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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

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 manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

: "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 ...

, 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)—with 900,000 members (a ...

, 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 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 is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

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 an English physicist who received the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1925, he was the first person to prove that radioactivity could cause the nuclear tr ...

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

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

s, Sir Maurice Dean and Christopher Herzig 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 Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and political activist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabine ...

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, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

. 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 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

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

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

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

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, (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 the E ...

* 28 July 1970 – 15 October 1970: John Davies

Minister of State for Technology

Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Technology

Nicholas Ridley was briefly a parliamentary secretary for the department in 1970 at the beginning of the Heath government.

References

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

Technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

Science and technology in the United Kingdom