Chief Ministers of England

The Chief Minister of England is a retroactive and informal title given to the various personages who ruled England on behalf of monarch, with or without said monarch's permission, prior to the government of Robert Walpole in 1721. Among them are regicides, revolutionaries and loyal subjects who among other things, created Parliament, and a few became monarchs themselves.

The "Chief Ministership," being an informal office, had many titles, sometimes none at all, and while usually a single person, could be held by groups of up to three or four. It was an extremely dangerous position, and prior to 1700, a majority of its holders lost their lives at the behest of their royal masters.

Era of Royal Favourites, Regents and Rivals (946–1649)

Anglo-Saxons

1. 940–957: Æthelstan Half-King; so called because he had almost as much power as the king himself.
2. 946–955: Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury; forced into exile by Eadwig 955–957
3. 959–978: Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury; returned when Edgar became King in Mercia
4. 1022–1051: Godwin, Earl of Wessex
5. 1053–1066: Harold, Earl of Wessex, second son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex (the future Harold II, King of England)

Norman/Avegen rule

William the Conqueror

1. 1068–1080: Odo, Earl of Kent
2. 1070–1089: Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury

William II and Henry I

1. 1094–1100: Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham
2. 1100–1139: Roger, Bishop of Salisbury

The Early Plantagenets

1. 1155–1162: Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury; murdered
2. 1189–1199: William Longchamp (intermittently, during the absences of Richard I on crusade, in prison, and in France.
3. 1214–1219: William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke; Regent of England
4. 1219–1232: Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent; Regent from 1219 to 1227
5. 1263–1265: Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester; killed at the Battle of Evesham
6. 1274–1292: Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells
7. 1309–1311 Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall
8. 1327–1330: Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Regent
9. 1327–1330: Queen Isabella of France Regent (de facto)
10. 1327–1330: Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, Regent (de jure)
11. 1330–1340: John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury
12. 1367–1371: William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester
13. 1389–1391: William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester

House of Lancaster

1. 1413–1417: Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester
2. 1422–1435: John, Duke of Bedford Regent, died 14 September 1435
3. 1422–1437: Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Regent, died 23 February 1447
4. 1424–1427: Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester
5. 1432–1447: Henry Beaufort, Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester
6. 1447–1450: William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
7. 3 April 1454 – February 1455: Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York
8. 19 November 1455 – 25 February 1456 Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, Protector (Regent) for Henry VI.
9. 1470–1471: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick; the Kingmaker; killed at the Battle of Barnet

House of York

1. 1461–1467: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick; the Kingmaker
2. 1475–1483: Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York
3. 30 April-26 June 1483: Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, was 'Lord Protector of the Realm' during the nominal reign of Edward V (one of the "Princes in the Tower") before claiming the throne for himself as Richard III

House of Tudor

Henry VII

1. 1486–1500: John Morton, Cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury
2. 1500–1509: Sir Richard Empson, executed by Henry VIII
3. 1500–1509: Edmund Dudley, executed by Henry VIII

Henry VIII

1. 1514–1529: Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, Archbishop of York
2. 1529–1532: Sir Thomas More (Saint); executed by Henry VIII; canonised in 1935
3. 1532–1540: Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex; executed by Henry VIII

Edward VI and Jane

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, The Lord High Treasurer, bears a white staff as his symbol of office.

1. 1547–1549: Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset; Lord Protector for Edward VI, who had him executed.
2. 1550–1553: John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick; 1st Duke of Northumberland; executed by Mary I.

Mary I

1. 1553-1555: Stephen Gardiner
2. 1556-1558: Reginald Pole

Elizabeth I and James I

1. 1558–1598: William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
2. 1598–1612: Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury

House of Stuart

James I and Charles I

1. 1616–1628: George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham; assassinated
2. 1639–1640: Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford; executed by Charles I

The Stuart Restoration

In 1660, the leadership of the Commonwealth recalled Charles II and the chief minister became responsible to some extent to Parliament as leader of a ministry, although much of the time the King was his own chief minister. The Glorious Revolution of 1688–9 furthered this process and by the time of Queen Anne, monarchs had little choice as to who their ministers would be.

Charles II and James II

Portrait		Name	Term of office		Ministerial offices	Political party	Ministry
		Edward, Lord Hyde (Earl of Clarendon from 1661)	1660	1667	First Lord of the Treasury (1660) Chancellor of the Exchequer (1660–61) Lord Chancellor	—	Clarendon
	Buckingham	The Cabal: Sir Thomas Clifford (Lord Clifford from 1672) Lord Arlington (Earl of Arlington from 1672) George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham Lord Ashley (Earl of Shaftesbury from 1672) The Earl of Lauderdale (Duke from 1672)	1667	1674	(see Cabal Ministry for details)	—	Cabal
		Thomas Osborne, 1st Earl of Danby	1674	March 1679	Lord High Treasurer	Tory	Danby I
		The Privy Council (coordinated by Sir William Temple)	April 1679	November 1679	(see Privy Council Ministry for details)	—	Privy Council
	Rochester Godolphin Sunderland	Laurence Hyde (Earl of Rochester from 1682) & Sidney Godolphin (Lord Godolphin from 1684) & Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland	November 1679	1687	First Lord of the Treasury (Rochester 1679–84, Godolphin 1684–85) Northern Secretary (Sunderland 1679–80, 1683–84, Godolphin 1684) Southern Secretary (Sunderland 1680–81, 1684–88) Lord High Treasurer (Rochester 1685–87)	Tory	The Chits

William III and Mary II

Portrait		Name	Term of office		Ministerial offices	Political party	Ministry
	Carmarthen Halifax	Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen & George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax	1689	8 February 1690 (Halifax resigned)	Lord President of the Council (Carmarthen) Lord Privy Seal (Halifax)	—	Carmarthen–Halifax
		Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen	February 1690	1695	Lord President of the Council	Tory	Carmarthen (Danby II)

From 1693 onwards, the government was increasingly dominated by the Whig Junto.

Anne

The Kingdoms of England and Scotland united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.

Portrait		Name	Term of office		Ministerial offices	Political party	Ministry
	Godolphin Marlborough	Sidney, Lord Godolphin (Earl of Godolphin from 1706) & John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough	1702	1710	Lord High Treasurer (Godolphin) Master General of Ordnance (Marlborough)	Tory	Godolphin–Marlborough
		Robert Harley (Earl of Oxford and Mortimer from 1711)	1710	30 July 1714	Chancellor of the Exchequer (1710–11) Lord High Treasurer (1711–14)	Tory (formerly Whig)	Harley
		Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury	30 July 1714	13 October 1714	Lord High Treasurer	Tory	Shrewsbury

The Hanoverian Succession

In the immediate aftermath of the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the monarchy was unable to function as the new King was in his domains in Hanover and did not know of his accession. As a stopgap, Parliament elected Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield Regent, or "acting king" until the new monarch arrived to take his crown. Later, George, Prince of Wales reigned as regent for six months from July 1716 to January 1717 when the King went to Hanover.

In the early part of the reign of George I of Great Britain, who could not speak English, the cabinet began meeting without the monarch present.

Following the succession of George I and the resignation of the Duke of Shrewsbury in 1714, the office of Lord High Treasurer went into permanent commission, its function undertaken by a commission of Lords of the Treasury, chaired by the First Lord of the Treasury, rather than by an individual Lord High Treasurer. From 1714 to 1717 the ministry was led by Viscount Townshend, who was nominally Northern Secretary; the Earl of Halifax, the Earl of Carlisle and Sir Robert Walpole successively served alongside Townshend as nominal First Lord of the Treasury. From 1717 to 1721 Lords Stanhope (First Lord 1717–18) and Sunderland (First Lord 1718–21) led the administration jointly, with Stanhope managing foreign affairs and Sunderland managing home affairs. Stanhope died in February 1721 and Sunderland resigned in April 1721; Townshend and Walpole returned to office.

Thus the First Lord of the Treasury came to be the most powerful minister and the prototype of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and its dominions.

George I

Portrait		Name	Term of office		Ministerial offices	Political party	Ministry
		Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend	13 October 1714	1716	Northern Secretary First Lord of the Treasury: The Earl of Halifax 1714–15 The Earl of Carlisle 1715 Sir Robert Walpole 1715–17	Whig	Townshend
	Stanhope Sunderland	James Stanhope, 1st Viscount Stanhope & Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland	12 April 1717	21 March 1718	First Lord of the Treasury & Chancellor of the Exchequer (Stanhope) Northern Secretary (Sunderland)	Whig	Stanhope–Sunderland I
			21 March 1718	4 April 1721	First Lord of the Treasury (Sunderland) Northern Secretary (Stanhope)	Whig	Stanhope–Sunderland II

Sources

• Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 9 Electron Gun to Fischer, p. 184-5.
• Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 11 Germanium to Heath Hen, p. 372-3.

References

Kingdom of England Ministries, 1660–1707
List of English ministries
Charles II (1660–1685) and James II (1685–1688)	Clarendon Cabal Danby I Privy Council The Chits
William and Mary (1689–1694)	Carmarthen–Halifax Carmarthen (Danby II)
William III (1694–1702)	First Whig Junto Pembroke Ministry
Anne (1702–1707)	Godolphin–Marlborough
List of British governments (for ministries from 1707 onwards)

Great Officers of State of England and Scotland
England	Lord High Steward Lord High Chancellor (of Great Britain) Lord High Treasurer Lord President of the Council Lord Privy Seal Lord Great Chamberlain Lord High Constable Earl Marshal Lord High Admiral
Scotland	Lord Chancellor Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland Chamberlain of Scotland Lord High Treasurer of Scotland Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland Lord Clerk Register Lord Advocate Lord Justice Clerk Lord Justice General Earl Marischal Lord Lyon King of Arms Lord High Admiral of Scotland
Italics indicate officers that are in commission, in abeyance or defunct