Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations

The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet office existing between 1947 and 1966, responsible for dealing with British relationship with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The position was created out of the old position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs. In 1966, the position was merged with that of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to form that of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, which was in turn merged with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1968 to create the new position of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Secretaries of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1947–1966

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	P.M.		F.Sec.
	Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison		7 July 1947	7 October 1947	Labour		Attlee	Bevin
	Philip Noel-Baker		7 October 1947	28 February 1950	Labour
	Patrick Gordon Walker		28 February 1950	26 October 1951	Labour
								Morrison
	Hastings Ismay, 1st Lord Ismay		28 October 1951	12 March 1952	none		Churchill	Eden
	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury		12 March 1952	24 November 1952	Conservative
	Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Viscount Swinton		24 November 1952	7 April 1955	Conservative
	Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home		7 April 1955	27 July 1960	Conservative		Eden	Macmillan
								Lloyd
							Macmillan
	Duncan Sandys		27 July 1960	16 October 1964	Conservative			D-Home
							D-Home	Butler
	Arthur Bottomley		18 October 1964	1 August 1966	Labour		Wilson	Walker
								Stewart

References

• Foreign and Commonwealth Office website

History of United Kingdom government departments with responsibility for foreign affairs
Colonial Office 1768–1782 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Home Office 1782–1794 Secretaries Undersecretaries	War Office 1794–1801 Secretaries Undersecretaries	War and Colonial Office 1801–1854 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Colonial Office 1854–1925 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Colonial Office 1925–1966 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries		Commonwealth Office 1966–1968 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries	Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1968–present Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries
					Dominions Office 1925–1947 Secretaries Undersecretaries	Commonwealth Relations Office 1947–1966 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries
.				India Office 1858–1937 Secretaries Undersecretaries	India Office and Burma Office 1937–1947 Secretaries Undersecretaries
.	Foreign Office 1782–1968 Secretaries Ministers Undersecretaries