Who? Who? Ministry

The "Who? Who?" Ministry was a short-lived British Conservative Government which was in power for a matter of months in 1852. Lord Derby was the Prime Minister and Benjamin Disraeli served as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Though the government had little impact, it gained infamy through its plethora of new political names. Only four members of the Cabinet (Derby himself, St Leonards, Lonsdale, and Herries) were existing Privy Councillors and many others were unknown. This led the now octogenarian and largely deaf Duke of Wellington to shout out 'Who?', 'Who?' as each new cabinet member was announced in the House of Lords.

The Ministry


OFFICE	NAME	TERM

First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl of Derby	February–December 1852

Lord Chancellor	The Lord St Leonards	February–December 1852
Lord President of the Council	The Earl of Lonsdale	February–December 1852
Lord Privy Seal	The Marquess of Salisbury	February–December 1852
Home Secretary	Spencer H. Walpole	February–December 1852
Foreign Secretary	The Earl of Malmesbury	February–December 1852
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	Sir John Pakington, Bt	February–December 1852
First Lord of the Admiralty	The Duke of Northumberland	February–December 1852
President of the Board of Control	J.C. Herries	February–December 1852
Chancellor of the Exchequer Leader of the House of Commons	Benjamin Disraeli	February–December 1852
President of the Board of Trade	J.W. Henley	February–December 1852
First Commissioner of Works	The Lord John Manners	February–December 1852
Postmaster-General	The Earl of Hardwicke	February–December 1852

See here for a more detailed list, including those not in the Cabinet.

Categories: British ministries | UK Conservative Party

Last updated: 06-03-2005 07:42:39

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The Ministry