Name
Portrait
Term of office
Political party
P.M.
F.Sec.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
William Fraser
1782
1789
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1782
1782
Whig
The Marquess of Rockingham
Fox
George Maddison
1782
1783
The Earl of Shelburne
The Lord Grantham
The Duke of Portland
Fox
St Andrew St John
1783
1789
Pitt the Younger
The Earl Temple
The Duke of Leeds
Hon. Dudley Ryder
1789
1789
Tory
Sir James Burges, Bt
1789
January 1796
The Lord Grenville
George Canning
January 1796
April 1799
Tory
John Hookham Frere
April 1799
September 1800
Edward Fisher
September 1800
February 1801
Lord Hervey
February 1801
November 1803
Addington
The Lord Hawkesbury
Charles Arbuthnot
November 1803
June 1804
Tory
William Eliot
June 1804
February 1805
Pitt the Younger
The Lord Harrowby
Robert Ward
February 1805
February 1806
The Lord Mulgrave
George Walpole
February 1806
March 1807
The Lord Grenville
Fox
The Viscount Howick
Sir Francis Vincent
February 1806
March 1807
The Duke of Portland
Canning
The Viscount FitzHarris
March 1807
August 1807
Charles Bagot
August 1807
December 1809
Perceval
The Earl Bathurst
Culling Charles Smith
December 1809
February 1812
The Marquess Wellesley
Edward Cooke
February 1812
1817[1 ]
The Earl of Liverpool
The Marquess of Londonderry
Joseph Planta
25 July 1817
22 January 1822[2 ]
Tory
The Earl of Clanwilliam
January 1822
January 1823
Canning
Lord Francis Conyngham
January 1823
January 1826
Tory
The Lord Howard de Walden
July 1824
June 1828
The Earl of Dudley
The Marquess of Clanricarde
January 1826
1827
Lord Dunglass
June 1828
November 1830
The Duke of Wellington
The Earl of Aberdeen
Sir George Shee
26 November 1830
13 November 1834
Whig
The Earl Grey
The Viscount Palmerston
The Viscount Melbourne
The Viscount Fordwich
13 November 1834
17 December 1834
The Duke of Wellington
The Duke of Wellington
The Viscount Mahon
17 December 1834
18 April 1835
Conservative
Peel
William Fox-Strangways
18 April 1835
7 March 1840
Whig
The Viscount Melbourne
The Viscount Palmerston
Lord Leveson
7 March 1840
4 September 1841
The Viscount Canning
4 September 1841
27 January 1846
Conservative
Peel
The Earl of Aberdeen
George Smythe
27 January 1846
6 July 1846
Edward Stanley
6 July 1846
12 February 1852
Whig
Russell
The Viscount Palmerston
The Earl Granville
Austen Henry Layard
12 February 1852
18 May 1852
Lord Stanley
18 May 1852
28 December 1852
Conservative
The Earl of Derby
The Earl of Malmesbury
The Lord Wodehouse
28 December 1852
5 July 1856
Whig
The Earl of Aberdeen
Lord John Russell
The Earl of Clarendon
The Earl of Shelburne
5 July 1856
26 February 1858
The Viscount Palmerston
William Vesey-FitzGerald
26 February 1858
19 June 1859
Conservative
The Earl of Derby
The Earl of Malmesbury
The Lord Wodehouse
19 June 1859
15 August 1861
Liberal
The Viscount Palmerston
The Earl Russell
Austen Henry Layard
15 August 1861
6 July 1866
The Earl Russell
The Earl of Clarendon
Edward Egerton
6 July 1866
12 December 1868
Conservative
The Earl of Derby
The Lord Stanley
Disraeli
Arthur Otway
12 December 1868
9 January 1871
Liberal
Gladstone
The Earl of Clarendon
The Earl Granville
The Viscount Enfield
9 January 1871
23 February 1874
Robert Bourke
23 February 1874
28 April 1880
Conservative
Disraeli
The 15th Earl of Derby
The Marquess of Salisbury
Sir Charles Dilke
28 April 1880
1 January 1883
Liberal
Gladstone
The Earl Granville
Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice
1 January 1883
25 June 1885
Robert Bourke
25 June 1885
28 January 1886
Conservative
The Marquess of Salisbury
The Marquess of Salisbury
James Bryce
7 February 1886
20 July 1886
Liberal
Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
Sir James Fergusson
4 August 1886
22 September 1891
Conservative
The Marquess of Salisbury
The Earl of Iddesleigh
The Marquess of Salisbury
James Lowther
22 September 1891
18 August 1892
Sir Edward Grey
18 August 1892
20 June 1895
Liberal
Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
The Earl of Rosebery
The Earl of Kimberley
George Curzon
20 June 1895
15 October 1898
Conservative
The Marquess of Salisbury
The Marquess of Salisbury
St John Brodrick
15 October 1898
12 November 1900
The Viscount Cranborne
12 November 1900
9 October 1903
The Marquess of Lansdowne
Balfour
Earl Percy
9 October 1903
18 December 1905
Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice [3 ]
18 December 1905
19 October 1908
Liberal
Campbell-Bannerman
Grey
Asquith
Thomas McKinnon Wood
19 October 1908
23 October 1911
Francis Dyke Acland
23 October 1911
4 February 1915
Neil Primrose
4 February 1915
30 May 1915
Lord Robert Cecil
30 May 1915
10 January 1919
Lloyd George
Balfour
Cecil Harmsworth
10 January 1919
31 October 1922
Ronald McNeill
31 October 1922
23 January 1924
Conservative
Law
The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
Baldwin
Arthur Ponsonby
23 January 1924
11 November 1924
Labour
MacDonald
MacDonald
Ronald McNeill
11 November 1924
7 December 1925
Conservative
Baldwin
Chamberlain
Godfrey Locker-Lampson
7 December 1925
11 June 1929
Hugh Dalton
11 June 1929
3 September 1931
Labour
MacDonald
Henderson
Anthony Eden
3 September 1931
18 January 1934
Conservative
The Marquess of Reading
Simon
The Earl Stanhope
18 January 1934
16 June 1936
Baldwin
Hoare
Eden
The Viscount Cranborne
18 June 1935
20 February 1938
Baldwin (1935–37)Chamberlain (1937–40)
Eden (1935–38)The Viscount Halifax (1938–40)
The Earl of Plymouth
30 July 1936
12 May 1940
Rab Butler
25 February 1938
20 July 1941
Chamberlain
The Viscount Halifax
Churchill
Eden
Richard Law
20 July 1941
25 September 1943
George Hall
25 September 1943
26 May 1945
Labour
Lord Dunglass
26 May 1945
26 July 1945
Conservative
The Lord Lovat
26 May 1945
26 July 1945
Hector McNeil
4 August 1945
4 October 1946
Labour
Attlee
Bevin
Christopher Mayhew
4 October 1946
2 March 1950
The Lord Henderson
7 June 1948
26 October 1951
Ernest Davies
2 March 1950
26 October 1951
Morrison
The Marquess of Reading
31 October 1951
11 November 1953
Conservative
Churchill
Eden
Anthony Nutting
31 October 1951
18 October 1954
Douglas Dodds-Parker
11 November 1953
18 October 1954
Robin Turton
18 October 1954
20 December 1955
Churchill (1954–55)Eden (1955–56)
Eden (1954–55)Macmillan (1955)Lloyd (1955–56)
Lord John Hope
18 October 1954
9 November 1956
Douglas Dodds-Parker
20 December 1955
9 January 1957
Eden
Lloyd
David Ormsby-Gore
9 November 1956
9 January 1957
Ian Harvey
18 January 1957
24 November 1958
Macmillan
The Earl of Gosford
18 January 1957
23 October 1958
The Marquess of Lansdowne
23 October 1958
20 April 1962
The Earl of Home
John Profumo
28 November 1958
16 January 1959
Lloyd
Robert Allan
16 January 1959
7 October 1960
Joseph Godber
28 October 1960
27 June 1961
The Earl of Home
Peter Thomas
27 June 1961
27 June 1963
Peter Smithers
16 July 1962
29 January 1964
Douglas-Home
Butler
Robert Mathew
30 January 1964
16 October 1964
The Lord Walston
20 October 1964
7 January 1967
Labour
Wilson
Walker
Stewart
Brown
Bill Rodgers
7 January 1967
3 July 1968
Maurice Foley
3 July 1968
17 October 1968
Stewart
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Maurice Foley
17 October 1968
19 June 1970
Labour
Wilson
Stewart
William Whitlock
17 October 1968
13 October 1969
Evan Luard
13 October 1969
19 June 1970
Anthony Royle
24 June 1970
8 January 1974
Conservative
Heath
Douglas-Home
The Marquess of Lothian
24 June 1970
9 April 1972
Anthony Kershaw
15 October 1970
5 June 1973
Peter Blaker
8 January 1974
4 March 1974
The Lord Goronwy-Roberts
8 March 1974
4 December 1975
Labour
Wilson
Callaghan
Joan Lestor
8 March 1974
12 June 1975
Ted Rowlands
12 June 1975
14 April 1976
John Tomlinson
17 March 1976
4 May 1979
Callaghan
Crosland (1976–77)Owen (1977–79)
Evan Luard
14 April 1976
4 May 1979
Richard Luce
6 May 1979
14 September 1981
Conservative
Thatcher
The Lord Carrington
The Lord Trefgarne
14 September 1981
6 April 1982
Malcolm Rifkind
6 April 1982
13 June 1983
Pym
Ray Whitney
13 June 1983
11 September 1984
Howe
Tim Renton
11 September 1984
2 September 1985
Timothy Eggar
2 September 1985
24 July 1989
Tim Sainsbury
24 July 1989
24 July 1990
Major
Hurd
Hon. Mark Lennox-Boyd
24 July 1990
20 July 1994
Major
Office vacant from 1994 to 1996
Liam Fox
23 July 1996
1 May 1997
Conservative
Major
Rifkind
The Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
2 May 1997
28 June 1999
Labour
Blair
Cook
The Baroness Scotland of Asthal
28 July 1999
12 June 2001
The Baroness Amos
12 June 2001
13 June 2003
Straw
Ben Bradshaw
12 June 2001
29 May 2002
Mike O'Brien
29 May 2002
13 June 2003
Bill Rammell
28 October 2002
10 May 2005
Chris Mullin
13 June 2003
10 May 2005
The Lord Triesman
10 May 2005
28 June 2007
Beckett
Meg Munn
29 June 2007
5 October 2008
Brown
Miliband
Gillian Merron
5 October 2008
9 June 2009
Chris Bryant
9 June 2009
11 May 2010
Role merged into Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific