| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to regulate the salaries payable in respect of certain Administrative Offices of State; to provide for the payment of additional salaries to members of the Cabinet holding offices at salaries less than five thousand pounds a year, of a salary to any person being Prime Minister, of pensions to persons who have been Prime Minister, and of a salary to any person being Leader of the Opposition; to simplify the law as to the capacity of persons holding offices of profit to sit and vote in Parliament; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 38 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 1 July 1937 |
| Commencement | 1 July 1937[b] |
| Repealed | 5 August 1965 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes | Government of India Act 1858 |
| Repealed by | Ministerial Salaries Consolidation Act 1965 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1937 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, fromlegislation.gov.uk. | |
TheMinisters of the Crown Act 1937 (1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 38) was anact of theParliament of the United Kingdom that set salaries for members of the government and opposition. It is notable as the first act to formally recognise theprime minister, theCabinet and theLeader of the Opposition.
The act set out salaries for government ministers and certain members of the opposition. Although applying to "ministers" it did not define ministers and indeed excluded two of them: theLord Chancellor andAttorney General for England and Wales. The act first gave the salary for theprime minister, which was set at £10,000 a year.[c] This was only the second time that the Prime Minister had been mentioned in an act of Parliament, after theChequers Estate Act 1917 (7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 55), which granted them a country residence atChequers.[1]
The other officials covered by the act fell into two categories – heads of department, and under-secretaries. Heads of certain departments, such as theChancellor of the Exchequer, received £5,000[d] a year regardless of their membership in the Cabinet, while others such as theLord Privy Seal received £3,000,[e] with an increase to £5,000 if they come to sit in the Cabinet. The under-secretaries were granted £3,000 a year if Chief Whip, £2,000[f] ifFinancial Secretary to the Treasury, £1,500[g] ifFinancial Secretary to the Admiralty or similar and £1,000[h] ifAssistant Postmaster-General. The act also gave a pension of £2,000 a year to any individual who had served as Prime Minister, and a salary of £2,000 to theLeader of the Opposition.[1]
The act is notable for several reasons; it was the first act of Parliament to directly deal with ministerial salaries, and also the first act to provide a salary for the prime minister,[2] and for the Leader of the Opposition, whose duties it defined.[1] It was the first statute to formally recognise the prime minister, the Cabinet and the Leader of the Opposition.[3] The act was repealed by theMinisterial Salaries Consolidation Act 1965.[4]
The whole act was repealed by section 9(1) of, and schedule 3 to, theMinisterial Salaries Consolidation Act 1965.
UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available fromMeasuring Worth: UK CPI
