The parliamentary under-secretary of state for Africa is a ministerial portfolio in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK government. The minister has responsibility for most of Africa, except North Africa which is part of the parliamentary under-secretary of state for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan portfolio.
Contents
History
During the Brown ministry, Mark Malloch Brown was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with Africa included as part of his portfolio. North Africa was combined with the Middle East in a single portfolio held by Bill Rammell. Following the Conservative Party's victory at the 2010 United Kingdom general election and the subsequent formation of the Cameron-Clegg coalition, both portfolios were retained but demoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank and assigned to Henry Bellingham and Alistair Burt, respectively. Upon the formation of the First May ministry, both portfolios were combined into a single Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East and Africa held by Tobias Ellwood, but were later returned to their original portfolios at Minister of State rank. This arrangement was retained by the First Johnson ministry, but under the Second Johnson ministry the Africa portfolio was demoted back to Parliamentary Secretary rank.
In early 2022, Africa was combined with Latin America and the Caribbean in a new parliamentary under-secretary of state portfolio assigned to Vicky Ford, while North Africa was joined with South and Central Asia. During the brief Truss ministry, responsibility for the whole of Africa was assigned to Gillian Keegan as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. For the duration of the Sunak ministry North Africa was once again combined with the Middle East portfolio under Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, while the rest of Africa was combined with the Minister of State for Development under Andrew Mitchell. With the formation of the Starmer ministry in 2024, North Africa and the Middle East were assigned to Hamish Falconer and the rest of Africa to Lord Collins of Highbury, both as Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State.
Responsibilities
The following is a list of the office's current responsibilities:
Africa
United Nations, Commonwealth and multilateral
democracy and human rights
Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict
List of ministers for Africa
The following is a list of ministers for Africa since 2007: