Secretary of State for the Environment

{{Short description|Former UK cabinet position}} {{for|the contemporary UK cabinet posts which holds the portfolio|Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government}} {{Infobox government agency |agency_name = Department of the Environment |type = Department |formed = 15 October 1970 |preceding3 = Ministry of Housing and Local Government |preceding2 = Ministry of Transport |preceding1 = Ministry of Public Building and Works |dissolved = 2 May 1997 |superseding = Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions |jurisdiction = United Kingdom |headquarters = London, England, UK }}

The '''secretary of state for the environment''' was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the '''Department of the Environment''' (DoE). Today, its responsibilities are carried out by the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs and the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government. The post was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15 October 1970. Thus it managed a mixed portfolio of issues: housing and planning, local government, public buildings, environmental protection and, initially, transport – James Callaghan gave transport its department again in 1976. It has been asserted that during the Thatcher government the DoE led the drive towards centralism, and the undermining of local government.<ref name="Hennessy">Peter Hennessy, ''Whitehall'' p.439</ref> Particularly, the concept of 'inner cities policy', often involving centrally negotiated public-private partnerships and centrally appointed development corporations, which moved control of many urban areas to the centre, and away from their, often left-wing, local authorities.<ref name="Hennessy"/> The department was based in Marsham Towers, three separate tower blocks built for the separate pre-merger ministries, in Westminster.<ref>{{cite web|author=Jonathan Glancey |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/dont-look-back-1359989.html |title=Don't look back |publisher=The Independent |date=1996-10-25 |access-date=2019-01-29}}</ref>

In 1997, when Labour came to power, the DoE was merged with the Department of Transport to form the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), thus, essentially, restoring the DoE to its initial 1970 portfolio. The titular mention of 'the Regions' referred to the government's pledge to create a regional government. In the wake of the 2001 foot and mouth crisis, the environmental protection elements of the DETR were split of and merged with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), to form the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Meanwhile, the transport, housing and planning, and local and regional government aspects went to a new Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR). A year later the DTLR also split, with transport getting its own department and the rest going to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

==List of environment secretaries== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; white-space: nowrap" |+Secretary of State for the Environment<ref>David Butler and Gareth Butler, ''British Political Facts 1900–1994''. (7th edn. Macmilln 1994) 56.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/offices/secretary-of-state-for-environment |title=Secretary of State for Environment |website=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) |access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref> ! colspan=2 | Portrait ! Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Party ! Ministry |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 99x99px | '''Peter Walker''' MP for Worcester (1932–2010) | 15 October 1970 | 5 November 1972 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Heath |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 75px | '''Geoffrey Rippon''' MP for Hexham (1924–1997) | 5 November 1972 | 4 March 1974 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 75px | '''Anthony Crosland''' MP for Great Grimsby (1918–1977) | 5 March 1974 | 8 April 1976 | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Wilson (III & IV) |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | 75px | '''Peter Shore''' MP for Stepney and Poplar (1924–2001) | 8 April 1976 | 4 May 1979 | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Callaghan |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 100x100px | '''Michael Heseltine''' MP for Henley (born 1933) | 5 May 1979 | 6 January 1983 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Thatcher I |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 75px | '''Tom King''' MP for Bridgwater (born 1933) | 6 January 1983 | 11 June 1983 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 75px | '''Patrick Jenkin''' MP for Wanstead and Woodford (1926–2016) | 11 June 1983 | 2 September 1985 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Thatcher II |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 116x116px | '''Kenneth Baker''' MP for Mole Valley (born 1934) | 2 September 1985 | 21 May 1986 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |- | rowspan=2 style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 style="white-space: nowrap;" | '''Nicholas Ridley''' MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (1929–1993) | rowspan=2 | 21 May 1986 | rowspan=2 | 24 July 1989 | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |- | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Thatcher III |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 98x98px | '''Chris Patten''' MP for Bath (born 1944) | 24 July 1989 | 28 November 1990 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 100x100px | '''Michael Heseltine''' MP for Henley (born 1933) | 28 November 1990 | 11 April 1992 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Major I |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 100x100px | '''Michael Howard''' MP for Folkestone and Hythe (born 1941) | 11 April 1992 | 27 May 1993 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Major II |- | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | 100x100px | '''John Gummer''' MP for Suffolk Coastal (born 1939) | 27 May 1993 | 2 May 1997 | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |}

==References== <references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secretary Of State For The Environment}} Environment Category:1970 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:1997 disestablishments in the United Kingdom