A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authority wherein ministers without portfolio, while they may not head any particular offices or ministries, may still receive a ministerial salary and have the right to cast a vote in cabinet decisions. The office may also exist to be given to party leaders whose offices (such as a parliamentary leader) would not otherwise enable them to sit in Cabinet.
Albania
In Albania, a "Minister without portfolio" is considered a member of the government who is generally not in charge of a special department, does not have headquarters or offices, and usually does not have administration or staff. This post was first introduced in 1918 during the Përmeti II government, otherwise known as the Government of Durrës. The members of this cabinet were referred to as Delegatë pa portofol (delegate without portfolio). The name "minister" was used two years later, during the government of Sulejman Delvina. In the 1990s, the usage of the name Sekretar Shteti (Secretary of State) was common to refer to such a position. Mostly these roles were given to smaller allies by the leading parties. Nowadays the name Ministër i Shtetit (State Minister or Minister of State) is used.
Australia
James Hutchison was given the title in the First Fisher ministry, and Willie Kelly was given the title in the Cook Ministry from June 1913 to September 1914.
Stanley Bruce was given the title of minister without portfolio, when he took up his position in 1932 as the Commonwealth Minister in London. He was given the title by Lyons' Cabinet so that he could better represent the PM and his colleagues free from the limitations of a portfolio. In this case the title was a promotion and carried considerable responsibilities.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh appoints ministers without portfolio during cabinet reshuffles or fresh appointments Ministers are not usually appointed without portfolio as a coalition negotiation – all long run ministers end up with a portfolio. Suranjit Sengupta was a minister without portfolio in Sheikh Hasina's second government. The most recent minister without portfolio is from the Interim government of Bangladesh, Mahfuz Alam, who is also an adviser to the chief adviser.
Bulgaria
Bozhidar Dimitrov (2009–2011)
Brazil The Constitution determines that the Ministries (and also other bodies headed by a Minister of State) are provided for by law, so the Federal Government has less freedom to create and reformulate portfolios as it happens in other cabinets.
Extraordinary minister During the brief parliamentary experience, the position of "Extraordinary Minister" was instituted to provide for political and administrative affairs within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, it was equivalent in prerogatives, advantages, and salaries to a Minister of State. There were no nominations after the return to presidentialism, but a 1964 law created an "Extraordinary Ministry" to coordinate some related bodies that would be equivalent to a ministry of the interior. The reorganization of federal public administration in 1967, provided for the appointment of up to four Extraordinary Ministers to perform temporary duties of a relevant nature.
Currently, the legislation requires that the Coordinator of the Government Transition Cabinet (the team of the candidate elected to the office of President of the Republic) be appointed as an Extraordinary Minister if the nominee is a Senator or a Federal Deputy. In 2018, then President Michel Temer issued a provisional measure creating an "Extraordinary Ministry of Public Security", it became a common ministry after National Congress converted the provisional measure into law.
Canada
While the minister without portfolio is seen by some as a mere sinecure appointment, it has been a role that numerous political notables have played over time, including future Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who filled the role in a Pearson cabinet in the 1960s; John Turner also "kept a seat warm" in a Pearson cabinet. Notable Conservatives who filled the role include R. B. Bennett, and Arthur Meighen; however, Meighen served this role after he had been prime minister.
The title of minister without portfolio has been used off and on; in recent times, though, the title has fallen out of favour, and the penultimate minister without portfolio, Gilles Lamontagne, was promoted to postmaster general in 1978. The practice has continued primarily under the guise of ministers of state without responsibilities in the ministers' titles.
The position has also been filled on the federal or provincial level by experienced politicians near the end of their careers as a way of allowing them to counsel the government and take on projects without the burdens associated with administering a government department.
In January 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Jim Carr as a minister without portfolio, in addition to his role as special representative to the Prairies. Carr had previously served as a cabinet minister until November 2019, leaving as a consequence of his diagnosis with multiple myeloma.
China
A state councillor () is similar to ministers without portfolio. The 14th state councillors from 2023 are:
Li Shangfu (former) Wang Xiaohong Wu Zhenglong Shen Yiqin Qin Gang (former)
Croatia
Dragutin Kalogjera (1990) Zvonimir Medvedović (1990) Gojko Šušak (1990–1991) (1990–1991) Dražen Budiša (1991–1992) Ivan Cesar (1991–1992) Ivica Crnić (1992) Darko Čargonja (1992) (1991–1992) (1992) Vladimir Veselica (1991) Muhamed Zulić (1991–1992) (1991–1992) (1991) Stjepan Zdunić (1991) Čedomir Pavlović (1992–1993) Smiljko Sokol (1992–1993) Zlatko Mateša (1993–1995) – Prime Minister (1995–2000) Juraj Njavro (1993–1997) Ivan Majdak (1993–1995) Marijan Petrović (1995) (1995) Davor Štern (1995) Branko Močibob (1995–1997) Gordana Sobol (2002–2003) (2009–2011) (2016)
Deputy Prime Ministers without portfolio Bernardo Jurlina (1990–1991) (1990) (1990–1992) Franjo Gregurić (1990–1991) – Prime Minister (1991–1992) Mate Granić (1991–1993) – Minister of Foreign Affairs (1993–2000) (1991–1992) Zdravko Tomac (1991–1992) Ivan Milas (1992–1993) Vladimir Šeks (1992–1994) Mladen Vedriš (1992–1993) Ivica Kostović (1993–1995) Bosiljko Mišetić (1995) (1993–1997) Ljerka Mintas-Hodak (1995–1998) Željka Antunović (2000–2002) Slavko Linić (2000–2003) Goran Granić (2000–2002) Ante Simonić (2002–2003) Damir Polančec (2005–2008) Đurđa Adlešić (2008–2010) Slobodan Uzelac (2008–2011) (2010–2011) Tomislav Karamarko (2016) Božo Petrov (2016) – Speaker of Parliament (2016–2017) Boris Milošević (2020–2022) Anja Šimpraga (2022–2024)
Denmark
Three "control ministers" served as ministers without portfolio during World War I.
After the Liberation of Denmark in May 1945, the first Danish cabinet included four ministers without portfolio. Among these were Danish ambassador to the U.S. Henrik Kauffmann, who had conducted his own foreign policy throughout the war, and refused to follow orders from Copenhagen as long as Denmark remained occupied by a foreign power. Kauffmann served in this capacity from 12 May to 7 November 1945. The three other holders of this title had joined the cabinet a few days before – Aksel Larsen (Communist Party of Denmark), (Danish Unity), and Frode Jakobsen (Social Democrats).
Lise Østergaard held a position as minister without portfolio with special attention to foreign policy issues in Anker Jørgensen's cabinet from 26 February 1977 to 28 February 1980.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen appointed Bertel Haarder as minister without portfolio, but effectively Minister for European Affairs. Haarder served in this capacity from 27 November 2001 to 18 February 2005. The reason for appointing a minister without a ministry was the Danish European Union Presidency of 2002. Haarder was considered the most experienced Danish politician on European affairs.
Estonia
Jaan Tõnisson (1918) (provisional government) Karl Ast (1924–1925) Ants Oidermaa (1939–1940) Juhan Kaarlimäe (1944) Johannes Sikkar (1952–1953) (in exile) Artur Terras (1952–1953) (in exile) Aksel Mark (1956–1962) (in exile) Arvo Horm (1956–1964) (in exile) (1956–1964) (in exile) (1959–1962) (in exile; appointed, but did not enter office) Ivar Grünthal (1962–1964) (in exile) (1971–1990) (in exile) Verner Hans Puurand (1973–1977) (in exile) (1973–1990) (in exile) (1973–1992) (in exile) Arvo Horm (1977–1992) (in exile) (1985–1990) (in exile) Olev Olesk (1986–1990) (in exile) Endel Lippmaa (1990–1991) (interim government) Artur Kuznetsov (1990–1991) (interim government) Klara Hallik (1992) (interim government) Arvo Niitenberg (1992) (interim government) Jüri Luik (1992–1993) Peeter Olesk (1993–1994) Eiki Nestor (1994–1995) Arvo Niitenberg (1994–1995) Ants Leemets (1995) Jaak Allik (1995–1996) Endel Lippmaa (1995–1996) Tiit Kubri (1995–1997) Riivo Sinijärv (1996) Andra Veidemann (1996–1999) Peep Aru (1997–1999) Katrin Saks (1999–2003) Toivo Asmer (1999–2003) Eldar Efendijev (2002–2003) Paul-Eerik Rummo (2003–2007) Jaan Õunapuu (2003–2007) Urve Palo (2007–2009) Urmas Kruuse (2014) Anne Sulling (2014)
Finland Minister without portfolio is not a common type of cabinet position, and the last minister without portfolio served in 1949. The most famous one was Juho Kusti Paasikivi, who was a part of the "Triumvirate" of Prime Minister Risto Ryti, Minister of Foreign Affairs Väinö Tanner and Paasikivi during the Winter War and the year 1940.
Mikko Luopajärvi (Agrarian Union) 17.4.1919 – 15.8.1919 (Kaarlo Castren Cabinet), 15.8.1919 – 5.1.1920 (Vennola I Cabinet) Kalle Aukusti Lohi (Agrarian Union) 31.3.1925 – 31.12.1925 (Tulenheimo Cabinet) Matti Paasivuori (Social Democratic Party) 13.12.1926 – 15.11.1927 (Tanner Cabinet) Kalle Jutila (Agrarian Union) 17.12.1927 – 16.10.1928 (Sunila I Cabinet) Juhani Leppälä (Agrarian Union) 16.8.1929 – 27.8.1929 (Kallio III Cabinet) Eljas Erkko (Progressive Party) 20.10.1932 – 25.11.1932 (Sunila II Cabinet) Ernst von Born (Swedish People's Party) 13.10.1939 – 1.12.1939 (Cajander III Cabinet) Juho Kusti Paasikivi (Unaffiliated/No party) 1.12.1939 – 27.3.1940 (Ryti I Cabinet) Mauno Pekkala (Social Democratic Party) 17.11.1944 – 24.11.1944 (Paasikivi II Cabinet) Hertta Kuusinen (Finnish People's Democratic Party) 26.5.1948 – 4.6.1948 (Pekkala Cabinet) Aleksi Aaltonen (Social Democratic Party) 29.7.1948 – 30.7.1948 (Fagerholm I Cabinet) Unto Varjonen (Social Democratic Party) 29.7.1949 – 19.8.1949 (Fagerholm I Cabinet)
Germany
Hermann Göring (1933) Ernst Röhm (1933-1934) Rudolf Hess (1933–1941) Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1939–1945) Hjalmar Schacht (1939–1943) Martin Bormann (1941–1945)
Since 1949, a Federal Minister for Special Affairs (Bundesminister für besondere Aufgaben) is a member of the Federal Government that does not have charge of a Federal Ministry, although the ministry is now commonly assigned to the Heads of the German Chancellery to give this important government functionary cabinet-rank. The ministry was first created in October 1953, to give a ministry level position to Franz Josef Strauss, but has been used almost exclusively for the Head of the Federal Chancellery since the 1960s. A notable exception occurred in the course of German reunification when four members of East Germany's last government were made "Minister for Special Affairs" from October 3, 1990, to January 1991.
Greece