The Secretary of State for Economic Affairs was briefly an office of Her Majesty's government in the United Kingdom. It was established by

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

in October 1964. Wilson had been impressed by the six-week experiment of a Minister for Economic Affairs in 1947, an office occupied by

Stafford Cripps Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer by background, he first entered Parliament at a by-election in 1931, and was one of a handful of La ...

before he was appointed

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

. The office was revived for eight months in 1950 and held by Hugh Gaitskell. After a Conservative victory at the 1951 election,

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

also appointed a Minister of Economic Affairs, Arthur Salter, in the period 1951–52. Wilson's advisers

Patrick Blackett Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948. ...

and

Thomas Balogh Thomas Balogh, Baron Balogh (2 November 190520 January 1985), born Balog Tamás, was a British economist and member of the House of Lords. The elder son of a wealthy Budapest Jewish family (his father was head of public transport, his mother ...

advised him to create a new ministry, to be called the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), in order to drive through his economic plan. Wilson wanted to divide the functions of the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

in two, in part to reduce its power. The DEA, as it soon became known, would undertake long-term planning of the economy and industry, while the Treasury would determine short-term revenue raising and financial management. The DEA was therefore tasked with the preparation of a National Plan for the economy, which was published in September 1965. Critics of Wilson's approach, including

Douglas Jay Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay, Baron Jay, PC (23 March 1907 – 6 March 1996) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life Educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, Jay won the Chancellor's English Essay in 1927 and gained a ...

, suspected the main reason for the Department was to appease

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. The story (which was true) that Brown finally accepted the job while riding in a taxi with Wilson tended to lend credence to this analysis. Under Brown, the Department had a reasonable degree of influence. However, Brown was moved to the Foreign Office in August 1966, and the two succeeding secretaries of state were not of his rank. The Treasury was able to claw back its power and the Department had become moribund long before it was wound up in 1969. The Department of Economic Affairs was the model for the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs in the television series ''

Yes Minister ''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes fro ...

''.

Department of Economic Affairs (1947; 1950 and 1951-52)

Minister for Economic Affairs

Colour key (for political parties):

Department of Economic Affairs (1964–1969)

Secretaries of State for Economic Affairs

Colour key (for political parties):

Ministers of State for Economic Affairs

Anthony Crosland Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influential book ''The ...

(20 October 1964 – 22 January 1965) Nominally

Economic Secretary to the Treasury The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the sixth-most senior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, after the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster-General and the ...

until 22 December 1964 * Austen Albu (27 January 1965 – 7 January 1967) * Thomas Urwin (6 April 1968 – 6 October 1969)

Under-Secretaries of State for Economic Affairs

* Maurice Foley (21 October 1964 – 6 April 1966) * Bill Rodgers (21 October 1964 – 7 January 1967) *

Harold Lever Norman Harold Lever, Baron Lever of Manchester, PC (15 January 19146 August 1995) was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Early life He was born in Manchester, the son of a Jewish textile merchant from Lithuania, and was educate ...

(7 January 1967 – 29 August 1967) *

Peter Shore Peter David Shore, Baron Shore of Stepney, (20 May 1924 – 24 September 2001) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and former UK Cabinet, Cabinet Minister, noted in part for his opposition to the United Kingdom's entry int ...

(7 January 1967 – 29 August 1967) * Alan Williams (29 August 1967 – 6 October 1969) *

Edmund Dell Edmund Emanuel Dell (15 August 1921 – 1 November 1999) was a British politician and businessman. Early life Dell was born in London, the son of a Jewish manufacturer. In the Second World War he served in the Royal Artillery, reaching the r ...

(29 August 1967 – 6 April 1968)

References

Source: D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000 {{reflist

Economic Affairs An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom 1964 establishments in the United Kingdom 1969 disestablishments in the United Kingdom