United Kingdom Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Royal Arms ofHM Government
Longest serving Tom Williams 3 August 1945 – 26 October 1951
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Type	Minister of the Crown
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch (on the advice of thePrime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	9 September 1889
First holder	Peter Walker
Final holder	Margaret Beckett
Abolished	27 March 2002

TheMinister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for theMinistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. In 1903, an Act was passed to transfer to the new styled Board of Agriculture and Fisheries certain powers and duties relating to the fishing industry, and the post was renamed President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.

In 1919, it was renamed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. In 1954, the separate position ofMinister of Food was merged into the post and it was renamed Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

On 8 June 2001, the Ministry merged withSecretary of State for the Environment into the office ofSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was not formally abolished until The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/794) came into force on 27 March 2002.

Until the Dissolution Order also made the necessary amendments to the law when it did come into force, many statutory functions were still vested in the holder of the office of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, rather in the Secretary of State at large. For that reason, in a final twist,Margaret Beckett had to be appointed formally as the last Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as well as becoming the first Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.^{[citation needed]}

The position was the last cabinet role (except that ofPrime Minister) in the United Kingdom government to bear the 'Minister' title; since its abolition, heads of all government departments have beenSecretaries of State. The title continues to be used for junior ranking ministers in charge of sub-portfolios, styledMinisters of State.

Post created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889.^[1]

President of the Board of Agriculture^[2]

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		Henry Chaplin MP forSleaford (1840–1923)	9 September 1889	11 August 1892	Conservative	Salisbury II
		Herbert Gardner MP forSaffron Walden (1846–1921)	25 August 1892	21 June 1895	Liberal	Gladstone IV
						Rosebery
		Walter Long MP forLiverpool West Derby (1854–1924)	4 July 1895	16 November 1900	Conservative	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Robert William Hanbury MP forPreston (1845–1903)	16 November 1900	28 April 1903	Conservative
						Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)

Board of Agriculture superseded by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1903.

President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries^[2][3]

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		William Onslow 4thEarl of Onslow (1853–1911)	19 May 1903	12 March 1905	Conservative	Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Ailwyn Fellowes MP forRamsey (1855–1924)	12 March 1905	4 December 1905	Conservative
		Charles Wynn-Carington 1stEarl Carrington (1843–1928)	10 December 1905	23 October 1911	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
						Asquith (I–III)
		Walter Runciman MP forDewsbury (1870–1949)	23 October 1911	6 August 1914	Liberal
		Auberon Herbert 9thBaron Lucas (1876–1916)	6 August 1914	25 May 1915	Liberal
		William Palmer 2ndEarl of Selborne (1859–1942)	25 May 1915	11 July 1916	Conservative	Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		David Lindsay 27thEarl of Crawford (1871–1940)	11 July 1916	10 December 1916	Conservative
		Rowland Prothero MP forOxford University (1851–1937)	10 December 1916	15 August 1919	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries^[3]

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		Arthur Lee 1stBaron Lee of Fareham (1868–1947)	15 August 1919	13 February 1921	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		SirArthur Griffith-Boscawen MP forTaunton (1865–1946)	13 February 1921	24 October 1922	Conservative
		SirRobert Sanders 1stBaronet MP forBridgwater (1867–1940)[Note 1]	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Law
						Baldwin I
		Noel Buxton MP forNorth Norfolk (1869–1948)	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		E. F. L. Wood MP forRipon (1881–1959)	6 November 1924	4 November 1925	Conservative	Baldwin II
		Walter Guinness MP forBury St Edmunds (1880–1944)	4 November 1925	4 June 1929	Conservative
		Noel Buxton MP forNorth Norfolk (1869–1948)	7 June 1929	5 June 1930	Labour	MacDonald II
		Christopher Addison MP forSwindon (1869–1951)	5 June 1930	24 August 1931	Labour
		SirJohn Gilmour "2ndBaronet MP forGlasgow Pollok (1876–1940)	25 August 1931	28 September 1932	Conservative	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
						National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
		Walter Elliot MP forGlasgow Kelvingrove (1888–1958)	28 September 1932	29 October 1936	Conservative
						National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		William Morrison MP forCirencester and Tewkesbury (1893–1961)	29 October 1936	29 January 1939	Conservative
						National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		SirReginald Dorman-Smith MP forPetersfield (1899–1977)	29 January 1939	14 May 1940	Conservative
						Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Robert Hudson MP forSouthport (1886–1957)	14 May 1940	26 July 1945	Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)
						Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.)
		Tom Williams MP forDon Valley (1888–1967)	3 August 1945	26 October 1951	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		SirThomas Dugdale 1stBaronet MP forRichmond (1897–1977)	31 October 1951	20 July 1954	Conservative	Churchill III
		Derick Heathcoat-Amory MP forTiverton (1899–1981)	28 July 1954	18 October 1954	Conservative

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food^[3]

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry	Ref.
		Derick Heathcoat-Amory MP forTiverton (1899–1981)	18 October 1954	6 January 1958	Conservative	Churchill III	[4]
						Eden
						Macmillan (I & II)
		John Hare MP forSudbury and Woodbridge (1911–1982)	6 January 1958	27 July 1960	Conservative		[5]
		Christopher Soames MP forBedford (1920–1987)	27 July 1960	16 October 1964	Conservative		[6]
						Douglas-Home
		Fred Peart MP forWorkington (1914–1988)	16 October 1964	6 April 1968	Labour	Wilson (I & II)	[7]
		Cledwyn Hughes MP forAnglesey (1916–2001)	6 April 1968	19 June 1970	Labour		[8]
		Jim Prior MP forLowestoft (1927–2016)	20 June 1970	5 November 1972	Conservative	Heath	[9]
		Joseph Godber MP forGrantham (1914–1980)	5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative		[10]
		Fred Peart MP forWorkington (1914–1988)	5 March 1974	10 September 1976	Labour	Wilson (III & IV)
						Callaghan
		John Silkin MP forLewisham Deptford (1923–1987)	10 September 1976	4 May 1979	Labour		[11]
		Peter Walker MP forWorcester (1932–2010)	5 May 1979	11 June 1983	Conservative	Thatcher I	[12]
		Michael Jopling MP forWestmorland and Lonsdale (1930–)	11 June 1983	13 June 1987	Conservative	Thatcher II	[13]
		John MacGregor MP forSouth Norfolk (1937–)	13 June 1987	24 July 1989	Conservative	Thatcher III	[14]
		John Gummer MP forSuffolk Coastal (1939–)	24 July 1989	27 May 1993	Conservative		[15]
						Major I
						Major II
		Gillian Shephard MP forSouth West Norfolk (1940–)	27 May 1993	20 July 1994	Conservative		[16]
		William Waldegrave MP forBristol West (1946–)	20 July 1994	5 July 1995	Conservative		[17]
		Douglas Hogg MP forGrantham (1945–)	5 July 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative		[18]
		Jack Cunningham MP forCopeland (1939–)	3 May 1997	27 July 1998	Labour	Blair I	[19]
		Nick Brown MP forNewcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend (1950–)	27 July 1998	8 June 2001	Labour		[20]
		Margaret Beckett MP forDerby South (1943–)	8 June 2001	27 March 2002	Labour	Blair II	[21][better source needed]

From 2002 the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was dissolved and ministerial responsibility formerly transferred to theSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

• Agricultural organisations based in the United Kingdom
• Lists of government ministers of the United Kingdom
• Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom
• Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom
• 1889 establishments in the United Kingdom
• 2002 disestablishments in the United Kingdom

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