Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

United Kingdom
Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills
President of the Board of Trade

Incumbent
Sajid Javid
since 11 May 2015
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Board of Trade
Style The Right Honourable
Appointer Elizabeth II
Inaugural holder The Earl of Shaftesbury (First Lord of Trade)
The Lord Mandelson (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, and Skills)
Formation 16 September 1672 (First Lord of Trade)
5 June 2009 (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, and Skills)
Website Business, Innovation and Skills
United Kingdom
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Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, commonly known as the Business Secretary, is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. The office is responsible for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and previous to that the Department of Trade and Industry). The secretary of state is also President of the Board of Trade.

History

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 7 November 1660 followed by a Council of Foreign Plantations on 1 December that year. The two were united on 16 September 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 - the 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 11 July 1782, but a Committee of the Privy Council was established on 5 March 1784 for the same purposes. On 23 August 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.

When Harold Wilson re-entered office in March 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 1979 the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was abolished by the incoming Conservative government and its responsibilities were reintegrated into the Department of 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.

Under Gordon Brown's premiership there were two renamings of the role and three re-alignments of responsibility. In his first cabinet of 2007, he called the post Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. In this change, the Better Regulation Executive was added to the department but the Office of Science and Innovation was lost. In 2008, the title remained the same but responsibility for energy was lost. In 2009, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was merged into the existing department and the post became Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

First Lord of Trade (1672–1782)

Name Portrait Took office Left office
The Earl of Shaftesbury 16 September 1672 1676
The Earl of Bridgewater 16 December 1695 9 June 1699
The Earl of Stamford 9 June 1699 8 January 1702
The Viscount Weymouth 8 January 1702 1705
The Earl of Stamford 1705 12 June 1711
The Earl of Winchilsea 12 June 1711 15 September 1713
The Lord Guilford 15 September 1713 September 1714
The Lord Berkeley of Stratton September 1714 12 May 1715
The Earl of Suffolk 12 May 1715 31 January 1718
The Earl of Holderness 31 January 1718 11 May 1719
The Earl of Westmorland 11 May 1719 May 1735
The Earl Fitzwalter May 1735 June 1737
The Lord Monson June 1737 1 November 1748
The Earl of Halifax 1 November 1748 21 March 1761
The Lord Sandys 21 March 1761 1 March 1763
Hon. Charles Townshend 1 March 1763 20 April 1763
The Earl of Shelburne 20 April 1763 9 September 1763
The Earl of Hillsborough 9 September 1763 20 July 1765
The Earl of Dartmouth 20 July 1765 16 August 1766
The Earl of Hillsborough 16 August 1766 December 1766
The Viscount Clare 19 January 1767 20 January 1768
The Earl of Hillsborough 20 January 1768 31 August 1772
The Earl of Dartmouth 31 August 1772 10 November 1775
Lord George Sackville-Germain 10 November 1775 6 November 1779
The Earl of Carlisle 6 November 1779 9 December 1780
The Lord Grantham 9 December 1780 11 July 1782

President of the Committee on Trade and Foreign Plantations (1784–1786)

Name Portrait Took office Left office
The Lord Sydney 5 March 1784 23 August 1786

President of the Board of Trade (1786–1900)

Name Portrait Took office Left office1866
The Earl of Liverpool 23 August 1786 7 June 1804
The Duke of Montrose 7 June 1804 5 February 1806
The Lord Auckland 5 February 1806 31 March 1807
The Earl Bathurst 31 March 1807 29 September 1812
The Earl of Clancarty 29 September 1812 24 January 1818
Hon. F. J. Robinson 24 January 1818 21 February 1823
William Huskisson 21 February 1823 4 September 1827
Charles Grant 4 September 1827 11 June 1828
Hon. William Vesey-FitzGerald 11 June 1828 2 February 1830
John Charles Herries 2 February 1830 22 November 1830
The Lord Auckland 22 November 1830 5 June 1834
Charles Poulett Thomson 5 June 1834 14 November 1834
Alexander Baring 15 December 1834 8 April 1835
Charles Poulett Thomson 8 April 1835 29 August 1839
Henry Labouchere 29 August 1838 30 August 1841
The Earl of Ripon 3 September 1841 15 May 1843
William Ewart Gladstone 15 May 1843 5 February 1845
The Earl of Dalhousie 5 February 1845 27 June 1846
The Earl of Clarendon 6 July 1846 22 July 1847
Henry Labouchere 22 July 1847 21 February 1852
J. W. Henley 27 February 1852 17 December 1852
Edward Cardwell 28 December 1852 31 March 1855
The Lord Stanley of Alderley 31 March 1855 21 February 1858
J. W. Henley 26 February 1858 3 March 1859
The Earl of Donoughmore 3 March 1859 11 June 1859
Thomas Milner Gibson 6 July 1859 26 June 1866
Sir Henry Bruce, Bt 1866 1866
Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt 6 July 1866 8 March 1867
The Duke of Richmond 8 March 1867 1 December 1868
John Bright 9 December 1868 14 January 1871
Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue 14 January 1871 17 February 1874
Sir Charles Adderley 21 February 1874 4 April 1878
Viscount Sandon 4 April 1878 21 April 1880
Joseph Chamberlain 3 May 1880 9 June 1885
The Duke of Richmond 24 June 1885 19 August 1885
Hon. Edward Stanhope 19 August 1885 28 January 1886
A. J. Mundella 17 February 1886 20 July 1886
The Lord Stanley of Preston 3 August 1886 21 February 1888
Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt 21 February 1888 11 August 1892
A. J. Mundella 18 August 1892 28 May 1894
James Bryce 28 May 1894 21 June 1895
Charles Ritchie 29 June 1895 7 November 1900

President of the Board of Trade (1900–1963)

Name Portrait Took office Left office
Gerald Balfour 7 November 1900 12 March 1905
The Marquess of Salisbury 12 March 1905 4 December 1905
David Lloyd George 10 December 1905 12 April 1908
Winston Churchill 12 April 1908 14 February 1910
Sydney Buxton 14 February 1910 11 February 1914
John Burns 11 February 1914 5 August 1914
Walter Runciman 5 August 1914 5 December 1916
Sir Albert Stanley 10 December 1916 26 May 1919
Sir Auckland Geddes 26 May 1919 19 March 1920
Sir Robert Horne 19 March 1920 1 April 1921
Stanley Baldwin 1 April 1921 19 October 1922
Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame 24 October 1922 22 January 1924
Sidney Webb 22 January 1924 3 November 1924
Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister 6 November 1924 4 June 1929
William Graham 7 June 1929 24 August 1931
Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister 25 August 1931 5 November 1931
Walter Runciman 5 November 1931 28 May 1937
Oliver Stanley 28 May 1937 5 January 1940
Sir Andrew Duncan 5 January 1940 3 October 1940
Oliver Lyttelton 3 October 1940 29 June 1941
Sir Andrew Duncan 29 June 1941 4 February 1942
John Jestyn Llewellin 4 February 1942 22 February 1942
Hugh Dalton 22 February 1942 23 May 1945
Oliver Lyttelton 25 May 1945 26 July 1945
Sir Stafford Cripps 27 July 1945 29 September 1947
Harold Wilson 29 September 1947 23 April 1951
Sir Hartley Shawcross 24 April 1951 26 October 1951
Peter Thorneycroft 30 October 1951 13 January 1957
Sir David Eccles 13 January 1957 14 October 1959
Reginald Maudling 14 October 1959 9 October 1961
Frederick Erroll 9 October 1961 20 October 1963

Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development
& President of the Board of Trade (1963–1964)

Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
Edward Heath 20 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Alec Douglas-Home

President of the Board of Trade (1964–1970)

Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
Douglas Jay 18 October 1964 29 August 1967 Labour Harold Wilson
Anthony Crosland 29 August 1967 6 October 1969
Roy Mason 6 October 1969 19 June 1970
Michael Noble 20 June 1970 15 October 1970 Labour Edward Heath

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
& President of the Board of Trade (1970–1974)

Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
John Davies 15 October 1970 5 November 1972 Conservative Edward Heath
Peter Walker 5 November 1972 4 March 1974

Secretary of State for Industry (1974–1983)

Political party Prime Minister
Name Portrait Took office Left office Name Portrait Took office Left office Name Portrait Took office Left office
Tony Benn 5 March 1974 10 June 1975 Shirley Williams 5 March 1974 10 September 1976 Peter Shore 5 March 1974 8 April 1976 Labour Harold Wilson
Eric Varley 10 June 1975 4 May 1979
Edmund Dell 8 April 1976 11 November 1978 Labour Jim Callaghan
Roy Hattersley 10 September 1976 4 May 1979
John Smith 11 November 1978 4 May 1979
Keith Joseph 4 May 1979 14 September 1981 OFFICE ABOLISHED
(responsibilities returned to the Trade Secretary)		 John Nott 5 May 1979 5 January 1981 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
John Biffen 5 January 1981 6 April 1982
Patrick Jenkin 14 September 1981 12 June 1983
The Lord Cockfield 6 April 1982 12 June 1983

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
& President of the Board of Trade (1983–2007)

Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
Cecil Parkinson 12 June 1983 11 October 1983 Conservative Margaret Thatcher
Norman Tebbit 16 October 1983 2 September 1985
Leon Brittan 2 September 1985 22 January 1986
Paul Channon 24 January 1986 13 June 1987
The Lord Young of Graffham 13 June 1987 24 July 1989
Nicholas Ridley 24 July 1989 13 July 1990
Peter Lilley 14 July 1990 10 April 1992
Conservative John Major
Michael Heseltine† 10 April 1992 5 July 1995
Ian Lang† 5 July 1995 2 May 1997
Margaret Beckett† 2 May 1997 27 July 1998 Labour Tony Blair
Peter Mandelson 27 July 1998 23 December 1998
Stephen Byers 23 December 1998 8 June 2001
Patricia Hewitt 8 June 2001 6 May 2005
Alan Johnson†† 6 May 2005 5 May 2006
Alistair Darling 5 May 2006 27 June 2007

† — Primarily referred to as President of the Board of Trade, and not as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

†† — Alan Johnson was initially announced on 6 May 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 13 May, it was declared that the new title would not be used, after widespread derision of the new name, because the abbreviation for Johnson's title, Productivity, Energy and Industry Secretary, would have been "PENIS"[1]

Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
& President of the Board of Trade (2007–2009)

Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
John Hutton 28 June 2007 3 October 2008 Labour Gordon Brown
The Lord Mandelson 3 October 2008 5 June 2009

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
& President of the Board of Trade (since 2009)

Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Prime Minister
The Lord Mandelson 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour Gordon Brown
Vince Cable 12 May 2010 8 May 2015 Liberal Democrats David Cameron
(Coalition)
Sajid Javid 11 May 2015 Incumbent Conservative David Cameron
(Majority)

References

  1. ↑ "Profile: Alan Johnson". The Telegraph. 18 June 2005.
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