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Wikipedia / President of the Board of Trade

The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th century that evolved gradually into a government department with diverse functions. The current holder of the post is Jonathan Reynolds, who is concurrently the secretary of state for business, innovation, science and 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 Boardthe 7 (later 8) great officers of state, and eight unofficial members, who did the majority of the work. The senior unofficial board member was the board president, 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. Still, from the early 19th century, it was usually a cabinet-level position.

In 2020, there was an unusual appointment of a deputy president to assist the president. Still, the holder remained only an adviser to the board. This appears to have been a one-off appointment, and this role no longer exists. However, the president was previously assisted by the vice president.

List of presidents of the Board of Trade

First Lord of Trade (1672–1782)

First Lord	Term of office	Monarch
Anthony Ashley Cooper1st Earl of Shaftesbury	1672	1676	Charles II
John Egerton3rd Earl of Bridgewater	1695	1699	William III
Thomas Grey2nd Earl of Stamford	1699	1702
Anne
Thomas Thynne1st Viscount Weymouth	1702	1705
Thomas Grey2nd Earl of Stamford	1705	1711
Charles Finch4th Earl of Winchilsea	1711	1713
Francis North2nd Baron Guilford	1713	1714
George I
William Berkeley4th Baron Berkeley of Stratton	1714	1715
Henry Howard6th Earl of Suffolk	1715	1718
Robert Darcy3rd Earl of Holderness	1718	1719
Thomas Fane6th Earl of Westmorland	1719	1735
George II
Benjamin Mildmay1st Earl FitzWalter	1735	1737
John Monson1st Baron Monson	1737	1748
George Montagu-Dunk2nd Earl of Halifax	1748	1761
George III
Samuel Sandys1st Baron Sandys	1761	1763
Charles Townshend	1763	1763
William Petty2nd Earl of Shelburne	1763	1763
Wills Hill1st Earl of Hillsborough	1763	1765
William Legge2nd Earl of Dartmouth	1765	1766
Wills Hill1st Earl of Hillsborough	1766	1766
Robert Nugent1st Viscount Clare	1767	1768
Wills Hill1st Earl of Hillsborough	1768	1772
William Legge2nd Earl of Dartmouth	1772	1775
George Germain1st Viscount Sackville	1775	1779
Frederick Howard5th Earl of Carlisle	1779	1780
Thomas Robinson2nd Baron Grantham	1780	1782

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

President of the Committee	Term of office	Party	Ministry	Monarch
Thomas Townshend1st Baron Sydney	1784	1786	Whig	Pitt I	George III

President of the Board of Trade (1786–1963)

President of the BoardConstituency	Term of office	Party	Ministry	Monarch
Charles Jenkinson1st Earl of Liverpool	23 August1786	7 June1804	Tory	Pitt I	George III
Addington
James Graham3rd Duke of Montrose	7 June1804	5 February1806	Tory	Pitt II
William Eden1st Baron Auckland	5 February1806	31 March1807	Independent	All the Talents
Henry Bathurst3rd Earl Bathurst	31 March1807	29 September1812	Tory	Portland II
Perceval
Liverpool
Richard Trench2nd Earl of Clancarty	29 September1812	24 January1818	Tory
F. J. Robinson	24 January1818	21 February1823	Tory
George IV
William Huskisson	21 February1823	4 September1827	Tory
Canning
Charles Grant	4 September1827	11 June1828	Tory	Goderich
Wellington–Peel
William Vesey-FitzGerald	11 June1828	2 February1830	Tory
John Charles Herries	2 February1830	22 November1830	Tory
William IV
George Eden1st Baron Auckland	22 November1830	5 June1834	Whig	Grey
Melbourne I
Charles Poulett Thomson	5 June1834	14 November1834	Whig
Alexander Baring	15 December1834	8 April1835	Tory	Wellington Caretaker
Peel I
Charles Poulett Thomson	8 April1835	29 August1839	Whig	Melbourne II
Victoria
Henry Labouchere	29 August1839	30 August1841	Whig
F. J. Robinson1st Earl of Ripon	3 September1841	15 May1843	Conservative	Peel II
William Ewart Gladstone	15 May1843	5 February1845	Conservative
James Broun-Ramsay10th Earl of Dalhousie	5 February1845	27 June1846	Conservative
George Villiers4th Earl of Clarendon	6 July1846	22 July1847	Whig	Russell I
Henry Labouchere	22 July1847	21 February1852	Whig
J. W. Henley	27 February1852	17 December1852	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli I
Edward Cardwell	28 December1852	31 March1855	Peelite	Aberdeen
Edward Stanley2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley	31 March1855	21 February1858	Whig	Palmerston
J. W. Henley	26 February1858	3 March1859	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
Richard Hely-Hutchinson4th Earl of Donoughmore	3 March1859	11 June1859	Conservative
Thomas Milner Gibson	6 July1859	26 June1866	Liberal	Palmerston II
Russell III
Sir Stafford Northcote,	6 July1866	8 March1867	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
Charles Gordon-Lennox6th Duke of Richmond	8 March1867	1 December1868	Conservative
John Bright	9 December1868	14 January1871	Liberal	Gladstone I
Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue	14 January1871	17 February1874	Liberal
Sir Charles Adderley	21 February1874	4 April1878	Conservative	Disraeli II
Dudley RyderViscount Sandon	4 April1878	21 April1880	Conservative
Joseph Chamberlain	3 May1880	9 June1885	Liberal	Gladstone II
Charles Gordon-Lennox6th Duke of Richmond	24 June1885	19 August1885	Conservative	Salisbury I
Edward Stanhope	19 August1885	28 January1886	Conservative
A. J. Mundella	17 February1886	20 July1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
Frederick Stanley1st Baron Stanley of Preston	3 August1886	21 February1888	Conservative	Salisbury II
Sir Michael Hicks Beach,	21 February1888	11 August1892	Conservative
A. J. Mundella	18 August1892	28 May1894	Liberal	Gladstone IV
James Bryce	28 May1894	21 June1895	Liberal	Rosebery
Charles Ritchie	29 June1895	7 November1900	Conservative	Salisbury III
Gerald Balfour	7 November1900	12 March1905	Conservative	Salisbury IV
Edward VII
Balfour
James Gascoyne-Cecil4th Marquess of Salisbury	12 March1905	4 December1905	Conservative
David Lloyd George	10 December1905	12 April1908	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
Winston Churchill	12 April1908	14 February1910	Liberal	Asquith I
Sydney Buxton	14 February1910	11 February1914	Liberal	Asquith II
George V
Asquith III
John Burns	11 February1914	5 August1914	Liberal
Walter Runciman	5 August1914	5 December1916	Liberal
Asquith Coalition
Sir Albert Stanley	10 December1916	26 May1919	Conservative	Lloyd George I
Lloyd George II
Sir Auckland Geddes	26 May1919	19 March1920	Conservative
Sir Robert Horne	19 March1920	1 April1921	Conservative
Stanley Baldwin	1 April1921	19 October1922	Conservative
Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame	24 October1922	22 January1924	Conservative	Law
Baldwin I
Sidney Webb	22 January1924	3 November1924	Labour	MacDonald I
Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister	6 November1924	4 June1929	Conservative	Baldwin II
William Graham	7 June1929	24 August1931	Labour	MacDonald II
Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister	25 August1931	5 November1931	Conservative	National I
Walter Runciman	5 November1931	28 May1937	Liberal National	National II
Edward VIII
George VI
National III
Oliver Stanley	28 May1937	5 January1940	Conservative	National IV
Chamberlain War
Sir Andrew Rae Duncan	5 January1940	3 October1940	Independent
Churchill War
Oliver Lyttelton	3 October1940	29 June1941	Conservative
Sir Andrew Rae Duncan	29 June1941	4 February1942	Independent
John Jestyn Llewellin	4 February1942	22 February1942	Conservative
Hugh Dalton	22 February1942	23 May1945	Labour
Oliver Lyttelton	25 May1945	26 July1945	Conservative	Churchill Caretaker
Sir Stafford Cripps	27 July1945	29 September1947	Labour	Attlee I
Harold Wilson	29 September1947	23 April1951	Labour
Attlee II
Sir Hartley Shawcross	24 April1951	26 October1951	Labour
Peter Thorneycroft	30 October1951	13 January1957	Conservative	Churchill III
Elizabeth II
Eden
David Eccles	13 January1957	14 October1959	Conservative	Macmillan I
Reginald Maudling	14 October1959	9 October1961	Conservative	Macmillan II
Frederick Erroll	9 October1961	20 October1963	Conservative

President of the Board of Trade (1963–present)

President of the Board	Term of office	Concurrent office(s)	Party	Ministry	Monarch
Edward Heath	1963	1964	Secretary of State forIndustry, Trade and Regional Development	Conservative	Douglas-Home	Elizabeth II
Douglas Jay	1964	1967	None	Labour	Wilson I
Wilson II
Anthony Crosland	1967	1969	Labour
Roy Mason	1969	1970	Labour
Michael Noble	1970	1970	Conservative	Heath
John Davies	1970	1972	Secretary of State forTrade and Industry	Conservative
Peter Walker	1972	1974	Conservative
Peter Shore	1974	1976	Secretary of State forTrade	Labour	Wilson III
Wilson IV
Edmund Dell	1976	1978	Labour	Callaghan
John Smith	1978	1979	Labour
John Nott	1979	1981	Conservative	Thatcher I
John Biffen	1981	1982	Conservative
Arthur CockfieldBaron Cockfield	1982	1983	Conservative
Cecil Parkinson	1983	1983	Secretary of State forTrade and Industry	Conservative	Thatcher II
Norman Tebbit	1983	1985	Conservative
Leon Brittan	1985	1986	Conservative
Paul Channon	1986	1987	Conservative
David YoungBaron Young of Graffham	1987	1989	Conservative	Thatcher III
Nicholas Ridley	1989	1990	Conservative
Peter Lilley	1990	1992	Conservative
Conservative	Major I
Michael Heseltine	1992	1995	Conservative	Major II
Ian Lang	1995	1997	Conservative
Margaret Beckett	1997	1998	Labour	Blair I
Peter Mandelson	1998	1998	Labour
Stephen Byers	1998	2001	Labour
Patricia Hewitt	2001	2005	Labour	Blair II
Alan Johnson	2005	2006	Labour	Blair III
Alistair Darling	2006	2007	Labour
John Hutton	2007	2008	Secretary of State forBusiness, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform	Labour	Brown
Peter MandelsonBaron Mandelson	2008	2010	Labour
Secretary of State forBusiness, Innovation and Skills
Vince Cable	2010	2015	Liberal Democrats	Cameron–Clegg
Sajid Javid	2015	2016	Conservative	Cameron II
Greg Clark	2016	2016	Secretary of State forBusiness, Energy and Industrial Strategy	Conservative	May I
Liam Fox	2016	2019	Secretary of State forInternational Trade	Conservative
May II
Liz Truss	2019	2021	Conservative	Johnson I
Johnson II
Anne-Marie Trevelyan	2021	2022	Conservative
Kemi Badenoch	2022	2024	Conservative	Truss
Charles III
Sunak
Secretary of State forBusiness and Trade
Jonathan Reynolds	2024	2025	Labour	Starmer
Peter Kyle	2025	2026
Jonathan Reynolds	2026	Incumbent	Secretary of State forBusiness, Innovation, Science and Trade	Burnham