Minister for European Neighbourhood & the Americas
The Minister for European Neighbourhood & the Americas, formerly Minister of State for Europe, informally the Minister for Europe or Europe Minister, is a ministerial position within the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with Europe, the European Union and NATO. The Minister can also be responsible for government policy towards the Americas; European security; defence and international security; the Falkland Islands; polar regions; migration; protocol; human resources; OSCE and Council of Europe; relations with Parliament; British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus; and FCO finance, knowledge and technology.
The office is generally, formally one of a number of Ministers of State within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Despite being a junior ministerial role, the position has sometimes conferred the right to attend meetings of the Cabinet, which is occasionally granted to other such ministers at the Prime Minister's discretion. This first occurred when Denis MacShane was replaced by Douglas Alexander after the 2005 general election, although Alexander's successor ceased to have this right. When Chris Bryant MP held the office it was not as a Minister of State but a more junior Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
The responsibilities of the office were next appointed to a Minister of State in 2010 by then Prime Minister David Cameron. He appointed David Lidington, who held the office for over six years. In July 2016, the responsibilities of the Minister for Europe were combined with the portfolio of the traditionally more junior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. The post of Minister of State for Europe and the Americas was held by Sir Alan Duncan until he resigned on 22 July 2019; Duncan was largely regarded as the second most senior-ranking Foreign Office Minister behind the Foreign Secretary. On 25 July 2019, newly elected Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Conservative MP for Tamworth, Christopher Pincher to the role as part of his ministerial reshuffle. Boris Johnson promoted Wendy Morton to the role of Minister for European Neighbourhood & the Americas to replace Pincher in February 2020.
The post is not to be confused with the Minister of State within the Department for Exiting the European Union, the department created by Prime Minister Theresa May following the UK's vote to leave the EU in 2016 and abolished by Boris Johnson following the UK's exit from the EU on 31 January 2020. They supported the work of the department overseeing the UK's exit from the EU rather than overseeing government policy towards all-European affairs.
