Who was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 1997 to 2001?
R v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, ex p Bancoult (No 2) the United States for use as a military outpost. In 2000, Olivier Bancoult brought a judicial review claim against the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for the initial ordinance which led to the Chagossian removal. Bancoult sought a writ of "certiorari" on the grounds that the ordinance was "ultra vires" ("beyond power" - that is, that the ordinance had been made without legal authority), a claim upheld by both the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal. In response, Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, repealed the 1971 Order in Council and announced he would not appeal against
Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The British Diplomatic Service post of Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is the head of the Foreign Secretary's Private Office. The list below includes holders of the post of Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs up to 1968, when the office of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs was created. In the 19th century, the Foreign Secretary might have only one