The parliamentary under-secretary of state for the armed forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom.
The office sometimes acts as the deputy to the secretary of state for defence, when it is of Minister of State rank. In July 2024, the appointment of Luke Pollard reverted the minister’s title to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow minister for the armed forces.
Roles The responsibilities of the minister of state for the armed forces are:
implementation of relevant SDR Vision and Recommendations oversight of Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ) legislation (including Armed Forces Bill) Northern Ireland Legacy Ukraine support – operations autonomy and drones, including Drone Centre of Excellence Force Posture and Deployment Intelligence Global Operational policy and commitments North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) operations and planning crisis response Permanent Joint Operational Bases and Overseas Bases (including Cyprus, Falkland Islands and Gibraltar) Military Aid to Civilian Authority (MACA) Homeland Defence UN Peacekeeping and Human Security Call Out Orders Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Reports
List of ministers and under-secretaries
Colour key (for political parties):
Minister Term of office Political partyMinistry Defence Sec. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Army Barney Hayhoe 6 May 1979 5 January 1981ConservativeThatcher I Pym Philip Goodhart 5 January 1981 19 May 1981ConservativeMinister of State for the Armed Forces Peter Blaker 29 May 1981 13 June 1983ConservativeThatcher I Nott Heseltine John Stanley 13 June 1983 13 June 1987ConservativeThatcher II Younger Ian Stewart 13 June 1987 25 July 1988ConservativeThatcher III Archie Hamilton 25 July 1988 27 May 1993Conservative KingMajor I RifkindMajor II Jeremy Hanley 27 May 1993 14 June 1994Conservative Nicholas Soames 14 June 1994 2 May 1997ConservativePortillo John Reid 2 May 1997 27 July 1998LabourBlair I Robertson Doug Henderson 27 July 1998 29 July 1999Labour John Spellar 29 July 1999 7 June 2001Labour Hoon Adam Ingram 7 June 2001 29 June 2007LabourBlair IIBlair III Reid Browne Bob Ainsworth 29 June 2007 5 May 2009LabourBrown Hutton Bill Rammell 5 May 2009 11 May 2010Labour Ainsworth Nick Harvey 13 May 2010 4 September 2012Liberal DemocratsCameron-CleggFoxHammond Andrew Robathan 4 September 2012 7 October 2013Conservative Mark Francois 7 October 2013 11 May 2015ConservativeCameron IIFallon Penny Mordaunt 11 May 2015 15 July 2016Conservative Mike Penning 15 July 2016 12 June 2017ConservativeMay I Mark Lancaster 12 July 2017 16 December 2019ConservativeMay II Williamson MordauntJohnson I Wallace Anne-Marie Trevelyan 16 December 2019 13 February 2020ConservativeJohnson II Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey 13 February 2020 8 July 2022ConservativeJohnson II Wallace Minister of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey 8 July 2022 6 September 2022ConservativeJohnson II Wallace Minister of State for the Armed Forces and Veterans James Heappey 6 September 2022 25 October 2022ConservativeTruss Wallace Minister of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey 25 October 2022 26 March 2024ConservativeSunak Wallace Leo Docherty 26 March 2024 5 July 2024Conservative Shapps Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard 9 July 2024 6 September 2025Labour Co-OpStarmer Healey Alistair Carns 6 September 2025 11 June 2026Labour Louise Sandher-Jones 12 June 2026 IncumbentLabour JarvisBurnhamStreeting
Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces Member of ParliamentKevan Jones (2015 to 2016)Kate Hollern (2016)Wayne David (2016 to 2020)Stephen Morgan (2020 to 2021)Stephen Kinnock (2021 to 2022)Luke Pollard (2022 to 2024)
References
External links www.mod.uk