Secretary of State for Transport

The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors. The office used to be called the Minister of Transport, and has been merged with the Department for the Environment at various times.

Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions

The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was widely considered unwieldy and so was broken up, with the Transport functions now combined with Local Government and the Regions. Critics argued from the outset that this was a mistake and that a post of Secretary of State for Transport was needed in its own right.

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• Stephen Byers (June 8, 2001 - May 29, 2002)

After Byers' resignation, such a division was made, with the portfolios of Local Government and the Regions transferred to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

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