First Commissioner of Works
{{Short description|Former UK government role}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
Image:Lord John Manners.jpg, later 7th Duke of Rutland, who served thrice as First Commissioner of Works in the 1850s and 1860s]]
The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It took over some of the functions of the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851 when the portfolio of Crown holdings was divided into the public and the commercial. The position was frequently of cabinet level. The office was renamed Minister of Works and Buildings and First Commissioner of Works in 1940, Minister of Works and Planning upon receiving statutory planning powers from the Ministry of Health in 1942, Minister of Works when those planning powers were moved to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in 1943, and finally Minister of Public Buildings and Works in 1962. In this last form the commissioner had "additional responsibility for studying the problems of the building industry". On 15 October 1970 the role was amalgamated with the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Housing and Local Government in the Department of the Environment.{{Cite book |title=National approaches to the governance of historical heritage over time: a comparative report |date=2008 |publisher=IOS Press |isbn=978-1-58603-853-3 |editor-last=Fisch |editor-first=Stefan |series=Cahier d'histoire de l'administration |location=Amsterdam Berlin |pages=189–190 |chapter=Administering the English national heritage |first=Gavin |last=Drewry}}
List of Works Commissioners and Ministers
= First Commissioners of Works (1851–1940) =
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+First Commissioner of Works ! colspan=2 | Portrait ! Name ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Party ! Ministry |
style="background-color:{{party color|Whigs (British political party)}}" |
| 75px | Edward Seymour | 1 August | 21 February | {{Party shading/Whigs}} | Whig | {{Party shading/Whigs}} | Russell I |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Lord John Manners | 4 March | 17 December | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Who? Who? |
style="background-color: {{party color|Radicals (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Sir William Molesworth, Bt | 5 January | 21 July | {{Party shading/Radicals}} | Radical |
style="background-color:{{party color|Whigs (British political party)}}" |
| 75px | Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt | 21 July | 21 February | {{Party shading/Whigs}} | Whig | {{Party shading/Whigs}} | Palmerston I |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Lord John Manners | 26 February | 11 June | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Derby–Disraeli II |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Henry FitzRoy | 18 June | 17 December | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} rowspan=2 | Palmerston II |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | William Cowper | rowspan=2 | 9 February | rowspan=2 | 26 June | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
{{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Russell II |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Lord John Manners | 6 July | 1 December | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Derby–Disraeli III |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Austen Henry Layard | 9 December | 26 October | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Gladstone I |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Acton Smee Ayrton | 26 October | 11 August | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | William Patrick Adam | 11 August | 17 February | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Lord Henry Lennox | 21 March | 14 August | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Disraeli II |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Gerard Noel | 14 August | 21 April | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | William Patrick Adam | 3 May | 1880 | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Gladstone II |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | George Shaw Lefevre | 29 November | 13 February | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Archibald Primrose | 13 February | 9 June | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | David Plunket | 24 June | 28 January | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Salisbury I |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Albert Parker | 17 February | 16 April | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Gladstone III |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Victor Bruce | 16 April | 20 July | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | David Plunket | 5 August | 11 August | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Salisbury II |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | George Shaw Lefevre | 18 August | 10 March | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Gladstone IV |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Herbert Gladstone | 10 March | 21 June | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Rosebery |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Aretas Akers-Douglas | 4 July | 11 August | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Unionist government, 1895–1905 |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Robert Windsor-Clive | 11 August | 4 December | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | Lewis Vernon Harcourt | rowspan=2 | 10 December | rowspan=2 | 3 November | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | |
rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal government, 1905–1915 |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | William Lygon | 3 November | 6 August | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Alfred Emmott | 6 August | 25 May | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Lewis Vernon Harcourt | 25 May | 10 December | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Asquith Coalition |
style="background-color:{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Sir Alfred Mond, Bt | 10 December | 1 April | {{Party shading/Liberal (UK)}} | Liberal | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Lloyd George |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | David Lindsay | 1 April | 19 October | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | Sir John Baird, Bt | rowspan=2 | 31 October | rowspan=2 | 22 January | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Law |
{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Baldwin I |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Fred Jowett | 22 January | 3 November | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | MacDonald I |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | William Wellesley Peel | 10 November | 18 October | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Baldwin II |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart | 18 October | 4 June | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | George Lansbury | 7 June | 24 August | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | MacDonald II |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart | 25 August | 5 November | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | National I |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | William Ormsby-Gore | rowspan=2 | 5 November | rowspan=2 | 16 June | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | National II |
rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | James Stanhope | 16 June | 27 May | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt | 27 May | 7 June | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | National IV |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | Herwald Ramsbotham | rowspan=2 | 7 June | rowspan=2 | 3 April | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
style="background-color: {{party color|National Labour Organisation}}" |
| 75px | Herbrand Sackville | 3 April | 18 May | {{Party shading/National Labour}} | National Labour |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | George Tryon | 18 May | 3 October | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Churchill War |
= Ministers of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works (1940–1942) =
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Minister of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works ! colspan=2 | Portrait ! Name ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Party ! Ministry |
style="background-color:{{party color|National Government (United Kingdom)}}" |
| 75px | John Reith | 3 October | 11 February | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Independent | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Churchill War |
= Ministers of Works and Planning (1942–1943) =
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Minister of Works and Planning ! colspan=2 | Portrait ! Name ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Party ! Ministry |
style="background-color:{{party color|National Government (United Kingdom)}}" |
| 75px | John Reith | 3 October | 11 February | {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Independent | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Churchill War |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Wyndham Portal | 22 February | February | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
= Ministers of Works (1943–1962) =
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Minister of Works ! colspan=2 | Portrait ! Name ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Party ! Ministry |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Wyndham Portal | February | 21 November | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Churchill War |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | Duncan Sandys | rowspan=2 | 21 November | rowspan=2 | 26 July | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
{{Party shading/Coalition (UK)}} | Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.) |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | George Tomlinson | 4 August | 10 February | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour | rowspan=4 {{Party shading/Labour}} | Attlee |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Charles Key | 10 February | 28 February | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Richard Stokes | 28 February | 26 April | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | George Brown | 26 April | 26 October | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Sir David Eccles | 1 November | 18 October | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Churchill III |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Nigel Birch | 18 October | 20 December | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Patrick Buchan-Hepburn | 20 December | 16 January | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Eden |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Hugh Molson | 16 January | 22 October | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Macmillan |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Lord John Hope | 22 October | 16 July | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative |
= Ministers of Public Buildings and Works (1962–1970) =
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Minister of Public Buildings and Works ! colspan=2 | Portrait ! Name ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Party ! Ministry |
rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | Geoffrey Rippon | rowspan=2 | 16 July | rowspan=2 | 10 October | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Macmillan |
{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Douglas-Home |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Charles Pannell | 19 October | 6 April | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour | rowspan=4 {{Party shading/Labour}} |Wilson |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Reg Prentice | 6 April | 29 August | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Bob Mellish | 29 August | 30 April | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour |
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | John Silkin | 30 April | 19 June | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour |
style="background-color:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Julian Amery | 23 June | 15 October | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Heath |
Notes
{{notelist}}