The Minister-Resident for the Middle East was a

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

position for most of the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The position was created in 1941 and the holder was made a member of the

war cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senior ...

. The minister served as the overall eyes and ears of the British Government in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and was available for local military and civilian officials to consult on British Government policy and positions. In particular the aim of the position was to relieve the military commanders of extraneous responsibilities to allow them to prosecute the war more effectively. The first holder of the office was

Oliver Lyttelton Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos, (15 March 1893 – 21 January 1972) was a British businessman from the Lyttelton family who was brought into government during the Second World War, holding a number of ministerial posts. Background, ed ...

from June 1941 to March 1942. He was succeeded in turn by Richard Casey{{cite web , title=MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (MR. CASEY'S APPOINTMENT). , url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1942/mar/19/minister-of-state-in-the-middle-east-mr , website=Hansard , publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom , accessdate=12 November 2019 , location=HC Deb 19 March 1942 vol 378 cc 1664-5 who served until January 1944. His successor,

Lord Moyne Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, DSO & Bar, PC (29 March 1880 – 6 November 1944), was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assass ...

was assassinated by Zionist militants in November 1944. The last minister was Sir Edward Grigg until July 1945, when the post was abolished.

References

Foreign relations of the United Kingdom Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom 1941 establishments in the United Kingdom 1945 disestablishments in the United Kingdom