The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice is a junior position in the Ministry of Justice in the British Government. The present incumbent is Gerard Lemos, Baron Lemos, who succeeded Alison Levitt, Baroness Levitt in July 2026.
Role The Government website sets out the current Minister's responsibilities in the Ministry of Justice as:
All Lords Business Cross-cutting CJS Strategy The Ministry of Justice is the government department responsible for overseeing the Crown Dependencies with the Secretary of State for Justice (Lord Chancellor) being the privy counsellor responsible for the Dependencies. However the day to day duties are handled by the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, who is a less senior minister in the Ministry of Justice.
List of officeholders Minister Term of office PartyPrime MinisterParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional AffairsChris Leslie13 June 20035 May 2005LabourTony BlairDavid Lammy13 June 2003 10 May 2005Anne McGuire13 June 2003 10 May 2005Don Touhig13 June 2003 10 May 2005The Lord Filkin13 June 20039 September 2004The Baroness Ashton of Upholland9 September 2004 8 May 2007Bridget Prentice10 May 20058 May 2007Vera Baird5 May 20069 May 2007Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice The Baroness Ashton of Upholland 8 May 2007 27 June 2007 LabourTony BlairBridget Prentice9 May 200711 May 2010Gordon Brown The Lord Hunt of Kings Heath 2 July 2007 5 October 2008 Shahid Malik 4 October 2008 15 May 2009 The Lord Bach 5 October 2008 11 May 2010 Claire Ward 15 May 2009 11 May 2010Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Aid Jonathan Djanogly 11 May 2010 4 September 2012 ConservativeDavid CameronParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Victims Helen Grant 4 September 2012 7 October 2013 ConservativeDavid CameronParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Aid Shailesh Vara 7 October 2013 17 July 2016 ConservativeDavid CameronParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Justice Caroline Dinenage 8 May 2015 16 July 2016 ConservativeDavid CameronParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims, Youth and Family Justice Phillip Lee 17 July 2016 12 June 2018 ConservativeTheresa MayParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice Edward Argar 14 June 2018 10 September 2019 ConservativeTheresa MayBoris JohnsonChris Philp10 September 201913 February 2020Boris Johnson The Lord Wolfson of Tredegar 22 December 2020 13 April 2022 The Lord Bellamy 7 July 2022 5 July 2024Boris JohnsonLiz TrussRishi Sunak The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede 9 July 2024 6 September 2025 LabourKeir Starmer The Baroness Levitt 6 September 2025 22 July 2026The Lord Lemos22 July 2026IncumbentAndy Burnham
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