Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Responsibilities
The Secretary of State has overall responsibility for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Specific responsibilities include:
- Oversight of Defra’s COVID-19 response
- Departmental administration
- Emergencies
- EU and international relations and oversight trade mandates and post-transition delivery and policy programme
- General licencing
- Senior appointments
Current role holder
The Rt Hon George Eustice MP
George Eustice was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 13 February 2020.
He was previously Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) from 11 May 2015 to 13 February 2020.
He was elected as the Conservative MP for Camborne and Redruth in 2010.
Political career
George served on the EFRA Select Committee from 2010.
Career outside politics
Coming from a farming background, his family still run a fruit farm, restaurant and farm shop in Cornwall where they also have a herd of South Devon cattle and the country’s oldest herd of the rare breed of pig, the British Lop. The family have shown a keen interest in educating children about farming and have opened their farm to 3000 schoolchildren a year.
Previous holders of this role
-
The Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP
2019 to 2020
-
The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
2017 to 2019
-
The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP
2016 to 2017
-
The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP
2014 to 2016
-
The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP
2012 to 2014
-
The Rt Hon Caroline Spelman
2010 to 2012
Announcements
Subscriptions
- Communiqués from the Inter Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Public urged to ‘GIVE SEALS SPACE’
- Extension to fishing catch limits to provide certainty to industry
- Landmark reforms to boost recycling and fight plastic pollution
- Farmers invited to take first step towards greener future
- Consultation launched on environmental principles
- Increased support for fishing and shellfish businesses
- Eustice sets out approach for future agriculture policy
- Environment Secretary, George Eustice, speech at NFU Conference 2021
- Consultation launches on interim licences for releasing gamebirds