Ministry of Power (United Kingdom)

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Ministry of Power
Department overview
Formed11 June 1942
Preceding agencies
Dissolved6 October 1969
Superseding Department
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom

The Ministry of Power was a United Kingdom government ministry dealing with issues concerning energy.

Contents

The Ministry of Power (then named Ministry of Fuel and Power) was created on 11 June 1942 from functions separated from the Board of Trade. It took charge of coal production, allocation of fuel supplies, control of energy prices and petrol rationing. These had previously been dealt with by the Secretary for Mines and in the case of petroleum since 1940 by the Secretary for Petroleum. The Petroleum Board, responsible for the coordination of the war-time petroleum 'pool' for oil supplies (except oil for the Royal Navy), continued in this role until the Board was dissolved in 1948. It also took over responsibility for electricity from the Ministry of War Transport and its predecessor the Ministry of Transport.

The Ministry of Fuel and Power was renamed the Ministry of Power in January 1957. The Ministry of Power later became part of the Ministry of Technology on 6 October 1969, which merged into the Department of Trade and Industry on 20 October 1970. In 1974, its responsibilities were split out to form the Department of Energy, and then merged back into DTI in 1992; a separate Department of Energy and Climate Change was created in 2008 and then merged back in 2016 to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Those who worked at the Ministry include:

Ministers

Fuel and power

NameTook officeLeft officePolitical partyNotes
Gwilym Lloyd-George 3 June 194226 July 1945Liberal
Emanuel Shinwell 3 August 19457 October 1947Labour
Hugh Gaitskell 7 October 194728 February 1950LabourOffice no longer in Cabinet
Philip Noel-Baker 28 February 195031 October 1951Labour
Geoffrey Lloyd 31 October 195120 December 1955Conservative
Aubrey Jones 20 December 195513 January 1957Conservative

Power

NameTook officeLeft officePolitical partyNotes
The Lord Mills 13 January 195714 October 1959Conservative
Richard Wood 14 October 195920 October 1963ConservativeOffice not in Cabinet
Frederick Erroll 20 October 1963ConservativeOffice back in Cabinet
Fred Lee 18 October 19646 April 1966Labour
Richard Marsh 6 April 19666 April 1968Labour
Ray Gunter 6 April 19681 July 1968Labour
Roy Mason 1 July 19686 October 1969LabourOffice abolished: Amalgamated with Ministry of Technology

Parliamentary secretaries

NameTook officeLeft officePartyNotes
Geoffrey Lloyd 3 June 194223 May 1945ConservativeJointly
Tom Smith 3 June 194223 May 1945LabourJointly
Sir Austin Hudson, Bt 26 May 194526 July 1945Conservative
William Foster 4 August 194510 May 1946Labour
Hugh Gaitskell 10 May 19467 October 1947Labour
Alfred Robens 7 October 194726 April 1951Labour
Harold Neal 26 April 195131 October 1951Labour
Lancelot Joynson-Hicks 5 November 195120 December 1955Conservative
David Lockhart-Mure Renton 20 December 1955Conservative
David Renton 18 January 195717 January 1958ConservativeTo Ministry of Power
Sir Ian Horobin 17 January 195822 October 1959Conservative
John George 22 October 195925 June 1962Conservative
John Peyton 25 June 196218 October 1964Conservative
John Morris 21 October 196410 January 1966Labour
Lord Lindgren 10 January 19666 April 1966Labour
Jeremy Bray 6 April 19667 January 1967Labour
Reginald Freeson 7 January 19676 October 1969LabourOffice abolished

See also

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