Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs

Not to be confused with Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

The Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs is a mid-level position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the British government. The incumbent Minister is Stephen Morgan.

United Kingdom Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Stephen Morgan since 12 June 2026
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Style	Minister
Nominator	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Appointer	The King on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Website	defra.gov.uk

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include:

• Overall lead Minister for the agri-food chain, and lead Minister for the Union and Levelling Up relating to Defra issues
• Lead for Rural Payments Agency, Animal Health Development Board, Fera, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Marine Management Organisation and relationship with the Food Standards Agency
• Fisheries
• Farming
• Food
• Trade
• Pesticides

Ministers for Agriculture and Food

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	Anthony Stodart		7 April 1972	4 March 1974	Conservative	Edward Heath
	Norman Buchan		8 March 1974	18 October 1974	Labour	Harold Wilson
	Edward Stanley Bishop		18 October 1974	4 May 1979		James Callaghan
	The 13th Earl Ferrers		7 May 1979	13 June 1983	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
	Alick Buchanan-Smith		7 May 1979	13 June 1983
	John MacGregor		13 June 1983	2 September 1985
	The 2nd Baron Belstead		13 June 1983	13 June 1987
	John Gummer		2 September 1985	26 July 1988
	The Baroness Trumpington		28 September 1989	14 April 1992		John Major
	David Curry		14 April 1992	27 May 1993
	Michael Jack		27 May 1993	5 July 1995
	Tony Baldry		5 July 1995	1 May 1997
	Jeff Rooker		6 May 1997	29 July 1999	Labour	Tony Blair
	Joyce Quin		29 July 1999	7 June 2001
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Food, Farming and Sustainable Energy
	The Lord Whitty		12 June 2001	10 May 2005	Labour	Tony Blair
	The Lord Bach		10 May 2005	5 May 2006
Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health
	The Lord Rooker		6 May 2006	3 October 2008	Labour	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Minister of State for Farming and the Environment
	Jane Kennedy		5 October 2008	8 June 2009	Labour	Gordon Brown
Minister of State for Food, Farming and the Environment
	Jim Fitzpatrick		8 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour	Gordon Brown
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food
	Jim Paice		13 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	David Cameron
	David Heath		4 September 2012	7 October 2013	Liberal Democrats
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	George Eustice		8 October 2013	8 May 2015	Conservative	David Cameron
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	George Eustice		8 May 2015	28 February 2019	Conservative	David Cameron Theresa May
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	Robert Goodwill		5 March 2019	25 July 2019	Conservative	Theresa May
	George Eustice		25 July 2019	13 February 2020		Boris Johnson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	Victoria Prentis		14 February 2020	16 September 2021	Conservative	Boris Johnson
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	Victoria Prentis		16 September 2021	6 September 2022	Conservative	Boris Johnson
Minister of State for Food
	Mark Spencer		7 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative	Liz Truss
Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries
	Mark Spencer		25 October 2022	5 July 2024	Conservative	Rishi Sunak
Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs
	Daniel Zeichner		5 July 2024	6 September 2025	Labour	Keir Starmer
	Angela Eagle		6 September 2025	12 June 2026	Labour
	Stephen Morgan		12 June 2026	Incumbent	Labour