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Secretary of State for the Environment facts for kids

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Department of the Environment
Department overview
Formed 15 October 1970
Preceding agencies
  • Ministry of Public Building and Works
  • Ministry of Transport
  • Ministry of Housing and Local Government
Dissolved 2 May 1997
Superseding agency
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 Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. 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 own 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. 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. The department was based in Marsham Towers, three separate tower blocks built for the separate pre-merger ministries, in Westminster.

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 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

Secretary of State for the Environment
Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Party Ministry
No image.svg The Right Honourable
Peter Walker
MBE
MP for Worcester
(1932–2010)
15 October
1970
5 November
1972
Conservative Heath
Geoffrey Rippon (1970).jpg The Right Honourable
Geoffrey Rippon
QC
MP for Hexham
(1924–1997)
5 November
1972
4 March
1974
Conservative
Charles-Anthony-Raven-Crosland (cropped).jpg The Right Honourable
Anthony Crosland
MP for Great Grimsby
(1918–1977)
5 March
1974
8 April
1976
Labour Wilson
(III & IV)
No image.svg The Right Honourable
Peter Shore
MP for Stepney and Poplar
(1924–2001)
8 April
1976
4 May
1979
Labour Callaghan
Lord Heseltine (6969083278).jpg The Right Honourable
Michael Heseltine

MP for Henley
(born 1933)
5 May
1979
6 January
1983
Conservative Thatcher I
Official portrait of Lord King of Bridgwater crop 2.jpg The Right Honourable
Tom King

MP for Bridgwater
(born 1933)
6 January
1983
11 June
1983
Conservative
No image.svg The Right Honourable
Patrick Jenkin
MP for Wanstead and Woodford
(1926–2016)
11 June
1983
2 September
1985
Conservative Thatcher II
Official portrait of Lord Baker of Dorking crop 2.jpg The Right Honourable
Kenneth Baker

MP for Mole Valley
(born 1934)
2 September
1985
21 May
1986
Conservative
No image.svg The Right Honourable
Nicholas Ridley
MP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury
(1929–1993)
21 May
1986
24 July
1989
Conservative
Thatcher III
Official portrait of Lord Patten of Barnes crop 2.jpg The Right Honourable
Chris Patten

MP for Bath
(born 1944)
24 July
1989
28 November
1990
Conservative
Lord Heseltine (6969083278).jpg The Right Honourable
Michael Heseltine

MP for Henley
(born 1933)
28 November
1990
11 April
1992
Conservative Major I
Official portrait of Lord Howard of Lympne crop 2, 2023.jpg The Right Honourable
Michael Howard
QC

MP for Folkestone and Hythe
(born 1941)
11 April
1992
27 May
1993
Conservative Major II
Official portrait of Lord Deben crop 2.jpg The Right Honourable
John Gummer
MP for Suffolk Coastal
(born 1939)
27 May
1993
2 May
1997
Conservative
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