Regional minister

In England, regional ministers were appointed from 2007 on a part-time basis as part of Her Majesty's Government. Each minister had other departmental responsibilities, as well as specific responsibilities for one of the English regions. Their stated role was "to provide a clear sense of strategic direction for the nine English regions and to help strengthen their links with central government."

Following the 2010 general election, the Prime Minister's Spokesman was asked on 17 May 2010 if Regional Ministers had been scrapped. He said that the process of completing appointments to the Government was continuing, and that the Prime Minister, David Cameron, "had been very clear on the importance of devolution". On 4 June 2010 the Evening Standard reported that the post of Minister for London had been scrapped. No formal announcements were made in relation to regional ministers, but as of October 2010 no appointments had been made by the coalition government.

Since 2010, a number of similar roles have been created, including a Minister for Cities in 2011,Minister for Portsmouth in 2014 and Minister for the Northern Powerhouse in May 2015.

Regional ministers in England were first appointed by the incoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, on 28 June 2007, as part of his initial Government reshuffle. At the time, his spokesman said that their role would be "to act as regional champions within government, and to represent the government in parliamentary debates and other forums on regional issues."

A proposal to establish such ministerial positions had been made by think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN) in its report Redesigning Regionalism: Leadership and Accountability in England's Regions, which in turn had developed from a 2006 pamphlet written by MPs Ed Balls and John Healey, and NLGN Director and former MP Chris Leslie. Establishing regional ministerial posts was proposed by the NLGN "if devolution from Whitehall to regional and local leadership is regarded as too big a step straight away". The report argued that "...the appointment of a series of Ministerial portfolio holders to represent and act for Government as policy leaders in each of the English regional might provide a greater degree of focus for regional policy, encourage a more integrated approach across Whitehall, and offer superior opportunities for scrutiny and cross-examination of regional decisions in Parliament." It followed from the 2004 rejection by voters in the North East of England of a proposed elected regional assembly.

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