X-Nico

13 unusual facts about Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs


Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi

In a meeting with British Foreign Secretary, William Hague in his first days at office Hadi said "We intend to confront terrorism with full force and whatever the matter we will pursue it to the very last hiding place".

Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service

The Chief is appointed by the Foreign Secretary, to whom he directly reports.

Earl of Harrowby

It was created in 1809 for the prominent politician and former Foreign Secretary, Dudley Ryder, 2nd Baron Harrowby.

Edgar Granville, Baron Granville of Eye

Becoming a Liberal National for the 1931, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to then Home Secretary, Sir Herbert Samuel, then to Sir John Simon, Foreign Secretary, in the National Governments of the 1930s.

Foreign secretary

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Cabinet minister who heads the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the United Kingdom

Hendrie Oakshott, Baron Oakshott

He was then succeeded as MP by the future Chancellor and Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe.

Ian Montagu Fraser

However he was defeated at the 1966 general election by the Labour candidate David Owen, who went on to become Foreign Secretary.

John Hookham Frere

On Canning's promotion to the board of trade in 1809 he succeeded him as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

Nick Hurd

The Hon Nick Hurd MP is eldest son of the Conservative Life Peer, Douglas, Lord Hurd of Westwell formerly Member of Parliament, Foreign Secretary and leadership contender under Baroness Thatcher and successively under Sir John Major.

Roberts Zīle

Left-wing British politicians including the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband and Denis MacShane criticised the activities and views of Zīle and his party.

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

In the 2006 reshuffle, Margaret Beckett became the first (and only) woman to hold the post.

Send Him Victorious

Send Him Victorious is a political thriller, written in 1968 by Andrew Osmond (a former officer of Gurkha troops and diplomat) and Douglas Hurd (another former diplomat who later became a MP and Cabinet minister.

Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh

He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1874 and 1880 and as Foreign Secretary between 1885 and 1886, and was one of only two people to hold the office of First Lord of the Treasury without being Prime Minister.


2004 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel

They were threatened with legal action initially but released three days later following diplomatic discussions between Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, and Kamal Kharazi, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Agadir Crisis

The efforts failed, but Sir Edward Grey the British Foreign Secretary felt that his hands were tied and that he was forced to support France.

Charles Wood, 3rd Earl of Halifax

Wood is the eldest son of Charles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax, son of E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, Viceroy of India and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

David Syme Russell

Russell’s first charge was as pastor at the Castlegate church, Berwick, and between 1945 and 1951 he was minister in Acton, London, where in his final year there he conducted the funeral of the Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, preaching to a congregation including the cabinet of the Attlee government.

December Gold Cup

This was in memory of Robin Cook (1946–2005), a former Foreign Secretary who was a keen racing enthusiast.

Hamid Mirza

Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden asked him to adopt a British name for his service, due to possible political or diplomatic complications.

Mussolini assassination plot involving 617 squadron

The plan was derived by Air Marshal Harris and had the backing of Anthony Eden, the foreign secretary.

Near East Broadcasting Station

As late as 16 June 1948, in response to a Parliamentary Question, Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin

Negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa

This was managed with the help of a foreign team led by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington.

Politics of Gibraltar

In March 2006, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced in the British House of Commons that the details of a new constitution had been agreed.

Shatt al-Arab

After being initially threatened with prosecution, they were released after high-level conversations between British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi.

Stuart Wheeler

In January 2008, Wheeler brought an action against the government, represented by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, over the government's process of ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth of Nations

British Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary David Miliband and outgoing Secretary-General Don McKinnon both expressed their approval of Zimbabwe's return to the Commonwealth if the country resolved its infringements of the Harare Declaration, especially under a new government.