Ministry of Power (United Kingdom)

This article is about the British Ministry. For its Indian counterparts, see Ministry of Power (India).

Ministry of Power

Department overview
Formed	11 June 1942
Preceding agencies	Board of Trade Ministry of War Transport Secretary for Petroleum Secretary for Mines
Dissolved	6 October 1969
Superseding agency	Ministry of Technology
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom

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

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. It also took over responsibility for electricity from the Ministry of War 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. The DTI later became the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory reform.

Those who worked at the Ministry include:

• Arthur Boissier, Director of Public Relations (1943–1945) and formerly Headmaster of Harrow School.
• Maurice Bridgeman, Principal Assistant Secretary in the Petroleum Division (1944–1946).
• Sir Donald Fergusson, Permanent Secretary (1945–1952).
• John Maud, later Lord Redcliffe-Maud, civil servant (1952–1958).
• Harold Wilson, Director of Economics and Statistics (1943–1944) and later Prime Minister.

Ministers

Ministers of Fuel and Power

Name	Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	notes
Gwilym Lloyd-George		Liberal	3 June 1942	26 July 1945
Emanuel Shinwell		Labour	3 August 1945	7 October 1947
Hugh Gaitskell		Labour	7 October 1947	28 February 1950	Office no longer in Cabinet
Philip Noel-Baker		Labour	28 February 1950	31 October 1951
Geoffrey Lloyd		Conservative	31 October 1951	20 December 1955
Aubrey Jones		Conservative	20 December 1955	13 January 1957

Ministers of Power

Name	Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	notes
The Lord Mills		Conservative	13 January 1957	14 October 1959
Richard Wood		Conservative	14 October 1959	20 October 1963	Office not in Cabinet
Frederick Erroll		Conservative	20 October 1963		Office back in Cabinet
Fred Lee		Labour	18 October 1964	6 April 1966
Richard Marsh		Labour	6 April 1966	6 April 1968
Ray Gunter		Labour	6 April 1968	1 July 1969
Roy Mason		Labour	1 July 1968	6 October 1969	Office abolished: Amalgamated with Ministry of Technology

Parliamentary Secretaries

Name	Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	Notes
Geoffrey Lloyd		Conservative	3 June 1942	23 May 1945	Jointly
Tom Smith		Labour	3 June 1942	23 May 1945	Jointly
Sir Austin Hudson, Bt		Conservative	26 May 1945	26 July 1945
William Foster		Labour	4 August 1945	10 May 1946
Hugh Gaitskell		Labour	10 May 1946	7 October 1947
Alfred Robens		Labour	7 October 1947	26 April 1951
Harold Neal		Labour	26 April 1951	31 October 1951
Lancelot Joynson-Hicks		Conservative	5 November 1951	20 December 1955
David Lockhart-Mure Renton		Conservative	20 December 1955
David Renton		Conservative	18 January 1957	17 January 1958	To Ministry of Power
Sir Ian Horobin		Conservative	17 January 1958	22 October 1959
John George		Conservative	22 October 1959	25 June 1962
John Peyton		Conservative	25 June 1962	18 October 1964
John Morris		Labour	21 October 1964	10 January 1966
Lord Lindgren		Labour	10 January 1966	6 April 1966
Jeremy Bray		Labour	6 April 1966	7 January 1967
Reginald Freeson		Labour	7 January 1967	6 October 1969	Office abolished

See also

• Department of Energy (United Kingdom)

External links

• History of the Department of Energy
• H. W. Grimmitt, Ministry of Fuel and Power portrait at the National Portrait Gallery, London