Abstract
Britain is a country with a long tradition of centralised Government. Some of the public offices of central Government have been in existence for centuries. For example, the first Lord Chancellor pre-dates the Norman Conquest of 1066 having been appointed by Edward the Confessor, the Exchequer developed in the twelfth century, and the office of Lord President of the Council dates from 1497. Some of the Departments of central Government are now over 200 years old, with two of the most prestigious Departments having been established in 1782 under George III when both a Department for Foreign Affairs and a Department for Home and Colonial Affairs (now the Home Office) were created.
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Further reading
Birch, A.H., Representative and Responsible Government (London: Allen & Unwin, 1964).
Bruce-Gardyne, J., Minsters and Mandarins (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1986).
Drewry, G. and Butcher, T., The Civil Service Today (2nd edn), (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991).
Hennessy, P., Cabinet (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986).
Hennessy, P., Whitehall (2nd edn) (London: Fontana, 1990).
James, S., British Cabinet Government (London: Routledge, 1992).
Kaufman, G., How to be a Minister (London: Faber & Faber, 1997).
Kellner, P. and Crowther-Hunt, Lord, The Civil Servants (London: Macdonald, 1980).
Nairne, P., The Civil Service: Ministers and Mandarins (Barnstaple: Philip Charles Media, 1990).
Thompson, B. and Ridley, F.F. (eds), Under The Scott-Light (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997).
Young, H. and Sloman, A., No Minister (London: BBC, 1982).
Young, H. and Sloman A., But, Chancellor (London: BBC, 1984).
Websites
Cabinet Office http://www.number-10.gov.uk
Treasury http://www.hmt.gov.uk
Home Office http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk
Department of Social Security http://www.dss.gov.uk
Department of Trade and Industry http://www.dti.gov.uk
Copyright information
© 1999 F.N. Forman and N.D.J. Baldwin
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Forman, F.N., Baldwin, N.D.J. (1999). Ministers and Departments. In: Mastering British Politics. Macmillan Master Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15045-8_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15045-8_13
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-76548-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-15045-8
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