The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Sir David Roy Lidington is a former British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2018 to 2019 and was frequently described as being Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister.
Gregory William Hands is a British politician serving as Minister for London and Minister of State for Trade Policy since November 2023. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelsea and Fulham, previously Hammersmith and Fulham, since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as its Chairman from February to November 2023. Hands has served as Minister of State for Trade Policy under four prime ministers, holding the office on four occasions, and also served as Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth from 2021 to 2022.
Christopher Laurie "Kit" Malthouse is a British politician and businessman who served as Secretary of State for Education from 6 September to 25 October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from July to September 2022. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Hampshire since 2015.
Graham Charles Stuart is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness since 2005, and recently served as the Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports from 2018 to 2021, and Minister of State for Europe from July to September 2022.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and alongside the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. It ranks at Parliamentary Secretary level and is not a Cabinet office.
Chloe Rebecca Smith is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich North since 2009. She previously served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from September to October 2022 and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology from April to July 2023.
Julian Richard Smith is a British politician who served as Government Chief Whip from 2017 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Skipton and Ripon since 2010.
Neil John O'Brien is a British politician who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health from September 2022 to November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Harborough in 2017. O'Brien was previously a special adviser to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne from 2012 to 2016 and Theresa May during her tenure as Prime Minister.
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Social Care since October 2022, and previously from 2020 to 2021. She also served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Faversham and Mid Kent since 2015.
Wendy Morton is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldridge-Brownhills in the West Midlands since 2015.
William James Quince is a British politician and former lawyer who served as Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care from September 2022 to November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected at the 2015 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Colchester, defeating the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Sir Bob Russell. From 2011 to 2016, Quince was a borough councillor in Colchester. On 9 June 2023, Quince announced he would not run as an MP at the next general election.
Dame Amanda Anne Milling is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cannock Chase since the 2015 general election. She served as Minister without Portfolio in the UK cabinet and, alongside Ben Elliot, as Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party from February 2020 to September 2021. She also served as Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East from September 2021 to September 2022. She previously worked in market research.
Oliver James Dowden is a British politician and the current Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A member of the Conservative Party, he is also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hertsmere since 2015.
Sir Jeremy Mark Quin is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Horsham since the 2015 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire under Prime Minister Liz Truss from September to October 2022. After Truss resigned and Rishi Sunak succeeded her, Quin was appointed to be Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office. Quin resigned from Sunak's government in the November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle and became Chair of the Defence Select Committee in January 2024.
Michael Alex Burghart is a British politician, academic and former teacher who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he was formerly a special adviser to Theresa May. He has been serving as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office since October 2022.
Gillian Keegan is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Education since 2022. She previously served as Minister of State for Care and Mental Health from 2021 to 2022, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, Keegan has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Chichester since 2017.
The second May ministry was formed on 11 June 2017 after Theresa May returned to office following the June 2017 snap general election. The election resulted in a hung parliament with the Conservative Party losing its governing majority in the House of Commons. On 9 June 2017, May announced her intention to form a Conservative minority government, reliant on the confidence and supply of the Democratic Unionist Party; a finalised agreement between the two parties was signed and published on 26 June 2017.
The first Johnson ministry began on 24 July 2019 when Queen Elizabeth II invited Boris Johnson to form a new administration, following the resignation of the predecessor Prime Minister Theresa May. May had resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June 2019; Johnson was elected as her successor on 23 July 2019. The Johnson ministry was formed from the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom, as a Conservative minority government. It lost its working majority on 3 September 2019 when Tory MP Phillip Lee crossed the floor to the Liberal Democrats. An election was called for 12 December 2019, which led to the formation of a Conservative majority government, the second Johnson ministry.
The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election. The Conservative Party was returned to power with a majority of 80 seats in the House of Commons. Initially the ministers were largely identical to those at the end of the first Johnson ministry, but changed significantly in cabinet reshuffles in February 2020 and September 2021.
