Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs

Not to be confused with Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

United Kingdom Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs
File:Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
File:Official portrait of Daniel Zeichner.jpg Incumbent Daniel Zeichner since 8 July 2024
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Style	Minister
Nominator	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Appointer	The King on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Website	defra.gov.uk

The Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs is a mid-level position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the British government. The incumbent is Daniel Zeichner.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include:

• Overall lead Minister for the agri-food chain, and lead Minister for the Union and Levelling Up relating to Defra issues
• Lead for Rural Payments Agency, Animal Health Development Board, Fera, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Marine Management Organisation and relationship with the Food Standards Agency
• Fisheries
• Farming
• Food
• Trade
• Pesticides

Ministers for Agriculture and Food

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Food, Farming and Sustainable Energy
	The Lord Whitty	File:Official portrait of Lord Whitty crop 2.jpg	12 June 2001	10 May 2005	Labour	Tony Blair
	The Lord Bach	File:Official portrait of Lord Bach crop 2.jpg	10 May 2005	5 May 2006	Labour	Tony Blair
Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health
	The Lord Rooker	File:Official portrait of Lord Rooker crop 2.jpg	6 May 2006	3 October 2008	Labour	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Minister of State for Farming and the Environment
	Jane Kennedy	File:Jane Kennedy.jpg	5 October 2008	8 June 2009	Labour	Gordon Brown
Minister of State for Food, Farming and the Environment
	Jim Fitzpatrick	File:Official portrait of Jim Fitzpatrick crop 2.jpg	8 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour	Gordon Brown
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food
	Jim Paice	File:Jim Paice MP, Minister for Agriculture.jpg	13 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	David Cameron
	David Heath	File:David Heath Minister.jpg	4 September 2012	7 October 2013	Liberal Democrats	David Cameron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	George Eustice	File:Official portrait of George Eustice MP crop 2.jpg	8 October 2013	8 May 2015	Conservative	David Cameron
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	George Eustice	File:Official portrait of George Eustice MP crop 2.jpg	8 May 2015	28 February 2019	Conservative	David Cameron Theresa May
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	Robert Goodwill	File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Robert Goodwill MP crop 2.jpg	5 March 2019	25 July 2019	Conservative	Theresa May
	George Eustice	File:Official portrait of George Eustice MP crop 2.jpg	25 July 2019	13 February 2020	Conservative	Boris Johnson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	Victoria Prentis	File:Official portrait of Victoria Prentis MP crop 2.jpg	14 February 2020	16 September 2021	Conservative	Boris Johnson
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
	Victoria Prentis	File:Official portrait of Victoria Prentis MP crop 2.jpg	16 September 2021	6 September 2022	Conservative	Boris Johnson
Minister of State for Food
	Mark Spencer	File:Mark Spencer Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2021 (cropped).jpg	7 September 2022	25 October 2022	Conservative	Liz Truss
Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries
	Mark Spencer	File:Mark Spencer Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2021 (cropped).jpg	25 October 2022	5 July 2024	Conservative	Rishi Sunak
Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs
	Daniel Zeichner	File:Official portrait of Daniel Zeichner crop 2.jpg	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour	Keir Starmer