View source for Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs

{{Short description|British government official overseeing post-Empire relations}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
The '''secretary of state for commonwealth affairs''' was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the [[United Kingdom]]'s relations with members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] (its former colonies). The minister's department was the '''Commonwealth Office'''.

The position was created on 1 August 1966 by the merger of the old positions of [[secretary of state for commonwealth relations]] and [[secretary of state for the colonies]]. In 1968 the position was merged with that of [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|secretary of state for foreign affairs]] to create the new position of [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs.]]

==Secretaries of state for commonwealth affairs, 1966–1968==
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2|Name
! colspan=2|Term of office
! Political party
! colspan=2|[[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|P.M.]]
! [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|F.Sec.]]
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2| [[Herbert Bowden]]
| rowspan=2| 1 August 1966
| rowspan=2| 29 August 1967
| rowspan=2|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| rowspan=4 style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=4|[[Harold Wilson|Wilson]]
| [[Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham|Stewart]]
|-
| rowspan=2| [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|G.Brown]]
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| rowspan=2| [[George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth|George Thomson]]
| rowspan=2| 29 August 1967
| rowspan=2| 17 October 1968
| rowspan=2|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
| [[Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham|Stewart]]
|}

==Shadow secretaries of state for commonwealth affairs==
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=3|Name
! Entered office
! Left office
! Political party
! Shadow Cabinet
|-
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[Reginald Maudling]]
| [[File:Reginald Maudling, 1969 (Brightned) (cropped).jpg|75px]]
| 1 August 1966
| 21 April 1968
| Conservative
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |[[First Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath|Heath]]
|-
| style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[Alec Douglas-Home]]
| [[File:Alec Douglas-Home (c1963).jpg|75px]]
| 21 April 1968
| 17 October 1968
| Conservative
|}

{{Uk-fco-history}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secretary of State For Commonwealth Affairs}}
[[Category:Lists of government ministers of the United Kingdom|Commonwealth Affairs]]
[[Category:Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1966 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1968 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1960s in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ministries established in 1966]]


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