Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Responsibilities
The Secretary of State has overarching responsibility for FCDO and the Ministerial team, and the strategy and delivery of HMG international priorities, including:
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intelligence policy
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National Security Council engagement
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honours
Current role holder
The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
Ed Miliband was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 20 July 2026.
He was previously Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero between 5 July 2024 and 20 July 2026.
He was elected MP for Doncaster North in May 2005.
Education
Ed holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Political career
Ed previously served as Minister for the Cabinet Office in 2007 and then as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2008 to 2010. In this role, he oversaw the introduction of the world leading Climate Change Act 2008 which made the UK the first country in the world to put climate targets into law.
Ed served in the Shadow Cabinet in a number of positions, including:
- Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero, 2021 to 2024
- Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 2020 to 2021
He was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2010 to 2015.
Career outside politics
Since 2017, Ed has been the co-host of the current affairs podcast ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’.
In 2003, he was a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Government at Harvard University and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies.
Personal life
Ed is married and has 2 children.
Previous holders of this role
The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
2025 to 2026
The Rt Hon David Lammy MP
2024 to 2025
The Rt Hon Lord Cameron
2023 to 2024
The Rt Hon James Cleverly MP
2022 to 2023
The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss
2021 to 2022
The Rt Hon Dominic Raab
2020 to 2021