Minister for Women and Equalities
| Minister for Women and Equalities | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government Office for Equality and Opportunity | |
| Style |
|
| Type | Minister of the Crown |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister |
| Seat | Westminster |
| Nominator | The Prime Minister |
| Appointer |
|
| Term length | |
| Inaugural holder | Harriet Harman |
| Formation | 3 May 1997 (as Minister for Women) |
| Deputy | Minister of State (Minister for Equalities) |
| Salary | £159,038 per annum (2022)[1] (including £86,584 MP salary)[2] |
| Website | gov |
Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom currently based in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.[3] The minister leads the Office for Equality and Opportunity (formerly known as Government Equalities Office) which is part of the same department.[4] Its counterpart in the shadow cabinet is the shadow minister for women and equalities.
The position has also been known as Minister for Women, Minister for Women and Equality and Minister for Equalities.
History
[edit]The position of Minister for Women was created by Tony Blair when he became prime minister as a means of prioritising women's issues across government. Prior to that, there had been an equality unit in the Cabinet Office and a Cabinet committee, which were continued under the leadership of the new minister.[5] When Gordon Brown succeeded Blair, he created the post of Minister for Women and Equality to handle a wider range of equalities issues. The first Minister for Women and, ten years later, the first Minister for Women and Equality was Harriet Harman. When David Cameron became prime minister, he renamed the position to Minister for Women and Equalities without a change in its responsibilities.
In April 2014 (after the resignation of Maria Miller), Nicky Morgan was initially appointed to the role of Minister for Women in conjunction with being Financial Secretary to the Treasury, attending Cabinet. Sajid Javid who had replaced Miller as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was appointed to the separate role of Minister for Equalities. While the Women and Equalities briefs were recombined in July 2014, the responsibility for marriage equality was assigned to Nick Boles, who held the title of Minister of State for Skills, Enterprise and Equalities and had a base in both the Education and Business departments. Both splits in responsibilities were due to Nicky Morgan having voted against the legalisation of equal marriage.[6]
The two most recent female Prime Ministers, Theresa May and Liz Truss, served in this position.
In October 2024, the Office was renamed the Office for Equality and Opportunity.[7]
The Minister for Women and Equalities and predecessor cabinet ministers since 1997 have been supported by one or more ministers of state or parliamentary under-secretaries of state. Until July 2026, the women and equalities ministerial team were typically all appointed to the department that the Minister for Women and Equalities led by virtue of their other Cabinet appointment. Since July 2026, all women and equalities ministers have been appointed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.[8]
The Minister for Women and Equalities and their ministerial team are typically all concurrently appointed to another ministerial role, often in another department. For example, in February 2020, Kemi Badenoch was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in HM Treasury and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) in the Department for International Trade (under Liz Truss as Minister for Women and Equalities and Secretary of State for International Trade).[9]
Prior to 2026, the Minister for Women and Equalities position had always been held by a minister sitting in Cabinet by virtue of another office (i.e., a Secretary of State or Leader of one of the Houses of Parliament), but since the start of the Burnham ministry has been an office of Cabinet rank in its own right.
Bridget Phillipson has been Minister for Women and Equalities since July 2024. She has concurrently held the non-ministerial role of Chair of the Labour Party since July 2026.
List of ministers
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Timeline
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See also
[edit]External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
- ↑ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ↑ "Minister for Women and Equalities". GOV.UK. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- ↑ Baroness Smith of Basildon, Angela (21 July 2026). "Machinery of Government Changes". Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Abrams, Fran (4 June 1997). "Harman heads team to put women's issues first". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
- ↑ Mason, Rowena (15 July 2014). "Nicky Morgan's gay-marriage stance causes equalities role confusion... again". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ↑ "Office for Equality and Opportunity to break down barriers to opportunity". gov.uk. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ "Ministerial Appointments: July 2026". GOV.UK. 20 July 2026. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
- ↑ "Ministerial appointments: February 2020". GOV.UK. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ↑ "Lord Collins of Highbury". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 September 2026.
Lord Collins of Highbury [is the] Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, UK Special Envoy for LGBT+ Rights, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities).
- ↑ "Race Equality Engagement Group". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 September 2026.
The Race Equality Engagement Group is partnering with ethnic minority communities and others to help shape the government's work promoting race equality. The lead minister is Minister for Equalities, Satvir Kaur MP.
- ↑ "Minister for Equalities". Simon Lightwood MP. Archived from the original on 30 September 2026. Retrieved 30 September 2026.
Simon was appointed [...] Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) [...] on 22 July 2026. Simon is responsible for LGBT+ policy including banning conversion practices.
| Women (1997–2007) | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Women and equality (2007–2010) | ||
| Women and equalities (2010–2014) | ||
| Women (2014) | ||
| Minister for Equalities (2014) | ||
| Women and equalities (2014–2022) | ||
| Equalities (2022) | ||
| Women and equalities (2022–present) | ||
