 15 October 1970. Wilson again established the Ministry in 1974, but later merged it into the FCO once again: from 10 June 1975 to 8 October 1979 the Foreign Secretary served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister for Overseas Development in the cabinet, while the Minister for Overseas Development held the rank of Minister of State within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Minister of State had day-to-day responsibility. Under the Labour government of the 1970s, Reg Prentice sat in the Cabinet during his term.[2] The current post was created in 1997 when the Department for International Development was made independent of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

In June 2020, it was announced the Department for International Development would be dissolved, and its operations would be merged into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The process is believed to be completed by September 2020, with Anne-Marie Trevelyan remaining in place as International Development Secretary until that time[3]