Lord President of the Council
Responsibilities
The Privy Council is one of the oldest parts of the government and advises on the exercise of prerogative business and certain functions assigned to The King and the Council by Acts of Parliament. It is, therefore, the mechanism through which interdepartmental agreement is reached on those items of government business which, for historical or other reasons, fall to ministers as Privy Counsellors rather than as departmental ministers.
The Lord President of the Council has ministerial responsibility for the Privy Council Office which manages Privy Council business.
Current role holder
The Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP
Penny Mordaunt was appointed Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons on 6 September 2022.
Previously she was Minister of State at the Department for International Trade from 16 September 2021 to 6 September 2022. She was the department’s ministerial disability champion.
Penny has been a Member of Parliament since 2010.
Her previous positions include:
- Paymaster General (2020), leading resilience work overhauling how the UK prepares and responds to threats and has bolstered the UKs defensive cyber security
- Secretary of State for Defence (2019), the first woman to hold the post
- Secretary of State for International Development (2017)
- Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (2016)
- Minister for the Armed Forces (2015), the first woman to hold this position
- Minister of Local Government (2014)
She is also a former Governor at the World Bank.
Previous holders of this role
The Rt Hon Sir Mark Spencer MP
2022 to 2022
The Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP
2019 to 2022
The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP
2019 to 2019
The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP
2017 to 2019
The Rt Hon David Lidington CBE
2016 to 2017
The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP
2015 to 2016
The Rt Hon Nick Clegg
2010 to 2015