- Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
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The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. In 1903 an Act was passed to transfer to the new-styled Board of Agriculture and Fisheries certain powers and duties relating to the fishing industry, and the post was renamed President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. In 1919 it was renamed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. In 1954 the separate position of Minister of Food was merged into the post and it was renamed Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Successive Ministers were asked to upgrade the Ministry to a Department of State and take the title 'Secretary of State', but all refused.
On 8 June 2001, the Ministry merged with Secretary of State for the Environment into the office of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was not formally abolished until The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/794) came into force on 27 March 2002. Until the Dissolution Order also made the necessary amendments to the law when it did come into force, many statutory functions were still vested in the holder of the office of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, rather in the Secretary of State at large. For that reason, in a final twist, Margaret Beckett had to be appointed formally as the last ever Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as well as becoming the first Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Contents
Presidents of the Board of Agriculture, 1889–1903
Name Portrait Entered office Left office Political party Henry Chaplin 
9 September 1889 11 August 1892 Conservative Herbert Gardner 
25 August 1892 21 June 1895 Liberal Walter Long 
4 July 1895 16 November 1900 Conservative Robert William Hanbury 
16 November 1900 28 April 1903 Conservative Presidents of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1903–1919
Name Portrait Entered office Left office Political party William Onslow
The Earl of Onslow
19 May 1903 12 March 1905 Conservative Hon. Ailwyn Fellowes 
12 March 1905 4 December 1905 Conservative Robert Wynn-Carington
The Earl Carrington
10 December 1905 23 October 1911 Liberal Walter Runciman 
23 October 1911 6 August 1914 Liberal Auberon Herbert
The Lord Lucas6 August 1914 25 May 1915 Liberal William Palmer
The Earl of Selborne
25 May 1915 11 July 1916 Conservative David Lindsay
The Earl of Crawford
11 July 1916 10 December 1916 Conservative Rowland Prothero 10 December 1916 15 August 1919 Conservative Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1919–1954
Name Portrait Entered office Left office Political party Arthur Lee
The Lord Lee of Fareham
15 August 1919 13 February 1921 Conservative Arthur Griffith-Boscawen 13 February 1921 24 October 1922 Conservative Sir Robert Sanders, Bt 24 October 1922 22 January 1924 Conservative Noel Buxton 
22 January 1924 3 November 1924 Labour Hon. E. F. L. Wood 
6 November 1924 4 November 1925 Conservative Hon. Walter Guinness 4 November 1925 4 June 1929 Conservative Noel Buxton 7 June 1929 5 June 1930 Labour Christopher Addison 
5 June 1930 24 August 1931 Labour Sir John Gilmour, Bt 
25 August 1931 28 September 1932 Conservative Walter Elliot 28 September 1932 29 October 1936 Conservative William Morrison 29 October 1936 29 January 1939 Conservative Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith 29 January 1939 14 May 1940 Conservative Robert Hudson 14 May 1940 26 July 1945 Conservative Tom Williams 3 August 1945 26 October 1951 Labour Sir Thomas Dugdale, Bt 31 October 1951 20 July 1954 Conservative Derick Heathcoat-Amory 
28 July 1954 18 October 1954 Conservative Ministers of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 1954–2001
Name Portrait Entered office Left office Political party Derick Heathcoat-Amory 18 October 1954 6 January 1958 Conservative Hon. John Hare 6 January 1958 27 July 1960 Conservative Christopher Soames 27 July 1960 16 October 1964 Conservative Fred Peart 16 October 1964 6 April 1968 Labour Cledwyn Hughes 6 April 1968 19 June 1970 Labour James Prior 20 June 1970 5 November 1972 Conservative Joseph Godber 5 November 1972 4 March 1974 Conservative Fred Peart 5 March 1974 10 September 1976 Labour Hon. John Silkin 10 September 1976 4 May 1979 Labour Peter Walker 5 May 1979 11 June 1983 Conservative Michael Jopling 11 June 1983 13 June 1987 Conservative John MacGregor 13 June 1987 24 July 1989 Conservative John Gummer 
24 July 1989 27 May 1993 Conservative Gillian Shephard 27 May 1993 20 July 1994 Conservative Hon. William Waldegrave 20 July 1994 5 July 1995 Conservative Hon. Douglas Hogg 
5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative Jack Cunningham 3 May 1997 27 July 1998 Labour Nick Brown 27 July 1998 8 June 2001 Labour Margaret Beckett 
8 June 2001 27 March 2002 Labour Categories:- Agriculture in the United Kingdom
- Lists of government ministers of the United Kingdom
- Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom
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