United Kingdom Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
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Royal Arms as used by Her Majesty's Government
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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | |
Style |
The Right Honourable (Formal prefix) Environment Secretary |
Appointer | Elizabeth II |
Inaugural holder | Margaret Beckett |
Formation | 8 June 2001 |
Website | ww2.defra.gov.uk/ |
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or informally Environment Secretary is a UK cabinet-level position in charge of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the successor to the positions of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
The post is currently held by Andrea Leadsom.
Leadsom was criticised for making a speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on 4th January 2017 that stated farming to be an industry that had been 'around for as long as mankind itself', seemingly unaware of humanity's extensive pre-farming existence as hunter-gatherers.
The Secretary of State has three main responsibilities at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to: