The Ministry of Power was a United Kingdom government ministry dealing with issues concerning energy. The Ministry of Power (then named Ministry of Fuel and Power) was created on 11 June 1942 from functions separated from the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

. It took charge of coal production, allocation of fuel supplies, control of energy prices and petrol rationing. These had previously been dealt with by the

Secretary for Mines The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade. In 1929, the department took over responsibility for petroleum. In 1940, the department was divided with Geoffrey L ...

and in the case of petroleum since 1940 by the

Secretary for Petroleum The position of Secretary for Petroleum is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade. In 1929, the Secretary for Mines (now also defunct) took over responsibility for petroleum. In 1939 the Petroleu ...

. The

Petroleum Board The Petroleum Board was a non-governmental organisation, established at the outbreak of World War II, to coordinate wartime supplies of petroleum and petroleum products throughout the United Kingdom. It was composed of senior executives of the maj ...

, responsible for the coordination of the war-time petroleum 'pool' for oil supplies (except oil for the Royal Navy), continued in this role until the Board was dissolved in 1948. It also took over responsibility for electricity from the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

and its predecessor the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ...

. The Ministry of Fuel and Power was renamed the Ministry of Power in January 1957. The Ministry of Power later became part of the

Ministry of Technology The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...

on 6 October 1969, which merged into the Department of Trade and Industry on 20 October 1970. In 1974, its responsibilities were split out to form the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

, and then merged back into DTI in 1992; a separate

Department of Energy and Climate Change The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom created on 3 October 2008, by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take over some of the functions related to energy of the Department for Busin ...

was created in 2008 and then merged back in 2016 to the

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is a department of His Majesty's Government. The department was formed during a machinery of government change on 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as Prim ...

. Those who worked at the Ministry include: *

Arthur Boissier Arthur Paul Boissier (25 January 1881 – 2 October 1953) was an English schoolmaster who was headmaster of Harrow School, and a wartime civil servant. He was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1901 ...

, Director of Public Relations (1943–1945) and formerly Headmaster of

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

. *

Maurice Bridgeman Hon. Sir Maurice Richard Bridgeman (26 January 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British businessman and civil servant. Biography Bridgeman was the third son of the William Bridgeman, 1st Viscount Bridgeman, and Caroline, Viscountess Bridgeman, DB ...

, Principal Assistant Secretary in the Petroleum Division (1944–1946). * Sir

Donald Fergusson Sir John Donald Balfour Fergusson, GCB (26 August 1891 – 4 March 1963), commonly known as Donald Fergusson,C. H. A. Duke, revised by Mark Pottle"Fergusson, Sir (John) Donald Balfour" ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (online ed., ...

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil ...

(1945–1952). * John Maud, later Lord Redcliffe-Maud,

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

(1952–1958). *

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 ...

, Director of Economics and Statistics (1943–1944) and later

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. * Malcolm Patrick Murray, Under Secretary in the Electricity Division (1946–1959).

Ministers

Ministers of Fuel and Power

Ministers of Power

Parliamentary Secretaries

External links

History of the Department of Energy

H. W. Grimmitt, Ministry of Fuel and Power
portrait at the National Portrait Gallery,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

United Kingdom, Power 1942 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub

Ministers

Ministers of Fuel and Power

Ministers of Power

Parliamentary Secretaries

See also

External links