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This article lists successive British governments, also referred to as ministries, from the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, continuing through the duration of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922, and since then dealing with those of the present-day United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
"Ministry" refers collectively to all the ministers of a government, including cabinet members and junior ministers alike. Only the Civil Service is considered outside of the ministry. While the term was in common parlance in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it has become rarer, except in official and academic uses. [1] Both Australia and Canada have inherited the term and continue to use it. It is perhaps in more common use in those countries, which both have official catalogues of their respective ministries, whereas Britain has no such catalogue. [2] [3]
Articles listed by ministry contain information on the term(s) of one prime minister. Articles listed by political party contain information on the ministries of multiple consecutive prime ministers of the same political party. Prior to the 20th century, the leader of the British government held the title of First Lord of the Treasury, and not that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Therefore, the list below refers to the "Head of Government" and not the "Prime Minister". Even so, the leader of a government was often colloquially referred to as the "prime minister", beginning in the 18th century. Since 1902, prime ministers have always held the office of First Lord of the Treasury. [4]
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The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland, roughly equivalent to the role of a Secretary of State, such as the similar role of Secretary of State for Scotland. Usually it was the Chief Secretary, rather than the Lord Lieutenant, who sat in the British Cabinet. The Chief Secretary was ex officio President of the Local Government Board for Ireland from its creation in 1872.
The Walpole ministry was led by Whig Prime Minister Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, from 1730 to 1742—when Walpole left the government.
The government of Great Britain was under the joint leadership of Prime Minister Robert Walpole and Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, from 1721 until Townshend departed from the government in 1730.
William Pitt the Younger reassumed the premiership of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1804, succeeding Henry Addington as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. His second ministry was cut short with his death in 1806.
The Carteret ministry was the Whig government of Great Britain that held office from 1742 to 1744, following the defeat of the Walpole ministry by a margin of one vote. The nominal head of the ministry was Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, until his death in 1743. He was succeeded in the role of prime minister by Henry Pelham.
The Marquess of Salisbury formed a caretaker government in June 1885, upon his appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Victoria, succeeding William Ewart Gladstone. His ministry lasted for over seven months.
The Marquess of Salisbury formed his second ministry, in an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party, following the 1886 general election and his reappointment as the British prime minister by Queen Victoria.
A coalition of the Conservative and Liberal Unionist parties took power in the United Kingdom shortly before the 1895 general election. Conservative leader Lord Salisbury was appointed Prime Minister and his nephew, Arthur Balfour, became Leader of the House of Commons, but various major posts went to the Liberal Unionists, most notably the Leader of the House of Lords, the Liberal Unionist Duke of Devonshire, who was made Lord President, and his colleague in the Commons, Joseph Chamberlain, who became Colonial Secretary. It was this government which would conduct the Second Boer War from 1899–1902, which helped them to win a landslide victory at the 1900 general election.
The Bath–Granville ministry, better known as the "short-lived" ministry, was a ministry of Patriot Whigs that existed briefly in February 1746.
The 1806 United Kingdom general election was the election of members to the 3rd Parliament of the United Kingdom. This was the second general election to be held after the Union of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Kingdom of Great Britain was governed by a caretaker government in April–June 1757—after the King's dismissal of William Pitt led to the collapse of the Pitt–Devonshire ministry amid the Seven Years' War. William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, continued as the nominal head of government.
From 1754 to 1756, the Duke of Newcastle headed the government of Great Britain. After the death of the previous prime minister, his brother Henry Pelham, Newcastle had formed a new administration of Whigs. He remained in power until 1756 when his government collapsed following the fall of Minorca and the fierce criticism that he had come under for his handling of the Seven Years' War that was engulfing Europe.
Henry Addington, a member of the Tories, was appointed by King George III to lead the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1804 and served as an interlude between Pitt. Ministries. Addington's ministry is most notable for negotiating the Treaty of Amiens, which marked a brief cessation of the Napoleonic Wars.
Between 1757 and 1762, at the height of the Seven Years' War, the Pitt–Newcastle ministry governed the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was headed by Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, serving in his second stint as prime minister. The most influential and famous minister, however, was William Pitt the Elder, Secretary of State.
The first Rockingham ministry was a British ministry headed by the Marquess of Rockingham from 1765 to 1766 during the reign of King George III. The government was made up mainly of his followers known as the Rockingham Whigs. The most influential member of the government was the Duke of Newcastle, a former Prime Minister, who served as Lord Privy Seal. It is often referred to as the only government ever to have been made up almost entirely of members of the Jockey Club, with Rockingham himself being a prominent patron and follower of the turf. Rockingham was noted for his ignorance of foreign affairs, and his ministry failed to reverse the growing isolation of Britain within Europe.
The Grafton ministry was the British government headed by Prime Minister Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, in government from October 1768 to January 1770.
This is a list of the principal holders of government office during the premiership of the Earl of Shelburne between July 1782 and April 1783.
This is a list of the principal holders of government office during the second premiership of the Marquess of Rockingham for four months in 1782.
This is a list of members of the government of the United Kingdom in office under the leadership of Spencer Perceval from 1809 to 1812.