Stephen Morgan MP now Food Security and Rural Affairs Minister - Sustain responds

The Prime Minister has appointed Stephen Morgan MP, the Labour MP for Portsmouth South, as Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra),succeeding Dame Angela Eagle MP.

Stephen Morgan is the overall lead minister for the agri-food chain, and his brief covers food, farming, fisheries, and trade, as well as leading responsibility for bodies such as the Rural Payments Agency and for the relationship with the Food Standards Agency.

On his appointment, announced on 12 June 2026, Stephen Morgan said he is “delighted” and that his focus will be “driving a green economy, protecting our natural environment and ensuring our rural and coastal communities truly thrive.”

He added: “I look forward to working with the sector to help farms become more profitable and sustainable and backing our world-leading food, farming, and fishing industries. Let’s get to work.”

Previously Minister for Early Education, where he had responsibility for school food, including the roll out of universal free breakfast clubs in primary schools and the expansion of free school meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit.

An overflowing inbox

Stephen Morgan takes up the role at a pivotal - and pressured - moment. We are approaching the first anniversary of the publication of The Good Food Cycle, the policy paper that set out the Government’s ten priority outcomes for a modern food system. A year on, we still do not have the plan of action that would constitute a Food Strategy: a committed and coherent route map to a healthier, more affordable, sustainable and resilient food system. That plan cannot wait much longer. The new Minister will need to drive progress on a comprehensive set of interlinked policy commitments that have been called for from across civil society, farming organisations, and progressive business alike.

His inbox includes:

• Completing and then delivering an ambitious Food Strategy that genuinely transforms the food system.
• Publishing a 25 Year Farming Roadmap that provides the clarity, confidence and ambition farmers need to transition to agroecological farming systems, backed by a credible and deliverable plan for implementation.
• Supporting the development of a robust Horticulture Sector Growth Plan that can scale domestic fruit and vegetable production, including support for organic and agroecological growers and the development of a Market Garden Support Fund.
• Progressing reform of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to give farmers and growers fairer treatment in supply chains.
• Making the case within government for a Good Food Bill to provide the legislative framework for a Food Strategy that is truly cross-departmental in its reach and traction to meet its ambition.

The cost-of-living crisis - and food affordability in particular - demands effective responses. But the answer must be actions that improve access to healthy and sustainable food, not ones that delay or trade it off. What is needed is a rollout of policy actions that accelerate access to affordable, healthy, and sustainable food - for the health of our people, our economy, and our ability to navigate a world reshaped by climate change.

Ministerial continuity at a premium

Stephen Morgan is the third minister to hold this food and farming brief since Labour came to power in July 2024 - following Daniel Zeichner MP and Dame Angela Eagle MP. Frequent ministerial changes in this space bring real risks: new learning curves, disrupted relationships, and the danger of policy momentum stalling while officials, civil society and other stakeholders rebuild working relationships from scratch. That there have been three Ministers of State responsible for food and farming over the past year is a reminder of how much political bandwidth this vital brief can lose to the churn of the ministerial merry-go-round.

Sustain recognises those risks - and the opportunities that change can also bring. There is no shortage of well-evidenced proposals waiting to be progressed, from work being developed by officials, farmers who back an agroecological transition, civil society and responsible businesses. The new minister’s task is to get up to speed quickly and to convert that accumulated policy resource into action.

At the same time, Stephen Morgan will need to hold firm against those with a vested commercial interest in slowing or diluting the changes that are needed. A food and farming system that actually works for health, for the environment, and for fair livelihoods for those who produce our food requires ministers who will listen to the evidence - and distinguish it clearly from the noise of those who benefit most from the status quo.

Sustain Director of Policy and Advocacy, Glen Tarman says:

“We congratulate Stephen Morgan on his appointment and look forward to working with him on the significant agenda ahead. His inbox as food and farming minister is a full one: realising the Food Strategy, publishing a robust Farming Roadmap, scaling up domestic horticulture, making supply chains fairer, and matching public support with government backing for a Good Food Bill all demand urgent attention and political will.

This is the third minister in this role since Labour came to power, and every change brings a learning curve - for the minister and for those of us who need to work in close partnership with Defra. But there is also real opportunity here. There is no shortage of well-evidenced, well-supported policy ideas ready to be progressed - from civil society, from farmers, from researchers, and from businesses that want a food and farming system built to last.

What matters now is that the new minister moves fast, listens to the right voices, and has the confidence to distinguish truly progressive proposals from the arguments of those with a commercial stake in keeping things as they are where change is needed. Sustain and our alliance members stand ready to be constructive partners in that work.”

Dame Angela Eagle MP: a note of thanks

Dame Angela Eagle MP held the food and farming brief from September 2025 to June 2026. During her tenure, she chaired the Food Strategy Advisory Board, driving forward the Food Strategy process and working to build consensus across the food system on its direction. She showed a real interest in local action for better health outcomes. She also served as inaugural Deputy Chair of the newly established Farming and Food Partnership Board, bringing together leaders from farming, food and retail to align on farm productivity, food system resilience and supply chain issues. Sustain thanks Dame Angela for her service and commitment to the brief and wishes her well in her new role.