The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom 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.

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 Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as well as becoming the first Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The position was the last cabinet appointment (except that of Prime Minister) in the United Kingdom government to bear the 'Minister' title; since its abolition, heads of all government departments have been Secretaries of State or Chancellors. The title continues to be used for junior ranking ministers in charge of sub-portfolios, styled Ministers of State.

List of Agriculture Ministers and Board Presidents

Presidents of the Board of Agriculture (1889–1903)

Post created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889.Board of Agriculture Act 1889 (52 and 53 Vict c 30)

+President of the Board of Agriculture Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry Henry ChaplinMP for Sleaford(1840–1923) 9 September1889 11 August1892 Conservative Salisbury II Herbert GardnerMP for Saffron Walden(1846–1921) 25 August1892 21 June1895 Liberal Gladstone IV Rosebery Walter LongMP for Liverpool West Derby(1854–1924) 4 July1895 16 November1900 Conservative Salisbury(Con.–Lib.U.) Robert William HanburyMP for Preston(1845–1903) 16 November1900 28 April1903 Conservative Balfour(Con.–Lib.U.)

Presidents of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries (1903–1919)

Board of Agriculture superseded by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1903.

+President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry William Onslow4th Earl of Onslow(1853–1911) 19 May1903 12 March1905 Conservative Balfour(Con.–Lib.U.) Ailwyn FellowesMP for Ramsey(1855–1924) 12 March1905 4 December1905 Conservative Charles Wynn-Carington1st Earl Carrington(1843–1928) 10 December1905 23 October1911 Liberal  Campbell-Bannerman  Asquith Walter RuncimanMP for Dewsbury(1870–1949) 23 October1911 6 August1914 Liberal Auberon Herbert9th Baron Lucas(1876–1916) 6 August1914 25 May1915 Liberal William Palmer2nd Earl of Selborne(1859–1942) 25 May1915 11 July1916 Conservative Asquith Coalition(Lib.–Con.–Lab.) David Lindsay27th Earl of Crawford(1871–1940) 11 July1916 10 December1916 Conservative Rowland ProtheroMP for Oxford University(1851–1937) 10 December1916 15 August1919 Conservative Lloyd George(I & II)(Lib.–Con.–Lab.)

Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries, (1919–1954) +Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry Arthur Lee1st Baron Lee of Fareham(1868–1947) 15 August1919 13 February1921 Conservative Lloyd George(I & II)(Lib.–Con.–Lab.) Sir Arthur Griffith-BoscawenMP for Taunton(1865–1946) 13 February1921 24 October1922 Conservative Sir Robert Sanders1st BaronetMP for Bridgwater(1867–1940)Sanders lost his seat at the 1923 general election. 24 October1922 22 January1924 Conservative Law Baldwin I Noel BuxtonMP for North Norfolk(1869–1948) 22 January1924 3 November1924 Labour MacDonald I E. F. L. WoodMP for Ripon(1881–1959) 6 November1924 4 November1925 Conservative Baldwin II Walter GuinnessMP for Bury St Edmunds(1880–1944) 4 November1925 4 June1929 Conservative Noel BuxtonMP for North Norfolk(1869–1948) 7 June1929 5 June1930 Labour MacDonald II Christopher AddisonMP for Swindon(1869–1951) 5 June1930 24 August1931 Labour Sir John Gilmour"2ndBaronetMP for Glasgow Pollok(1876–1940) 25 August1931 28 September1932 Conservative National I(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) National II(N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) Walter ElliotMP for Glasgow Kelvingrove(1888–1958) 28 September1932 29 October1936 Conservative National III(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) William MorrisonMP for Cirencester and Tewkesbury(1893–1961) 29 October1936 29 January1939 Conservative National IV(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) Sir Reginald Dorman-SmithMP for Petersfield(1899–1977) 29 January1939 14 May1940 Conservative Chamberlain War(Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) Robert HudsonMP for Southport(1886–1957) 14 May1940 26 July1945 Conservative Churchill War(All parties) Churchill Caretaker(Con.–N.Lib.) Tom WilliamsMP for Don Valley(1888–1967) 3 August1945 26 October1951 Labour Attlee(I & II) Sir Thomas Dugdale1st BaronetMP for Richmond(1897–1977) 31 October1951 20 July1954 Conservative Churchill III Derick Heathcoat-AmoryMP for Tiverton(1899–1981) 28 July1954 18 October1954 Conservative

Ministers of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1954–2001)

+Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Portrait Name(Birth–Death) Term of office Party Ministry Ref. Derick Heathcoat-AmoryMP for Tiverton(1899–1981) 18 October1954 6 January1958 Conservative Churchill III Eden Macmillan(I & II) John HareMP for Sudbury and Woodbridge(1911–1982) 6 January1958 27 July1960 Conservative Christopher SoamesMP for Bedford(1920–1987) 27 July1960 16 October1964 Conservative Douglas-Home Fred PeartMP for Workington(1914–1988) 16 October1964 6 April1968 LabourWilson(I & II) Cledwyn HughesMP for Anglesey(1916–2001) 6 April1968 19 June1970 Labour Jim PriorMP for Lowestoft(1927–2016) 20 June1970 5 November1972 Conservative Heath Joseph GodberMP for Grantham(1914–1980) 5 November1972 4 March1974 Conservative Fred PeartMP for Workington(1914–1988) 5 March1974 10 September1976 Labour Wilson(III & IV) Callaghan John SilkinMP for Lewisham Deptford(1923–1987) 10 September1976 4 May1979 Labour Peter WalkerMP for Worcester(1932–2010) 5 May1979 11 June1983 Conservative Thatcher I Michael JoplingMP for Westmorland and Lonsdale(1930–) 11 June1983 13 June1987 Conservative Thatcher II John MacGregorMP for South Norfolk(1937–) 13 June1987 24 July1989 Conservative Thatcher III John GummerMP for Suffolk Coastal(1939–) 24 July1989 27 May1993 Conservative Major I Major II Gillian ShephardMP for South West Norfolk(1940–) 27 May1993 20 July1994 Conservative William WaldegraveMP for Bristol West(1946–) 20 July1994 5 July1995 Conservative Douglas HoggMP for Grantham(1945–) 5 July1995 2 May1997 Conservative Jack CunninghamMP for Copeland(1939–) 3 May1997 27 July1998 Labour Blair I Nick BrownMP for Newcastle uponTyne East and Wallsend(1950–) 27 July1998 8 June2001 Labour

From 2002 the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was dissolved and ministerial responsibility formerly transferred to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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