The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, 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 ambition to modernise the state for what he perceived to be the needs of the 1960s. The pledge was included in the Labour Party's 1964 general election manifesto: "A Labour Government will .. etup a Ministry of Technology to guide and stimulate a major national effort to bring advanced technology and new processes into the industry."

History

Foundation

Wilson chose to appoint

Frank Cousins Frank Cousins may refer to: * Frank Cousins (British politician) (1904–1986), British trade union leader and Labour politician * Frank Cousins (American politician) (born 1958), American politician who served as the Essex County, Massachusetts Sh ...

, General Secretary of the

Transport and General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

, who had not previously sat in Parliament. Cousins had played a significant role in supporting Wilson's campaign to become leader of the Labour Party.

C. P. Snow Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow, (15 October 1905 – 1 July 1980) was an English novelist and physical chemist who also served in several important positions in the British Civil Service and briefly in the UK government.''The Columbia Encyclope ...

was created Baron Snow of Leicester so that he could play the role of parliamentary secretary in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

for the ministry, a role he carried out from October 1964 until April 1966. Professor

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. ...

wrote an outline, "The Case for a Ministry of Technology" in September 1964 and worked with Snow, Cousins and two senior civil servants, Sir

Maurice Dean Sir Maurice Joseph Dean, KCB, KCMG (16 September 1906 – 7 April 1978) was an English civil servant. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he entered the civil service in 1929 as an official in the Air Ministry, where he remained until 1946 wh ...

and

Christopher Herzig Christopher Herzig (24 October 1926 – 1 September 1993) was a British civil servant. He served as Principal Private Secretary to four cabinet ministers, including Lord Hailsham and Sir Edward Boyle. Christopher was the son of Leopold Adolf Her ...

to set up the ministry from scratch.

Under Tony Benn

However, Cousins' performance in the role was disappointing, partly because Cousins was new to the political scene but also because he disagreed with Government economic policy in general. By the time of the 1966 general election, Wilson was telling

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

to prepare to take over because "I can't think Frank Cousins will stay long. He's not fit anyway." In the event, Cousins resigned on 3 July 1966 when the Prices and Incomes Bill was published, and was duly replaced by Benn. Benn was then closely associated with Wilson and worked with him to build the Ministry into a powerful voice within

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

. Both he and Wilson believed in government assistance to industry to adopt new technology. The Ministry gradually gained extra functions, taking over responsibility for aircraft supply from the

Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...

on 15 February 1967 and absorbing the Ministry of Power on 6 October 1969; it therefore became one of the largest and most powerful in government.

Demise

When

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

took over as Prime Minister after the 1970 general election, he had no commitment to maintain Wilson's new Ministries. In October 1970, Heath merged the Ministry with the Board of Trade to create the Department of Trade and Industry; at the same time, the responsibilities for aerospace research, development and procurement passed to the short-lived

Ministry of Aviation Supply Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

which was disbanded in 1971 with functions passing to the Department of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Defence

Ministers

Ministers of Technology

* 18 October 1964 – 3 July 1966:

(resigned) * 4 July 1966 – 19 June 1970:

* 20 June 1970 – 28 July 1970:

Geoffrey Rippon Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, QC (28 May 1924 – 28 January 1997) was a British Conservative Party politician. He is most known for drafting the European Communities Act 1972 which took the United Kingdom into ...

* 28 July 1970 – 15 October 1970: John Davies

Minister of State for Technology

Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Technology

References

{{Reflist United Kingdom, Technology 1964 establishments in the United Kingdom 1970 disestablishments in the United Kingdom

Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

Science and technology in the United Kingdom