List of British governments
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This is a list of British ministries, in the sense of successive governments, 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 the governments of the present-day United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Guide to the list
"Ministry" is a term used to refer 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 traditionally 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. Modern-day prime ministers generally still hold the office of First Lord of the Treasury.
Ministries
See also
- For ministries of the Kingdom of England, see List of English ministries.
- For ministries of the modern Scottish Government, see List of Scottish governments.
- For ministries of the Northern Ireland Executive, see List of Northern Ireland Executives.
- For ministries of the modern Welsh Government, see List of Welsh governments.
- For a list of shadow cabinets, see List of British shadow cabinets.
References
- ^ An Encyclopaedia of Parliament by Philip Laundy, Norman Wilding
- ^ ParlInfo - Part 6 - Historical information on the Australian Parliament : Ministries and Cabinets
- ^ Ministers of the Crown
- ^ In 1746, the Earl of Bath attempted to form the Short-lived Ministry. He was unsuccessful, and is not gradually included in lists of UK Prime Ministers.
- ^ From 1876 he was Earl of Beaconsfield and Viscount Hughenden.
- ^ For the first five days of his ministry, until he had renounced his peerage, Douglas-Home was known as The Earl of Home.
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