Meet the new Defra top team

Photograph: House of Commons/Roger Harris/CC BY 3.0

Dame Angela Eagle is the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She was appointed on 20 July 2026.

She is the Labour MP for Wallasey and was first elected in 1992.

Dame Angela has served in a variety of Ministerial positions during her career, including serving as Farming Minister between September 2025 and June 2026. Dame Angela has also served as a Minister in the Home Office and Cabinet Office.

During her time as Farming Minister, Dame Angela was well engaged with the NFU, attending visits including a visit to a soft fruit farm in Kent (her first visit as Farming Minister), as well as a dairy farm in Derbyshire which Dame Angela said was ‘invaluable’.

Dame Angela has previously spoken about the importance of a profitable agricultural industry, saying:
 
“Supporting farmers to run profitable businesses is vital for food security and growing the whole economy.”

Dame Angela has overall responsibility for Defra. She has specific responsibilities for:

• budget, including ODA (Official Development Assistance)
• international relations
• senior appointments
• economic growth.

Photograph: Willows Photos/Alamy

Emma Hardy is the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice and has been since 2017, winning a majority of 8,979 at the 2024 general election.

Before entering parliament, she was a primary school teacher for over 10 years. She transitioned from teaching to become a full-time organiser for the National Union of Teachers, working her way up to Deputy General Secretary of the Socialist Educational Association.

Since joining the Shadow Defra team in 2023, Emma worked closely with the NFU visiting members’ farms that were severely affected by flooding earlier this year.

Following her appointment, she met with NFU President Tom Bradshaw and discussed their shared ambition to improve water quality and mitigate against the devastating impact of flooding.

Tom said the government must commit to compensate farmers for storing floodwater on their land, and commit to adequately fund the Environment Agency for both essential maintenance of flood defences and watercourses, as well as new capital projects. Tom said that the availability of water for the irrigation of crops must also be prioritised.

She then met with NFU Deputy President Paul Tompkins at his first ministerial meeting where he raised issues surrounding water availability, abstraction and quality and an industry-based solution to Environmental Permitting Regulation and at the NDG (National Drought Group) meeting which preceded the drought status announcement on 29 July 2026.

Ms Hardy has specific responsibilities for:

• water reforms and delivery
• waste crime
• circular economy
• Environmental Improvement Plan
• environmental governance and permitting
• flooding and emergencies
• chemicals and air quality
• sponsorship of the Office for Environmental Protection, Environment Agency, the New Water Regulator and Consumer Council for Water.

Photograph: Allstar/Alamy

Baroness Sue Hayman was made a Life Peer on 9 September 2020 after Sir Keir Starmer was elected leader of the Labour Party.

She was previously the MP for Workington from 2015-2019 and by doing so became the first female MP to represent a constituency in Cumbria, where she has a smallholding.

The NFU has enjoyed a good relationship with Baroness Hayman; she regularly meets NFU officeholders and attends NFU events.

Baroness Hayman’s background is in public relations and consultancy and before entering parliament she represented Howgate division on Cumbria County Council later becoming vice-chair of the Children’s Scrutiny Committee.

While an MP she held a number of opposition positions including:

• Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2017 – 2019)
• Shadow Flooding and Coastal Communities Minister (2016 – 2017)
• Opposition Whip (2015 – 2016).

In the Lords:

• Shadow Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2020 – 2024)
• Opposition Whip (2020 – 2024)
• Shadow Spokesperson for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities and Local Government (2021 – 2023).

Baroness Hayman has specific responsibilities for:

• trade
• EU/SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) Agreement
• Northern Ireland/Windsor Framework
• animal welfare (companion and wild animals)
• biosecurity
• borders
• veterinary reform
• pesticides
• corporate services
• statutory instrument programme oversight
• sponsorship of Animal Plant Health Agency and Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Photograph: Stephen Morgan © House of Commons

Stephen Morgan has served as the Labour MP for Portsmouth South since 2017. 

Over his career in Parliament, Morgan has served as a Junior Minister in the Department for Education. When the Labour Party was in opposition, Morgan previously served as the Shadow Minister for Schools, the Armed Forces and Defence Procurement and as Shadow Minister for Communities. 

He has previously been a member of the Public Accounts Committee, and on the Committee scrutinising the 2021 Armed Forces Bill and the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill. 

Most recently, Stephen served as a Junior Government Whip. 

He was appointed as a Minister of State in Defra on 12 June 2026, replacing Dame Angela Eagle MP.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw hosted Stephen Morgan on his family farm in his capacity as Farming Minister in one of the minister’s first engagements since his appointment to Defra and NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt met with him in his new role at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show.

Stephen Morgan has specific responsibilities for:

• farming and food
• marine and fisheries
• science and innovation
• animal welfare (farmed animals)
• Net Zero
• sponsorship of Rural Payments Agency, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Marine Management Organisation, Cefas and Sea Fish Industry Authority.

Photograph: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter © House of Commons

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter is the Labour MP for Suffolk Coastal and was first elected at the 2024 general election.

Since its creation until her appointment as a minister, she has served as chair of the LRRG (Labour Rural Research Group). During her time as chair, the Labour Rural Research Group has published reports on farm profitability, the rural economy and ‘understanding’ rural Britain, surveying 1,400 rural voters on their priorities. The LRRG also played a key role in lobbying the government against the proposed changes to inheritance tax and APR (Agricultural Property Relief).

Riddell-Carpenter was also a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee between October 2024 – July 2026.

She also sponsored and spoke at the NFU’s 2025 Back British Farming Day reception.

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter has specific responsibilities for:

• planning and land use
• protected landscapes
• rural communities
• climate adaptation
• international biodiversity
• access to nature
• tree planting and forestry
• green finance
• domestic biodiversity
• sponsorship of Natural England, Forestry Commission, Kew and Joint Nature Conservation Committee.