Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention

United Kingdom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention
Incumbent
Andrew Gwynne
since 9 July 2024
Department of Health and Social Care
StyleMinister
AppointerThe Monarch
on advice of the Prime Minister
FormationJune 1970
First holderPaul Dean

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention is a position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the Government of the United Kingdom. The role has previously been known as the Minister of State for Public Health.

History

[edit]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security worked at the Department of Health and Social Security. The future Prime Minister John Major held this office. The office was known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health from 1987 to 1990.

Nicola Blackwood lost her seat in the snap 2017 general election and was replaced as a minister by Steve Brine.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the minister was placed in charge of public health policy.[1] The office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment was created later and was held by Nadhim Zahawi from 28 November 2020 to 15 September 2021.[2] Zahawi was briefly shadowed by Neale Hanvey of the Scottish National Party (SNP) but Hanvey had to resign following his support for a defamation case against a parliamentary colleague, Kirsty Blackman.[3] In February 2021, Zahawi announced schools in England would reopen on 8 March.[4]

In the 2021 British cabinet reshuffle, responsibilities for vaccines were merged with those for public health and given to Maggie Throup in the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health.[5]

Responsibilities

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The minister is responsible for the following:[6]

  • COVID-19:
  • health improvement
  • health inequalities
  • prevention
  • primary care
  • gender identity services
  • major diseases
  • community health
  • lead minister for crisis response
  • sponsorship of PHE and FSA

List of ministers of public health

[edit]
Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
Role created out of the Department of Health and Social Security replacing the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
Paul Dean
MP for North Somerset
24 June 1970 4 March 1974 Conservative Edward Heath

(l)

Michael Alison
MP for Barkston Ash
24 June 1970 4 March 1974 Conservative Edward Heath

(l)

David Owen
MP for Plymouth Devonport
8 March 1974 26 July 1974 Labour Harold Wilson

(lll)

Robert Brown
MP for Newcastle upon Tyne West
8 March 1974 18 October 1974 Labour Harold Wilson

(lll)

Alec Jones
MP for Rhondda
18 October 1974 12 June 1975 Labour Harold Wilson

(lV)

Michael Meacher
MP for Oldham West
12 June 1975 14 April 1976 Labour Harold Wilson

(lV)

Eric Deakins
MP for Walthamstow
14 April 1976 4 May 1979 Labour James Callaghan

(l)

Reginald Wells-Pestell, Baron Wells-Pestell
Life peer
3 January 1979 4 May 1979 Labour James Callaghan

(l)

George Young
MP for Acton
7 May 1979 15 September 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(l)

Lynda Chalker
MP for Wallasey
7 May 1979 5 March 1982 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(l)

Geoffrey Finsberg
MP for Hampstead
15 September 1981 14 June 1983 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(l)

Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton
Hereditary Peer
15 September 1981 6 April 1982 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(l)

Tony Newton
MP for Braintree
5 March 1982 11 September 1984 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(l) + (ll)

David Trefgarne, 2nd Baron Trefgarne
Hereditary Peer
6 April 1982 14 June 1983 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(l)

John Patten
MP for Oxford West and Abingdon
14 June 1983 2 September 1985 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(ll)

Simon Arthur, 4th Baron Glenarthur
Hereditary Peer
14 June 1983 26 March 1985 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(ll)

Ray Whitney
MP for Wycombe
11 September 1984 10 September 1986 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(ll)

Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington
Life Peer
30 March 1985 13 June 1987 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(ll)

John Major
MP for Huntingdon
2 September 1985 10 September 1986 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(ll)

Nicholas Lyell
MP for Mid Bedfordshire
10 September 1986 13 June 1987 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(ll)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health
Edwina Currie
MP for South Derbyshire
10 September 1986 16 December 1988 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(ll) + (lll)

Roger Freeman
MP for Kettering
16 December 1988 4 May 1990 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(lll)

Gloria Hooper, Baroness Hooper
Life peer
28 July 1989 14 April 1992 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(lll)

John Major (l)

Stephen Dorrell
MP for Loughborough
4 May 1990 November 1990 Conservative Margaret Thatcher

(lll)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
Tom Sackville
MP for Bolton West
14 April 1992 29 November 1995 Conservative John Major

(ll)

Julia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege
Life peer
14 April 1992 2 May 1997 Conservative John Major

(ll)

Tim Yeo
MP for South Suffolk
15 April 1992 27 May 1993 Conservative John Major

(ll)

John Bowis
MP for Battersea
27 May 1993 23 July 1996 Conservative John Major

(ll)

John Horam
MP for Orpington
29 November 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative John Major

(ll)

Simon Burns
MP for Chelmsford
23 July 1996 2 May 1997 Conservative John Major

(ll)

Minister of State for Public Health
Tessa Jowell
MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
2 May 1997 11 October 1999 Labour Tony Blair
(l)
Yvette Cooper
MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
11 October 1999 28 May 2002 Labour Tony Blair
(l) + (ll)
David Lammy
MP for Tottenham
29 May 2002 13 June 2003 Labour Tony Blair
(ll)
Melanie Johnson
MP for Welwyn Hatfield
13 June 2003 10 May 2005 Labour Tony Blair
(ll)
Caroline Flint
MP for Don Valley
10 May 2005 28 June 2007 Labour Tony Blair
(lll)
Dawn Primarolo
MP for Bristol South
29 June 2007 5 June 2009 Labour Gordon Brown
(l)
Gillian Merron
MP for Lincoln
10 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour Gordon Brown
(l)
Anne Milton
MP for Guildford
11 May 2010 4 September 2012 Conservative David Cameron
(Coalition)
Anna Soubry
MP for Broxtowe
4 September 2012 7 October 2013 Conservative David Cameron
(Coalition)
Jane Ellison
MP for Battersea
7 October 2013 15 July 2016 Conservative David Cameron
(Coalition) + (II)
Nicola Blackwood
MP for Oxford West and Abingdon
14 July 2016 9 June 2017 Conservative Theresa May
(I)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care
Steve Brine

MP for Winchester

14 June 2017 25 March 2019 Conservative Theresa May
(II)
Seema Kennedy
MP for South Ribble
4 April 2019 26 July 2019 Conservative Theresa May
(II)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care
Jo Churchill
MP for Bury St Edmunds
26 July 2019 15 September 2021 Conservative Boris Johnson
(I) + (II)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health
Maggie Throup
MP for Erewash
15 September 2021 6 September 2022 Conservative Boris Johnson
(II)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health
Neil O'Brien
MP for Harborough
8 September 2022 13 November 2023 Conservative Liz Truss
(I)

Rishi Sunak
(I)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care
Dame Andrea Leadsom
MP for South Northamptonshire
13 November 2023 5 July 2024 Conservative Rishi Sunak
(I)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention
Andrew Gwynne
MP for Gorton and Denton
9 July 2024 Present Labour Keir Starmer
(Starmer ministry)

Other ministerial appointments

[edit]

COVID-19 vaccine deployment

[edit]
Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment
Nadhim Zahawi
MP for Stratford-on-Avon
28 November 2020 15 September 2021 Conservative Boris Johnson

(ll)

Patient safety and primary care

[edit]
Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care
Maria Caulfield
MP for Lewes
17 September 2021 7 July 2022 Conservative Boris Johnson

(ll)

James Morris
MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis
8 July 2022 8 September 2022 Conservative Boris Johnson

(ll)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Government thanks GPs for 'unprecedented' COVID-19 response as lockdown begins | GPonline". www.gponline.com. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  2. ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  3. ^ Marlborough, Conor (6 February 2021). "Neale Hanvey MP: SNP Westminster vaccine spokesman sacked days after promotion". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Schools will reopen on March 8, vaccines minister confirms - The Global Herald". 4 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  5. ^ "Maggie Throup MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  6. ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-23.