Department for Business and Trade written question – answered at on 12 June 2026.
Adam Jogee
Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of a 'Commonwealth first' approach to trade; and what steps he is taking to develop such an approach.
Adam Jogee
Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues about the potential merits of a Commonwealth first approach to a) trade and b) economic growth.
Chris Bryant
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s Trade Strategy sets out the Government’s approach to maximising trade opportunities in support of growth and economic security.
The UK already has formal trade arrangements with the vast Majority of Commonwealth members. This includes through FTAs such as Australia, New Zealand and India, membership of the CPTPP, Economic Partnership Agreements and the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme.
The UK supplements this through direct funding, including on developing a Commonwealth Standards Network, facilitating investment for climate positive businesses and supporting the integration and participation of Small States and Developing Countries in the global trading system.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
