# First Commissioner of Works

The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United 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 the First 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 renamed Minister of Works and Buildings and First Commissioner of Works in 1940, Minister of Works and Planning upon receiving statutory planning powers from the Ministry of Health in 1942, Minister of Works when those planning powers were moved to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in 1943, and finally Minister 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 the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Housing and Local Government in the Department of the Environment.

## List of Works Commissioners and Ministers
### First Commissioners of Works (1851–1940)

First Commissioner of Works :
| Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Ministry |
| Edward Seymour Lord Seymour MP for Totnes (1804–1885) | 1 August 1851 | 21 February 1852 | Whig | Russell I |
| Lord John Manners MP for Colchester (1818–1906) | 4 March 1852 | 17 December 1852 | Conservative | Who? Who? |
| Sir William Molesworth, Bt MP for Southwark (1810–1855) | 5 January 1853 | 21 July 1855 | Radical | Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig) |
| Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt MP for Marylebone (1802–1867) | 21 July 1855 | 21 February 1858 | Whig | Palmerston I |
| Lord John Manners MP for Leicestershire North (1818–1906) | 26 February 1858 | 11 June 1859 | Conservative | Derby–Disraeli II |
| Henry FitzRoy MP for Lewes (1807–1859) | 18 June 1859 | 17 December 1859 | Liberal | Palmerston II |
| William Cowper MP for Hertford (1811–1888) | 9 February 1860 | 26 June 1866 | Liberal | Palmerston II |
| William Cowper MP for Hertford (1811–1888) | 9 February 1860 | 26 June 1866 | Liberal | Russell II |
| Lord John Manners MP for Leicestershire North (1818–1906) | 6 July 1866 | 1 December 1868 | Conservative | Derby–Disraeli III |
| Austen Henry Layard MP for Southwark (1817–1894) | 9 December 1868 | 26 October 1869 | Liberal | Gladstone I |
| Acton Smee Ayrton MP for Tower Hamlets (1816–1886) | 26 October 1869 | 11 August 1873 | Liberal | Gladstone I |
| William Patrick Adam MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire (1823–1881) | 11 August 1873 | 17 February 1874 | Liberal | Gladstone I |
| Lord Henry Lennox MP for Chichester (1821–1886) | 21 March 1874 | 14 August 1876 | Conservative | Disraeli II |
| Gerard Noel MP for Rutland (1823–1911) | 14 August 1876 | 21 April 1880 | Conservative | Disraeli II |
| William Patrick Adam MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire (1823–1881) | 3 May 1880 | 1880 | Liberal | Gladstone II |
| George Shaw Lefevre MP for Reading (1831–1928) | 29 November 1881 | 13 February 1885 | Liberal | Gladstone II |
| Archibald Primrose 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847–1929) | 13 February 1885 | 9 June 1885 | Liberal | Gladstone II |
| David Plunket MP for Dublin 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 9th Earl of Elgin (1849–1917) | 16 April 1886 | 20 July 1886 | Liberal | Gladstone III |
| David Plunket MP for Dublin University (1838–1919) | 5 August 1886 | 11 August 1892 | Conservative | Salisbury II |
| George Shaw Lefevre MP for Bradford Central (1831–1928) | 18 August 1892 | 10 March 1894 | Liberal | Gladstone IV |
| Herbert Gladstone MP for Leeds West (1854–1930) | 10 March 1894 | 21 June 1895 | Liberal | Rosebery |
| Aretas Akers-Douglas MP for St Augustine's (1851–1926) | 4 July 1895 | 11 August 1902 | Conservative | Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.) |
| Robert Windsor-Clive 14th Baron Windsor (1857–1923) | 11 August 1902 | 4 December 1905 | Conservative | Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.) |
| Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP for Rossendale (1863–1922) | 10 December 1905 | 3 November 1910 | Liberal | Campbell-Bannerman |
| Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP for Rossendale (1863–1922) | 10 December 1905 | 3 November 1910 | Liberal | Asquith (I–III) |
| William Lygon 7th Earl Beauchamp (1872–1938) | 3 November 1910 | 6 August 1914 | Liberal | Asquith (I–III) |
| Alfred Emmott 1st Baron Emmott (1858–1926) | 6 August 1914 | 25 May 1915 | Liberal | Asquith (I–III) |
| Lewis Vernon Harcourt MP for Rossendale (1863–1922) | 25 May 1915 | 10 December 1916 | Liberal | Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.) |
| Sir Alfred Mond, Bt MP for Swansea West (1868–1930) | 10 December 1916 | 1 April 1921 | Liberal | Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.) |
| David Lindsay 27th Earl of Crawford (1871–1940) | 1 April 1921 | 19 October 1922 | Conservative | Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.) |
| Sir John Baird, Bt MP for Ayr Burghs (1874–1941) | 31 October 1922 | 22 January 1924 | Conservative | Law |
| Sir John Baird, Bt MP for Ayr Burghs (1874–1941) | 31 October 1922 | 22 January 1924 | Conservative | Baldwin I |
| Fred Jowett MP for Bradford East (1864–1944) | 22 January 1924 | 3 November 1924 | Labour | MacDonald I |
| William Wellesley Peel 2nd Viscount 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 | Baldwin II |
| George Lansbury MP for Bow 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 for Stafford (1885–1964) | 5 November 1931 | 16 June 1936 | Conservative | National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N.–Lib.) |
| William Ormsby-Gore MP for Stafford (1885–1964) | 5 November 1931 | 16 June 1936 | Conservative | National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
| James Stanhope 7th Earl Stanhope (1880–1967) | 16 June 1936 | 27 May 1937 | Conservative | National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
| Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt MP for Hythe (1888–1939) | 27 May 1937 | 7 June 1939 | Conservative | National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
| Herwald Ramsbotham MP for Lancaster (1887–1971) | 7 June 1939 | 3 April 1940 | Conservative | National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
| Herwald Ramsbotham MP for Lancaster (1887–1971) | 7 June 1939 | 3 April 1940 | Conservative | Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
| Herbrand Sackville 9th Earl De La Warr (1900–1976) | 3 April 1940 | 18 May 1940 | National Labour | Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) |
| George Tryon 1st Baron Tryon (1871–1940) | 18 May 1940 | 3 October 1940 | Conservative | Churchill War (All parties) |

### Ministers of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works (1940–1942)

Minister of Works & Buildings and First Commissioner of Works :
| Portrait | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Ministry |
| | | John Reith 1st Baron Reith (1889–1971) | 3 October 1940 | 11 February 1942 | Independent (National) | Churchill War (All parties) |

### Ministers of Works and Planning (1942–1943)

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

### Ministers of Works (1943–1962)

Minister of Works :
| Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Ministry |
| Wyndham Portal 1st Baron Portal (1885–1949) | February 1943 | 21 November 1944 | Conservative | Churchill War (All parties) |
| Duncan Sandys MP for Norwood (1908–1987) | 21 November 1944 | 26 July 1945 | Conservative | Churchill War (All parties) |
| Duncan Sandys MP for Norwood (1908–1987) | 21 November 1944 | 26 July 1945 | Conservative | Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.) |
| George Tomlinson MP for Farnworth (1890–1952) | 4 August 1945 | 10 February 1947 | Labour | Attlee (I & II) |
| Charles Key MP for Bow and Bromley (1883–1964) | 10 February 1947 | 28 February 1950 | Labour | Attlee (I & II) |
| Richard Stokes MP for Ipswich (1897–1957) | 28 February 1950 | 26 April 1951 | Labour | Attlee (I & II) |
| George Brown MP for Belper (1914–1985) | 26 April 1951 | 26 October 1951 | Labour | Attlee (I & II) |
| Sir David Eccles MP for Chippenham (1904–1999) | 1 November 1951 | 18 October 1954 | Conservative | Churchill III |
| Nigel Birch MP for West Flintshire (1906–1981) | 18 October 1954 | 20 December 1955 | Conservative | Churchill III |
| Patrick Buchan-Hepburn MP for Beckenham (1901–1974) | 20 December 1955 | 16 January 1957 | Conservative | Eden |
| Hugh Molson MP for High Peak (1903–1991) | 16 January 1957 | 22 October 1959 | Conservative | Macmillan (I & II) |
| Lord John Hope MP for Edinburgh Pentlands (1912–1996) | 22 October 1959 | 16 July 1962 | Conservative | Macmillan (I & II) |

### Ministers of Public Buildings and Works (1962–1970)

Minister of Public Buildings and Works :
| Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Ministry |
| Geoffrey Rippon MP for Norwich South (1924–1997) | 16 July 1962 | 10 October 1964 | Conservative | Macmillan (I & II) |
| Geoffrey Rippon MP for Norwich South (1924–1997) | 16 July 1962 | 10 October 1964 | Conservative | Douglas-Home |
| Charles Pannell MP for Leeds West (1902–1980) | 19 October 1964 | 6 April 1966 | Labour | Wilson (I & II) |
| Reg Prentice MP for East Ham North (1923–2001) | 6 April 1966 | 29 August 1967 | Labour | Wilson (I & II) |
| Bob Mellish MP for Bermondsey (1913–1998) | 29 August 1967 | 30 April 1969 | Labour | Wilson (I & II) |
| John Silkin MP for Deptford (1923–1987) | 30 April 1969 | 19 June 1970 | Labour | Wilson (I & II) |
| Julian Amery MP for Brighton Pavilion (1919–1996) | 23 June 1970 | 15 October 1970 | Conservative | Heath |