Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union or, informally, Brexit Secretary, was the Secretary of State responsible for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, informally referred to as "Brexit". The secretary was overseeing Brexit negotiations following a nationwide referendum on 23 June 2016, in which a majority voted in favour of exiting the EU. The office-holder was a member of the Cabinet.
The position was created at the outset of the premiership of Theresa May, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 13 July 2016. May reportedly ordered civil servants to find a building to house a new Department for Exiting the European Union, to be headed by the Secretary of State. The headquarters of the Department of Energy and Climate Change at Whitehall Place, which was to be vacated once the DECC was merged into the newly created Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, was viewed as a potential site for the department. The department now occupies 9 Downing Street.
The inaugural holder was David Davis MP, a longtime Eurosceptic who campaigned for the UK to leave the EU. Davis is a former chairman of the Conservative Party who served in the government of John Major as Minister of State for Europe and in the Shadow Cabinet of David Cameron as Shadow Home Secretary.
Davis resigned on 8 July 2018 shortly before midnight; Dominic Raab was appointed on 9 July as his replacement and resigned on 15 November 2018. Stephen Barclay, who had been serving as Minister of State for Health, was selected as Raab's successor on 16 November 2018.
This page also includes the portfolios of Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union, Minister of State for Exiting the European Union and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.
The position was shadowed in Parliament by the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union who was also a full member of Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet.
The office was abolished on 31 January 2020, as the United Kingdom left the European Union.Colour key :
List of Chief Negotiators for Exiting the European Union
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List of Ministers of State for Exiting the European Union
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