Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
The secretary of state for Commonwealth relations was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO).
The position was created in 1947 out of the old positions of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs and Secretary of State for India. In 1966, the position was merged with that of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to form that of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, which was in turn merged with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1968 to create the new position of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. The equivalent position today is the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.
Secretaries of state for Commonwealth relations, 1947–1966
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:Center;"
! colspan=2| Portrait ! Name ! colspan=2 | Term of office ! Political party ! colspan=2 | Ministry |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Christopher Addison | 7 July | 7 October | Labour | rowspan=3 style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=3 | Attlee |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Philip Noel-Baker | 7 October | 28 February | Labour |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Patrick Gordon Walker | 28 February | 26 October | Labour |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Independent (politician)}}" |
| 75px | General Hastings Ismay | 28 October | 12 March | – | rowspan=3 style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan=3 | Churchill III |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil | 12 March | 24 November |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Philip Cunliffe-Lister | 24 November | 7 April |
| rowspan=2 style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | Alec Douglas-Home | rowspan=2 | 7 April | rowspan=2 | 27 July | rowspan=2 | Conservative | style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Eden |
| rowspan=2 style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | Macmillan |
| rowspan=2 style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px | rowspan=2 | Duncan Sandys | rowspan=2 | 27 July | rowspan=2 | 16 October | rowspan=2 | Conservative |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | Arthur Bottomley | 18 October | 1 August | Labour | style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | |
Shadow secretaries of state for commonwealth relations
| class="wikitable"
! colspan=3|Name ! Entered office ! Left office ! Political party ! Shadow Cabinet |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|rowspan=2 | Patrick Gordon Walker |rowspan=2 | 75px |rowspan=2 | 15 July 1955 |rowspan=2 | 15 February 1956 |rowspan=2 | Labour |{{Party shading/Labour Party (UK)}} | Attlee |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=5 {{Party shading/Labour Party (UK)}} |Gaitskell |
|---|
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | 15 February 1956 | 24 January 1958 | Labour |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | November 1959 | Labour |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | November 1959 | November 1961 | Labour |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=3 | John Strachey | rowspan=3 | 75px | rowspan=3 | November 1961 | rowspan=3 | 15 July 1963 | rowspan=3 | Labour |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| {{Party shading/Labour Party (UK)}} | Brown |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Labour Party (UK)}} | Wilson |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| Unknown | 75px | 15 July 1963 | 16 October 1964 | Labour |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | 16 October 1964 | 5 August 1965 | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |Douglas-Home |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | 5 August 1965 | 19 April 1966 | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |Heath |
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| 75px | 19 April 1966 | 1 August 1966 | Conservative |
References
{{reflist}}
- [http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029395942 Foreign and Commonwealth Office website]
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Category:History of the Commonwealth of Nations
Category:Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom