The shadow president macmillan
Woolton's job was to co-ordinate the then separate ministries of agriculture and food. The so-called 'overlord ministers' included Frederick Leathers as Secretary of State for the Co-ordination of Transport, Fuel and Power and Lord Woolton as Lord President.
Winston Churchill, clearly believing that this wartime co-ordinating role was beneficial, introduced a similar but expanded system in the first few years of his post-war premiership. This was vital to the smooth running of the British war economy and consequently the entire British war effort. This committee acted as a central clearing house which dealt with the country's economic problems.
The Lord President served as chairman of the Lord President's Committee. Ī particularly vital role was played by the Lord President of the Council during the Second World War. It has been suggested that the office has been intermittently used for Prime Ministerial deputies in the past. This role was gradually scaled back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but remnants of it remain, such as the oversight of the governance of various universities.ĭuring times of National or coalition government the office of Lord President has sometimes been held by the leader of a minority party (e.g. In the 19th century, the Lord President was generally the cabinet member responsible for the education system, amongst his other duties. ) Prior to 1679 there were several periods in which the office was left vacant. (Although there is a reference to Edmund Dudley serving as 'president of the council' in 1497, it was only in 1529 that the role was given the style and precedence of a Great Officer of State by Act of Parliament ( An Act that the President of the King's Counsel shall be associate with the Chancellor and Treasurer of England, and the Keeper of the King's Privy Seal). Unlike some of the other Great Officers of State, the office of Lord President is not very old (relative to the over 1,000-year history of government in the British Isles), the first certain appointment to the office being that of the Duke of Suffolk in 1529. The Lord President has no role in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In recent years it has been most typical for the Lord President also to serve as Leader of the House of Commons or Leader of the House of Lords. As the duties of the Lord President are not onerous, the post has often been given to a government minister whose responsibilities are not department-specific. Only a few privy counsellors need attend such meetings, and only when invited to do so at the government's request. The Privy Council meets once a month, wherever the sovereign may be residing at the time, to give formal approval to Orders in Council.