TheFirst Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It took over some of the functions of theFirst Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851 when the portfolio of Crown holdings was divided into the public and the commercial. The position was frequently of cabinet level. The office was renamedMinister of Works and Buildings and First Commissioner of Works in 1940,Minister of Works and Planning upon receiving statutory planning powers from theMinistry of Health in 1942,Minister of Works when those planning powers were moved to theMinistry of Town and Country Planning in 1943, and finallyMinister of Public Buildings and Works in 1962. In this last form the commissioner had "additional responsibility for studying the problems of the building industry". On 15 October 1970 the role was amalgamated with theMinister of Transport and theMinister of Housing and Local Government in theDepartment of the Environment.^[1]

First Commissioner of Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		Edward Seymour Lord Seymour MP forTotnes (1804–1885)	1 August 1851	21 February 1852	Whig	Russell I
		LordJohn Manners MP forColchester (1818–1906)	4 March 1852	17 December 1852	Conservative	Who? Who?
		SirWilliam Molesworth, Bt MP forSouthwark (1810–1855)	5 January 1853	21 July 1855	Radical	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)
		SirBenjamin Hall, Bt MP forMarylebone (1802–1867)	21 July 1855	21 February 1858	Whig	Palmerston I
		LordJohn Manners MP forLeicestershire North (1818–1906)	26 February 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
		Henry FitzRoy MP forLewes (1807–1859)	18 June 1859	17 December 1859	Liberal	Palmerston II
		William Cowper MP forHertford (1811–1888)	9 February 1860	26 June 1866	Liberal
						Russell II
		LordJohn Manners MP forLeicestershire North (1818–1906)	6 July 1866	1 December 1868	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
		Austen Henry Layard MP forSouthwark (1817–1894)	9 December 1868	26 October 1869	Liberal	Gladstone I
		Acton Smee Ayrton MP forTower Hamlets (1816–1886)	26 October 1869	11 August 1873	Liberal
		William Patrick Adam MP forClackmannanshire and Kinross-shire (1823–1881)	11 August 1873	17 February 1874	Liberal
		LordHenry Lennox MP forChichester (1821–1886)	21 March 1874	14 August 1876	Conservative	Disraeli II
		Gerard Noel MP forRutland (1823–1911)	14 August 1876	21 April 1880	Conservative
		William Patrick Adam MP forClackmannanshire and Kinross-shire (1823–1881)	3 May 1880	1880	Liberal	Gladstone II
		George Shaw Lefevre MP forReading (1831–1928)	29 November 1881	13 February 1885	Liberal
		Archibald Primrose 5thEarl of Rosebery (1847–1929)	13 February 1885	9 June 1885	Liberal
		David Plunket MP forDublin University (1838–1919)	24 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	Salisbury I
		Albert Parker 3rd Earl of Morley (1843–1905)	17 February 1886	16 April 1886	Liberal	Gladstone III
		Victor Bruce 9thEarl of Elgin (1849–1917)	16 April 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal
		David Plunket MP forDublin University (1838–1919)	5 August 1886	11 August 1892	Conservative	Salisbury II
		George Shaw Lefevre MP forBradford Central (1831–1928)	18 August 1892	10 March 1894	Liberal	Gladstone IV
		Herbert Gladstone MP forLeeds West (1854–1930)	10 March 1894	21 June 1895	Liberal	Rosebery
		Aretas Akers-Douglas MP forSt Augustine's (1851–1926)	4 July 1895	11 August 1902	Conservative	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Robert Windsor-Clive 14thBaron Windsor (1857–1923)	11 August 1902	4 December 1905	Conservative	Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP forRossendale (1863–1922)	10 December 1905	3 November 1910	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
						Asquith (I–III)
		William Lygon 7thEarl Beauchamp (1872–1938)	3 November 1910	6 August 1914	Liberal
		Alfred Emmott 1stBaron Emmott (1858–1926)	6 August 1914	25 May 1915	Liberal
		Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP forRossendale (1863–1922)	25 May 1915	10 December 1916	Liberal	Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		SirAlfred Mond, Bt MP forSwansea West (1868–1930)[a]	10 December 1916	1 April 1921	Liberal	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		David Lindsay 27thEarl of Crawford (1871–1940)	1 April 1921	19 October 1922	Conservative
		SirJohn Baird, Bt MP forAyr Burghs (1874–1941)	31 October 1922	22 January 1924	Conservative	Law
						Baldwin I
		Fred Jowett MP forBradford East (1864–1944)	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour	MacDonald I
		William Wellesley Peel 2ndViscount Peel (1867–1937)	10 November 1924	18 October 1928	Conservative	Baldwin II
		Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878–1949)	18 October 1928	4 June 1929	Conservative
		George Lansbury MP forBow and Bromley (1859–1940)	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	MacDonald II
		Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878–1949)	25 August 1931	5 November 1931	Conservative	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
		William Ormsby-Gore MP forStafford (1885–1964)	5 November 1931	16 June 1936	Conservative	National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.)
						National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		James Stanhope 7thEarl Stanhope (1880–1967)	16 June 1936	27 May 1937	Conservative
		SirPhilip Sassoon, Bt MP forHythe (1888–1939)	27 May 1937	7 June 1939	Conservative	National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Herwald Ramsbotham MP forLancaster (1887–1971)	7 June 1939	3 April 1940	Conservative
						Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Herbrand Sackville 9thEarl De La Warr (1900–1976)	3 April 1940	18 May 1940	National Labour
		George Tryon 1stBaron Tryon (1871–1940)	18 May 1940	3 October 1940	Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)

Minister of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		John Reith 1stBaron Reith (1889–1971)[b]	3 October 1940	11 February 1942	Independent (National)	Churchill War (All parties)

Minister of Works and Planning

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		John Reith 1stBaron Reith (1889–1971)	3 October 1940	11 February 1942	Independent (National)	Churchill War (All parties)
		Wyndham Portal 1stBaron Portal (1885–1949)	22 February 1942	February 1943	Conservative

Minister of Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		Wyndham Portal 1stBaron Portal (1885–1949)	February 1943	21 November 1944	Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)
		Duncan Sandys MP forNorwood (1908–1987)	21 November 1944	26 July 1945	Conservative
						Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.)
		George Tomlinson MP forFarnworth (1890–1952)	4 August 1945	10 February 1947	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		Charles Key MP forBow and Bromley (1883–1964)	10 February 1947	28 February 1950	Labour
		Richard Stokes MP forIpswich (1897–1957)	28 February 1950	26 April 1951	Labour
		George Brown MP forBelper (1914–1985)	26 April 1951	26 October 1951	Labour
		SirDavid Eccles MP forChippenham (1904–1999)	1 November 1951	18 October 1954	Conservative	Churchill III
		Nigel Birch MP forWest Flintshire (1906–1981)	18 October 1954	20 December 1955	Conservative
		Patrick Buchan-Hepburn MP forBeckenham (1901–1974)	20 December 1955	16 January 1957	Conservative	Eden
		Hugh Molson MP forHigh Peak (1903–1991)	16 January 1957	22 October 1959	Conservative	Macmillan (I & II)
		LordJohn Hope MP forEdinburgh Pentlands (1912–1996)	22 October 1959	16 July 1962	Conservative

Minister of Public Buildings and Works

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry
		Geoffrey Rippon MP forNorwich South (1924–1997)	16 July 1962	10 October 1964	Conservative	Macmillan (I & II)
						Douglas-Home
		Charles Pannell MP forLeeds West (1902–1980)	19 October 1964	6 April 1966	Labour	Wilson (I & II)
		Reg Prentice MP forEast Ham North (1923–2001)	6 April 1966	29 August 1967	Labour
		Bob Mellish MP forBermondsey (1913–1998)	29 August 1967	30 April 1969	Labour
		John Silkin MP forDeptford (1923–1987)	30 April 1969	19 June 1970	Labour
		Julian Amery MP forBrighton Pavilion (1919–1996)	23 June 1970	15 October 1970	Conservative	Heath

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