Minister of Defence (United Kingdom)

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Minister of Defence
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
Churchill1944.png
Longest serving
Winston Churchill

10 May 1940 – 27 July 1945
Ministry of Defence (1947–1964)
StatusAbolished
Member of Cabinet
Reports toPrime Minister
Precursor Minister for Co-ordination of Defence
Formation10 May 1940
First holder Winston Churchill
Final holder Peter Thorneycroft
Abolished1 April 1964
Succession Secretary of State for Defence

The post of Minister of Defence was responsible for co-ordination of defence and security from its creation in 1940 until its abolition in 1964. The post was a Cabinet-level post and generally ranked above the three service ministers, some of whom, however, continued to also serve in Cabinet.

Contents

The Ministry of Defence was created in 1947. [1]

History

Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, concerns about British forces being understrength led in 1936 to the creation of the post of Minister for Coordination of Defence by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. The post was abolished by Baldwin's successor Neville Chamberlain in April 1940.

On his appointment as Prime Minister in May 1940, Winston Churchill created for himself the new post of Minister of Defence. The post was created in response to previous criticism that there had been no clear single minister in charge of the prosecution of the war. In 1946, the post became the only cabinet-level post representing the military, with the three service ministers—the Secretary of State for War, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Secretary of State for Air—now formally subordinated to the Minister of Defence.

In 1964, the creation of a single, merged Ministry of Defence and the abolition of the separate service ministries in the UK led to the creation of the new post of Secretary of State for Defence, more popularly known as Defence Secretary.

Ministers of Defence, 1940–1964

PortraitName
(birth–death)
Term of officeTenurePolitical partyPrime Minister
Took officeLeft office
Churchill1944.png Winston Churchill
MP for Epping
(1874–1965)
10 May 194027 July 19455 years, 78 days Conservative Churchill War
Churchill Caretaker
Attlee BW cropped.jpg Clement Attlee
MP for Limehouse
(1883–1967)
27 July 194520 December 19461 year, 146 days Labour Attlee I
INF3-62 A V Alexander Artist's signature E A B.jpg A. V. Alexander
MP for Sheffield Hillsborough
(1885–1965)
20 December 194628 February 19503 years, 70 days Labour Co-op
Emanuel Shinwel HU 059765 (crop).jpg Emanuel Shinwell
MP for Easington
(1884–1986)
28 February 195026 October 19511 year, 240 days Labour Attlee II
Churchill portrait NYP 45063.jpg Winston Churchill
MP for Woodford
(1874–1965)
28 October 19511 March 1952127 days Conservative Churchill III
Sir Harold Alexander 026065.jpg Harold Alexander
1st Earl Alexander of Tunis

(1891–1969)
1 March 195218 October 19542 years, 231 daysIndependent
Harold Macmillan in 1942.jpg Harold Macmillan
MP for Bromley
(1894–1986)
18 October 19547 April 1955171 days Conservative
SelwynLloyd1960.jpg Selwyn Lloyd
MP for The Wirral
(1904–1978)
7 April 195520 December 1955257 days Conservative Eden
Sir Walter Monckton, January 1942 IWM A 6697 (cropped).jpg Walter Monckton
MP for Bristol West
(1891–1965)
20 December 195518 October 1956303 days Conservative
Blank.png Antony Head
MP for Carshalton
(1906–1983)
18 October 19569 January 195783 days Conservative
Sandys 1944 cropped.jpg Duncan Sandys
MP for Streatham
(1906–1987)
13 January 195714 October 19592 years, 274 days Conservative Macmillan I
Blank.png Harold Watkinson
MP for Woking
(1910–1995)
14 October 1959 13 July 1962 2 years, 272 days Conservative Macmillan II
Peter Thorneycroft cropped.png Peter Thorneycroft
MP for Monmouth
(1909–1994)
13 July 1962 1 April 19641 year, 263 days Conservative
Douglas-Home

The post of Minister of Defence was abolished in 1964 and replaced by the new post of Secretary of State for Defence.

See also

Principal political leaders of the English/British Armed Forces:
Royal NavyBritish ArmyRoyal Air ForceCo-ordination
1628 First Lord of the Admiralty
(1628–1964)
1794 Secretary of State for War
(1794–1801)
1801 Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
(1801–1854)
1854 Secretary of State for War
(1854–1964)
1919 Secretary of State for Air
(1919–1964)
1936 Minister for Co-ordination of Defence
(1936–1940)
1940 Minister of Defence (1940–1964)
1964 Secretary of State for Defence (1964–present)

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References

  1. Records of the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence. 1808–2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)