United Kingdom Secretary of State for Business and Trade
Royal Arms ofHis Majesty's Government
Incumbent Peter Kyle since 5 September 2025
Department for Business and Trade
Style	Business Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (UK and the Commonwealth)
Status	Secretary of State Minister of the Crown
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council Board of Trade
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of thePrime Minister)
Formation	20 October 1963: (as Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development) 7 February 2023: (as Secretary of State for Business and Trade)
First holder	Edward Heath (as Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development)
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022)[1] (including £86,584MP salary)[2]
Website	Department for Business and Trade

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v t e

Thesecretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is asecretary of state in theGovernment of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for theDepartment for Business and Trade. The incumbent is a member of theCabinet of the United Kingdom.

The incumbent business secretary isPeter Kyle who was appointed byKeir Starmer on 5 September 2025.^[3]The secretary of state is shadowed by theshadow secretary of state for business and trade, currentlyAndrew Griffith since 2024.

Corresponding to what is generally known as acommerce minister in many other countries, the business secretary's remit includes:

• Relations with domestic and international business
• Policy relating to deregulation
• Policy relating to international trade and trade agreements
• Import and export policy

During the government ofSir Alec Douglas-Home, the thenpresident of the Board of Trade,Edward Heath, was given in addition the job ofsecretary of state for industry, trade and regional development. This title was not continued underHarold Wilson, but when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 he decided to merge functions of the Board of Trade and theMinistry of Technology to create theDepartment of Trade and Industry. The head of this department became known as thesecretary of state for trade and industry and also retained the title ofPresident of the Board of Trade.

WhenHarold Wilson re-entered office in March 1974, the office was split into theDepartment of Trade, theDepartment of Industry and theDepartment of Prices and Consumer Protection, resulting in the creation of three new positions:Secretary of State for Industry,Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, andSecretary of State for Trade. The title President of the Board of Trade became the secondary title of the Secretary of State for Trade. By 1979 the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was abolished by the incomingConservative government and its responsibilities were reintegrated into the Department of Trade. Furthermore, 1983 the offices of trade and industry were remerged and the title of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was recreated. WhenMichael Heseltine held this office, he preferred to be known by the older title of President of the Board of Trade, and this practice was also followed byIan Lang andMargaret Beckett. Heseltine's decision to reuse the old title caused some controversy, and it was discovered^{[by whom?]} that the Board of Trade had not in fact met since the mid-nineteenth century.^{[citation needed]}

UnderGordon Brown's premiership there were two re-namings of the role and three re-alignments of responsibility. In his first cabinet of 2007, he called the postSecretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. With this change, theBetter Regulation Executive was added to the department but theOffice of Science and Innovation was lost. In 2008, the title remained the same but responsibility for energy was lost. In 2009, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was merged into the existing department and the post becameSecretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In July 2016,Prime MinisterTheresa May decided to merge theDepartment for Energy and Climate Change into this department with the responsibilities for post-19 education and skills being returned to theDepartment for Education resulting in the position being renamed toSecretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. At the same time in July 2016, the post ofPresident of the Board of Trade was transferred to the newly created post ofSecretary of State for International Trade.^[4]

The current role ofSecretary of State for Business and Trade was established on 7 February 2023 after a cabinetreshuffle by Prime MinisterRishi Sunak saw the dissolution of theDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its responsibilities transferred to three new departments:Department for Business and Trade, theDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology, and theDepartment for Energy Security and Net Zero. The new Department for Business and Trade absorbed the business policy responsibilities of BEIS, and the functions of the formerDepartment for International Trade.

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
		Edward Heath MP forBexley	20 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative		Alec Douglas-Home

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
		John Davies MP forKnutsford	15 October 1970	5 November 1972	Conservative		Edward Heath
		Peter Walker MP forWorcester	5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative

Secretary of State for Industry				Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection				Secretary of State for Trade				Political party	Prime Minister
Name		Took office	Left office	Name		Took office	Left office	Name		Took office	Left office
	Tony Benn MP forBristol South East	5 March 1974	10 June 1975		Shirley Williams MP forHertford and Stevenage	5 March 1974	10 September 1976		Peter Shore MP forStepney and Poplar	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Labour		Harold Wilson
	Eric Varley MP forChesterfield	10 June 1975	4 May 1979
									Edmund Dell MP forBirkenhead	8 April 1976	11 November 1978			James Callaghan
					Roy Hattersley MP forBirmingham Sparkbrook	10 September 1976	4 May 1979
									John Smith MP forNorth Lanarkshire	11 November 1978	4 May 1979
	Keith Joseph MP forLeeds North East	4 May 1979	14 September 1981	Department abolished 1979. (Responsibilities transferred to the Department for Trade.)					John Nott MP forSt Ives	5 May 1979	5 January 1981	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
									John Biffen MP forOswestry	5 January 1981	6 April 1982
	Patrick Jenkin MP forWanstead and Woodford	14 September 1981	12 June 1983
									Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield	6 April 1982	12 June 1983
Departments merged in 1983 and responsibilities transferred to theDepartment for Trade and Industry.

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Cabinet	Prime minister
		Cecil Parkinson MP forHertsmere	12 June 1983	11 October 1983	Conservative	Thatcher II		Margaret Thatcher
		Norman Tebbit MP forChingford	16 October 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative
		Leon Brittan MP forRichmond (Yorks)	2 September 1985	22 January 1986	Conservative
		Paul Channon MP forSouthend West	24 January 1986	13 June 1987	Conservative
		David Young, Baron Young of Graffham	13 June 1987	24 July 1989	Conservative	Thatcher III
		Nicholas Ridley MP forCirencester and Tewkesbury	24 July 1989	13 July 1990	Conservative
		Peter Lilley MP forSt Albans	14 July 1990	10 April 1992	Conservative
						Major I		John Major
		Michael Heseltine[a] MP forHenley	10 April 1992	5 July 1995	Conservative	Major II
		Ian Lang[a] MP forGalloway and Upper Nithsdale	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative
		Margaret Beckett[a] MP forDerby South	2 May 1997	27 July 1998	Labour	Blair I		Tony Blair
		Peter Mandelson MP forHartlepool	27 July 1998	23 December 1998	Labour
		Stephen Byers MP forNorth Tyneside	23 December 1998	8 June 2001	Labour
		Patricia Hewitt MP forLeicester West	8 June 2001	6 May 2005	Labour	Blair II
		Alan Johnson[b] MP forHull West and Hessle	6 May 2005	5 May 2006	Labour	Blair III
		Alistair Darling MP forEdinburgh South West	5 May 2006	27 June 2007	Labour
Department abolished 2007. Responsibilities transferred to theDepartment for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and theDepartment for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Cabinet	Prime Minister
		John Hutton MP forBarrow and Furness	28 June 2007	3 October 2008	Labour	Brown		Gordon Brown
		Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson	3 October 2008	5 June 2009	Labour
Department abolished 2009. Responsibilities transferred to theDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Cabinet	Prime Minister
		Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour	Brown		Gordon Brown
		Vince Cable MP forTwickenham	12 May 2010	8 May 2015	Liberal Democrats	Cameron-Clegg		David Cameron
		Sajid Javid MP forBromsgrove	11 May 2015	14 July 2016	Conservative	Cameron II
Department abolished 2016. Responsibilities transferred to theDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Cabinet	Prime Minister
		Greg Clark MP forTunbridge Wells	14 July 2016	24 July 2019	Conservative	May I		Theresa May
						May II
		Andrea Leadsom MP forSouth Northamptonshire	24 July 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative	Johnson I		Boris Johnson
						Johnson II
		Alok Sharma MP forReading West	13 February 2020	8 January 2021	Conservative
		Kwasi Kwarteng MP forSpelthorne	8 January 2021	6 September 2022	Conservative
		Jacob Rees-Mogg MP forNorth East Somerset	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative	Truss		Liz Truss
		Grant Shapps MP forWelwyn Hatfield	25 October 2022	7 February 2023	Conservative	Sunak		Rishi Sunak
Department abolished February 2023. Responsibilities distributed to the newly created Departments forBusiness and Trade,Energy Security and Net Zero, andScience, Innovation and Technology.

Secretary of State			Took office	Left office	Political party	Cabinet	Prime Minister
		Kemi Badenoch MP forSaffron Walden	7 February 2023	5 July 2024	Conservative	Sunak		Rishi Sunak
		Jonathan Reynolds MP forStalybridge and Hyde	5 July 2024	5 September 2025	Labour	Starmer		Keir Starmer
		Peter Kyle MP forHove and Portslade	5 September 2025	Incumbent	Labour

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