Ministerial role

Secretary of State for International Development

Contents

Responsibilities

The Secretary of State leads the DFID ministerial team, sets the overall strategy and direction for the department.

  • Cabinet and Cabinet Committees
  • National Security Council
  • All major spending decisions and overall delivery and management of 0.7%
  • Communications

Current role holder: The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

Alok Sharma MP was appointed Secretary of State for International Development on 24 July 2019.

Alok was Minister of State for Employment at the Department of Work and Pensions from 9 January 2018 until 24 July 2019.

He was Minister of State for Housing and Planning, for the Department for Communities and Local Government from 13 June 2017 to 9 January 2018.

Parliamentary career

Alok was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 17 July 2016 to 13 June 2017.

He has served as a member of the Commons Treasury select committee, a member of the Commons Science and Technology select committee, a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Treasury and from 2012 to 2015 as a Conservative Party Vice Chairman. Alok was appointed in 2016 as the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Envoy to India.

He also served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP, the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who had overall responsibility for the Cabinet Office. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Reading West in May 2010.

Career outside politics

Prior to entering Parliament, Alok qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte, and then worked for 16 years within banking, first with the Japanese firm Nikko Securities and then Enskilda Securities (the investment banking arm of SE Banken), where he held senior roles based out of London, Stockholm and Frankfurt, including serving as a member of the bank’s Corporate Finance Global Management Committee.

Family

Alok is married and lives in Reading Borough with his wife, two daughters and his dog Olly.

More about this person

Previous holders of this role

  1. The Rt Hon Rory Stewart OBE MP

    • 2019 to 2019

  2. The Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP

    • 2017 to 2019

  3. The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP

    • 2016 to 2017

  4. The Rt Hon Justine Greening MP

    • 2012 to 2016

  5. The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell

    • 2010 to 2012

Announcements

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  1. UK to allocate £1.5 million to help hurricane-hit Bahamas

    • Press release

  2. Small British charities set to receive major UK aid boost to transform lives in poorest countries

    • Press release

  3. RFA Mounts Bay delivers aid to The Bahamas

    • News story

  4. UK deploys a team of three humanitarian experts to Bahamas following devastating Hurricane Dorian

    • Press release

  5. International Development Secretary calls on global leaders to step up Ebola response after more than 2000 people die of the disease

    • Government response

  6. High-flying young women and girls celebrated at Downing Street reception

    • Press release

  7. International Development Secretary to boost infrastructure in the poorest countries with UK aid

    • Press release

  8. UK aid doubles support to reduce global carbon emissions and help developing countries adapt to the impact of climate change

    • Press release

  9. UK aid to break down barriers for female entrepreneurs in Africa

    • Press release

  10. Extra UK aid support to help stop the spread of Ebola to vulnerable countries

    • News story
View all announcements