Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
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The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade.
The idea of a Board of Trade was first translated into action by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 when he appointed his son Richard Cromwell to head a body of Lords of the Privy Council, Judges and merchants to consider measures to promote trade. Charles II established a Council of Trade on November 7, 1660 followed by a Council of Foreign Plantations on December 1 that year. The two were united on September 16, 1672 as the Board of Trade and Plantations.
After the Board was re-established in 1696, there were 15 (and later 16) members of the Board - 7 (later 8) Great officers of state, and 8 unofficial members, who did the majority of the work. The senior unofficial member of the board was the President of the Board, commonly known as the First Lord of Trade. The board was abolished on July 11, 1782, but a Committee of the Privy Council was established on March 5, 1784 for the same purposes. On August 23, 1786 a new Committee was set up, more strongly focused on commercial functions than the previous boards of trade. At first the President of the Board of Trade only occasionally sat in the cabinet, but from the early 19th century it was usually a cabinet level position.
During the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the then President of the Board of Trade Edward Heath was given in addition the job of Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development. This title was not continued under Harold Wilson, but when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 he decided to merge the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Technology to create the Department of Trade and Industry. The head of this department became known as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade.
Following a Labour Party victory in the general election of October 1974 the office was split into the Department of Trade, the Department of Industry and the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection. The title President of the Board of Trade became the secondary title of the Secretary of State for Trade. In 1983 the offices of trade and industry were remerged and the title of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was recreated. When Michael Heseltine held this office, he preferred to be known by the older title of President of the Board of Trade, and this practice was also followed by Ian Lang and Margaret Beckett. Heseltine's decision to reuse the old title caused some comment and it was discovered that the Board of Trade had not in fact met since the mid-nineteenth century.
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First Lord of Trade (1672–1782)
- John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgwater (December 16, 1695 - June 9, 1699)
- Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford (June 9, 1699 - January 8, 1702)
- Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth (January 8, 1702 - 1705)
- Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford (1705 - June 12, 1711)
- Charles Finch, 4th Earl of Winchilsea (June 12, 1711 - September 15, 1713)
- Francis North, 2nd Baron Guilford (September 15, 1713 - September 1714)
- William Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley (September 1714 - May 12, 1715)
- Henry Howard, 6th Earl of Suffolk (May 12, 1715 - January 31, 1718)
- Robert Darcy, 5th Earl of Holdernesse (January 31, 1718 - May 11, 1719)
- Thomas Fane, 6th Earl of Westmorland (May 11, 1719 - May 1735)
- Benjamin Mildmay, 1st Earl Fitzwalter (May 1735 - June 1737)
- John Monson, 1st Baron Monson (June 1737 - November 1, 1748)
- George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (November 1, 1748 - March 21, 1761)
- Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys (March 21, 1761 - March 1, 1763)
- Charles Townshend (March 1, 1763 - April 20, 1763)
- William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (April 20, 1763 - September 9, 1763)
- Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough (September 9, 1763 - July 20, 1765)
- William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (July 20, 1765 - August 16, 1766)
- Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough (August 16, 1766 - December 1766)
- Robert Nugent, 1st Viscount Clare January 19, 1767) (December 1766 - January 20, 1768)
- Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough (January 20, 1768 - August 31, 1772) (also Secretary of State for the Colonies)
- William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (August 31, 1772 - November 10, 1775) (also Secretary of State for the Colonies)
- Lord George Sackville-Germain (November 10, 1775 - November 6, 1779) (also Secretary of State for the Colonies)
- Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (November 6, 1779 - December 9, 1780)
- Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham (December 9, 1780 - July 11, 1782)
President of the Committee on Trade and Foreign Plantations (1784–1786)
President of the Board of Trade (1786–1963)
- Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (August 23, 1786 - June 7, 1804) (also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster)
- James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose (June 7, 1804 - February 5, 1806) (also Postmaster-General)
- William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland (February 5, 1806 - March 31, 1807)
- Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst (also Master of the Mint) (March 31, 1807 - September 29, 1812)
- Richard le Poer Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty (September 29, 1812 - January 24, 1818) (also Master of the Mint)
- Frederick John Robinson (January 24, 1818 - February 21, 1823) (also Treasurer of the Navy)
- William Huskisson (also Treasurer of the Navy) (February 21, 1823 - September 4, 1827)
- Charles Grant (also Treasurer of the Navy) (September 4, 1827 - June 11, 1828)
- William Vesey Fitzgerald (also Treasurer of the Navy) (June 11, 1828 - February 2, 1830)
- John Charles Herries (also Master of the Mint (February 2, 1830 - November 22, 1830)
- George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland (also Master of the Mint) (November 22, 1830 - June 5, 1834)
- Charles Edward Poulett Thomson (also Treasurer of the Navy) (June 5, 1834 - November 14, 1834)
- Alexander Baring (also Master of the Mint) (December 15, 1834 -April 8, 1835)
- Charles Edward Poulett Thomson (April 18, 1835 - August 29, 1839)
- Henry Labouchere (also Master of the Mint) (August 29, 1839 - August 30, 1841)
- Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon (September 3, 1841 - May 15, 1843)
- William Ewart Gladstone (May 15, 1843 - February 5, 1845)
- James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 10th Earl of Dalhousie (February 5, 1845 - June 27, 1846)
- George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (July 6, 1846 - July 22, 1847)
- Henry Labouchere (July 22, 1847 - February 21, 1852)
- Joseph Warner Henley (February 27, 1852 - December 17, 1852)
- Edward Cardwell (December 28, 1852 - March 31, 1855)
- Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley (March 31, 1855 - February 21, 1858)
- Joseph Warner Henley (February 26, 1858 - March 3, 1859)
- Richard John Hely Hutchinson, 4th Earl of Donoughmore (March 3, 1859 - June 11, 1859)
- Thomas Milner Gibson (July 6, 1859 - June 26, 1866)
- Sir Stafford Northcote (July 6, 1866 - March 8, 1867)
- Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond (March 8, 1867 - December 1, 1868)
- John Bright (December 9, 1868 - January 14, 1871)
- Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue (January 14, 1871 - February 17, 1874)
- Sir Charles Adderley (February 21, 1874 - April 4, 1878)
- Dudley Francis Stuart Ryder, Viscount Sandon (April 4, 1878 - April 21, 1880)
- Joseph Chamberlain (May 3, 1880 - June 9, 1885)
- Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond (June 24, 1885 - August 19, 1885)
- Edward Stanhope (August 19, 1885 - January 28, 1886)
- Anthony John Mundella (February 17, 1886 - July 20, 1886)
- Frederick Arthur Stanley, 1st Lord Stanley of Preston (August 3, 1886 - February 21, 1888)
- Sir Michael Hicks-Beach (February 21, 1888 - August 11, 1892)
- Anthony John Mundella (August 18, 1892 - May 28, 1894)
- James Bryce (May 28, 1894 - June 21, 1895)
- Charles Thomson Ritchie (June 29, 1895 - November 7, 1900)
- Gerald William Balfour (November 7, 1900 - March 12, 1905)
- James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury (March 12, 1905 - December 4, 1905)
- David Lloyd George (December 10, 1905 - April 12, 1908)
- Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (April 12, 1908 - February 14, 1910)
- Sydney Charles Buxton (February 14, 1910 - February 11, 1914)
- John Burns (February 11, 1914 - August 5, 1914)
- Walter Runciman (August 5, 1914 - December 5, 1916)
- Sir Albert Henry Stanley (December 10, 1916 - May 26, 1919)
- Sir Auckland Geddes (May 26, 1919 - March 19, 1920)
- Sir Robert Horne (March 19, 1920 - April 1, 1921)
- Stanley Baldwin (April 1, 1921 - October 19, 1922)
- Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame (October 24, 1922 - January 22, 1924)
- Sidney James Webb (January 22, 1924 - November 3, 1924)
- Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame (changed surname to Cunliffe-Lister, November 27, 1924) (November 6, 1924 - June 4, 1929)
- William Graham (June 7, 1929 - August 24, 1931)
- Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister (August 25, 1931 - November 5, 1931)
- Walter Runciman November 5, 1931 - May 28, 1937)
- Oliver Stanley (May 28, 1937 - January 5, 1940)
- Sir Andrew Duncan (January 5, 1940 - October 3, 1940)
- Oliver Lyttelton (October 3, 1940 - June 29, 1941)
- Sir Andrew Duncan (June 29, 1941 - February 4, 1942)
- John Llewellin (February 4, 1942 - February 22, 1942)
- Hugh Dalton February 22, 1942 - May 23, 1945)
- Oliver Lyttelton (also Minister of Production) (May 25, 1945 - July 26, 1945)
- Sir Stafford Cripps (July 27, 1945 - September 29, 1947)
- Harold Wilson (September 29, 1947 - April 23, 1951) (Resigned)
- Sir Hartley William Shawcross (April 24, 1951 - October 26, 1951)
- Peter Thorneycroft (October 30, 1951 - January 13, 1957)
- Sir David Eccles (January 13, 1957 - October 14, 1959)
- Reginald Maudling (October 14, 1959 - October 9, 1961)
- Fred Erroll (October 9, 1961 - October 20, 1963)
Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, and President of the Board of Trade (1963–1964)
- Edward Heath (October 20, 1963 - October 16, 1964)
President of the Board of Trade (1964–1970)
- Douglas Jay (October 18, 1964 - August 29, 1967)
- Anthony Crosland (August 29, 1967 - October 6, 1969)
- Roy Mason (October 6, 1969 - June 19, 1970)
- Michael Noble (June 20, 1970 - October 15, 1970)
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and President of the Board of Trade (1970–1974)
- John Davies (October 15, 1970 - November 5, 1972)
- Peter Walker (November 5, 1972 - March 4, 1974)
Secretary of State for Trade,
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Secretary of State for Industry (1974–1983) |
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Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and President of the Board of Trade (since 1983)
- Cecil Edward Parkinson (June 12, 1983 - October 11, 1983) (Resigned)
- Norman Tebbit (October 16, 1983 - September 2, 1985)
- Leon Brittan (September 2, 1985 - January 22, 1986) (Resigned)
- Paul Channon (January 24, 1986 - June 13, 1987)
- David Young, Baron Young of Graffham (June 13, 1987 - July 24, 1989)
- Nicholas Ridley (July 24, 1989 - July 13, 1990) (Resigned)
- Peter Lilley (July 14, 1990 - April 10, 1992)
- Michael Heseltine (April 10, 1992 - July 5, 1995)
- Ian Lang (July 5, 1995 - May 2, 1997)
- Margaret Beckett (May 2, 1997 - July 27, 1998)
- Peter Mandelson (July 27, 1998 - December 23, 1998) (Resigned)
- Stephen Byers (December 23, 1998 - June 8, 2001)
- Patricia Hewitt (June 8, 2001 - May 6, 2005)
- Alan Johnson (since May 6, 2005) †
† - Alan Johnson was initially announced on May 6, 2005, after the General Election, as being "Secretary of State for Productivity, Energy and Industry and President of the Board of Trade", but after just a week, on May 13, it was declared that the title's and department's name would not be renamed, after widespread derision of the new name.