Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health
	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Neil O'Brien; since 8 September 2022
	Department of Health and Social Care
Style	Minister
Appointer	The Monarch; on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation	June 1970
First holder	Paul Dean

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary and Public Health is a position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the Government of the United Kingdom. The role has previously been known as the Minister of State for Public Health.

History

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security worked at the Department of Health and Social Security. The future Prime Minister John Major held this office. The office was known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health from 1987 to 1990.

Nicola Blackwood lost her seat in the snap 2017 general election and was replaced as a minister by Steve Brine.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the minister was placed in charge of public health policy.[1] The office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment was created later and was held by Nadhim Zahawi from 28 November 2020 to 15 September 2021.[2] Zahawi was briefly shadowed by Neale Hanvey of the Scottish National Party (SNP) but Hanvey had to resign following his support for a defamation case against a parliamentary colleague, Kirsty Blackman.[3] In February 2021, Zahawi announced schools in England would reopen on 8 March.[4]

In the 2021 British cabinet reshuffle, responsibilities for vaccines were merged with those for public health and given to Maggie Throup in the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health.[5]

Responsibilities

The minister is responsible for the following:[6]

COVID-19:
- supply (PPE)
- shielding and vulnerable groups
- vaccine deployment
health improvement
health inequalities
prevention
primary care
gender identity services
major diseases
community health
lead minister for crisis response
sponsorship of PHE and FSA

List of ministers of public health

Name		Took office	Left office	Political party
Role created out of the Department of Health and Social Security replacing the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
	Paul Dean MP for North Somerset	24 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	Edward Heath (l)
	Michael Alison MP for Barkston Ash	24 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	Edward Heath (l)
	David Owen MP for Plymouth Devonport	8 March 1974	26 July 1974	Labour	Harold Wilson (lll)
	Robert Brown MP for Newcastle upon Tyne West	8 March 1974	18 October 1974	Labour	Harold Wilson (lll)
	Alec Jones MP for Rhondda	18 October 1974	12 June 1975	Labour	Harold Wilson (lV)
	Michael Meacher MP for Oldham West	12 June 1975	14 April 1976	Labour	Harold Wilson (lV)
	Eric Deakins MP for Walthamstow	14 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	James Callaghan (l)
	Reginald Wells-Pestell, Baron Wells-Pestell Life peer	3 January 1979	4 May 1979	Labour	James Callaghan (l)
	George Young MP for Acton	7 May 1979	15 September 1981	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (l)
	Lynda Chalker MP for Wallasey	7 May 1979	5 March 1982	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (l)
	Geoffrey Finsberg MP for Hampstead	15 September 1981	14 June 1983	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (l)
	Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton Hereditary Peer	15 September 1981	6 April 1982	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (l)
	Tony Newton MP for Braintree	5 March 1982	11 September 1984	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (l) + (ll)
	David Trefgarne, 2nd Baron Trefgarne Hereditary Peer	6 April 1982	14 June 1983	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (l)
	John Patten MP for Oxford West and Abingdon	14 June 1983	2 September 1985	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (ll)
	Simon Arthur, 4th Baron Glenarthur Hereditary Peer	14 June 1983	26 March 1985	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (ll)
	Ray Whitney MP for Wycombe	11 September 1984	10 September 1986	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (ll)
	Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington Life Peer	30 March 1985	13 June 1987	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (ll)
	John Major MP for Huntingdon	2 September 1985	10 September 1986	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (ll)
	Nicholas Lyell MP for Mid Bedfordshire	10 September 1986	13 June 1987	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (ll)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health
	Edwina Currie MP for South Derbyshire	10 September 1986	16 December 1988	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (ll) + (lll)
	Roger Freeman MP for Kettering	16 December 1988	4 May 1990	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (lll)
	Gloria Hooper, Baroness Hooper Life peer	28 July 1989	14 April 1992	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (lll) John Major (l)
	Stephen Dorrell MP for Loughborough	4 May 1990	November 1990	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher (lll)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
	Tom Sackville MP for Bolton West	14 April 1992	29 November 1995	Conservative	John Major (ll)
	Julia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege Life peer	14 April 1992	2 May 1997	Conservative	John Major (ll)
	Tim Yeo MP for South Suffolk	15 April 1992	27 May 1993	Conservative	John Major (ll)
	John Bowis MP for Battersea	27 May 1993	23 July 1996	Conservative	John Major (ll)
	John Horam MP for Orpington	29 November 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative	John Major (ll)
	Simon Burns MP for Chelmsford	23 July 1996	2 May 1997	Conservative	John Major (ll)
Minister of State for Public Health
	Tessa Jowell MP for Dulwich and West Norwood	2 May 1997	11 October 1999	Labour	Tony Blair (l)
	Yvette Cooper MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford	11 October 1999	28 May 2002	Labour	Tony Blair (l) + (ll)
	David Lammy MP for Tottenham	29 May 2002	13 June 2003	Labour	Tony Blair (ll)
	Melanie Johnson MP for Welwyn Hatfield	13 June 2003	10 May 2005	Labour	Tony Blair (ll)
	Caroline Flint MP for Don Valley	10 May 2005	28 June 2007	Labour	Tony Blair (lll)
	Dawn Primarolo MP for Bristol South	29 June 2007	5 June 2009	Labour	Gordon Brown (l)
	Gillian Merron MP for Lincoln	10 June 2009	11 May 2010	Labour	Gordon Brown (l)
	Anne Milton MP for Guildford	11 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative	David Cameron (Coalition)
	Anna Soubry MP for Broxtowe	4 September 2012	7 October 2013	Conservative	David Cameron (Coalition)
	Jane Ellison MP for Battersea	7 October 2013	15 July 2016	Conservative	David Cameron (Coalition) + (II)
	Nicola Blackwood MP for Oxford West and Abingdon	14 July 2016	9 June 2017	Conservative	Theresa May (I)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care
	Steve Brine MP for Winchester	14 June 2017	25 March 2019	Conservative	Theresa May (II)
	Seema Kennedy MP for South Ribble	4 April 2019	26 July 2019	Conservative	Theresa May (II)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care
	Jo Churchill MP for Bury St Edmunds	26 July 2019	15 September 2021	Conservative	Boris Johnson (l) + (ll)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health
	Maggie Throup MP for Erewash	15 September 2021	6 September 2022	Conservative	Boris Johnson (ll)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health
	Neil O'Brien MP for Harborough	8 September 2022	Present	Conservative	Liz Truss (l) Rishi Sunak (l)

List of parliamentary under-secretaries of state

COVID-19 vaccine deployment

Name		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Political party	Prime Minister
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment
	Nadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon		28 November 2020	15 September 2021	Conservative		Boris Johnson (ll)

Patient safety and primary care

Name		Took office	Left office	Political party
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care
	Maria Caulfield MP for Lewes	17 September 2021	7 July 2022	Conservative	Boris Johnson (ll)
	James Morris MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis	8 July 2022	8 September 2022	Conservative	Boris Johnson (ll)

References

"Government thanks GPs for 'unprecedented' COVID-19 response as lockdown begins | GPonline". www.gponline.com. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
"Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
Marlborough, Conor (6 February 2021). "Neale Hanvey MP: SNP Westminster vaccine spokesman sacked days after promotion". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
"Schools will reopen on March 8, vaccines minister confirms - The Global Herald". 4 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
"Maggie Throup MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
"Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-23.