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His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law. They exercise the powers of the Attorney General which are delegated to them under section 1 of the Law Officers Act 1997. Despite the title, the position is usually held by a barrister as opposed to a solicitor.
Solicitor General for England and Wales | |
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Incumbent Vacant since 5 July 2024 | |
Attorney General's Office | |
Style | Solicitor |
Reports to | Attorney General for England and Wales |
Appointer | The Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister |
Term length | At His Majesty's Pleasure |
Formation | Before 1460 |
Salary | £142,106 per annum (2022) (including £84,144 MP salary) |
Website | www |
There is also a Solicitor General for Scotland, who is the deputy of the Lord Advocate. As well as the Sovereign's Solicitor General, the Prince of Wales and a Queen consort (when the Sovereign is male) are also entitled to have an Attorney and Solicitor General, though the present Prince of Wales has only an Attorney General and no Solicitor General.
The Solicitor General is addressed in court as "Mr Solicitor" or "Ms Solicitor". The Solicitor General is shadowed by the Shadow Solicitor General who sits on the Official Opposition frontbench.
There is no current holder of the position due to the resignation of Rishi Sunak and the transition from the Sunak ministry after the Conservative Party loss in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
Solicitors-General of England (and Wales), 1461–present
15th century
incomplete
- 1461–1470
- 1470-1483
- 1483–1485
- 1485–1503
16th century
- 1503–1507
- (John Ernley) 1507–1514
- (John Port) 1514–1521
- (Richard Lyster) 1521–1525
- (Christopher Hales) 1525–1531
- 1531–1533
- Richard Rich 1533–1536
- (William Whorwood) 1536–1540
- 1540–1545
- (Edward Griffin) 1545–1552
- (John Gosnold) 1552–1553
- (William Cordell) 1553–1557
- (Richard Weston) 1557–1559
- (William Rosewell) 1559–1566
- (Richard Onslow) 1566–1569
- Sir Thomas Bromley 1569–1579
- Sir John Popham 1579–1581
- Sir Thomas Egerton 1581–1592
- Sir Edward Coke 1592–1594
- Thomas Fleming 1595–1604
17th century
- (Sir John Doderidge) 1604–1607
- Sir Francis Bacon 1607–1613
- (Henry Yelverton) 1613–1617
- Sir Thomas Coventry 1617–1621
- Sir Robert Heath 1621–1625
- (Sir Richard Shelton) 1625–1634
- Sir Edward Littleton 1634–1640
- Sir Edward Herbert 1640–1641
- (Oliver St John) 1641–1643 (continued to 1648 under parliament)
- (Sir Thomas Gardiner) 1643–1645
- (Sir Geoffrey Palmer) 1645–1649
- (Edmund Prideaux) 1648–1649
- (John Cooke) 1649–1650
- (Robert Reynolds) 1650–1654
- (William Ellis) 1654–1660
- (Sir Heneage Finch) 1660–1670
- (Sir Edward Turnor) 1670–1671
- Sir Francis North 1671–1673
- (Sir William Jones) 1673–1674
- Sir (Francis Winnington) 1674–1679
- (Heneage Finch) 1679–1686
- (Sir Thomas Powys) 1686–1687
- (Sir William Williams) 1687–1689
- (Sir George Treby) 1689
- Sir John Somers 1689–1692
- (Sir Thomas Trevor) 1692–1695
- (Sir John Hawles) 1695–1702
18th century
- (Sir Simon Harcourt) 1702–1707
- (Sir James Montagu) 1707–1708
- (Robert Eyre) 1708–1710
- (Sir Robert Raymond) 1710–1714
- (Nicholas Lechmere) 1714–1715
- (John Fortescue Aland) 1715–1717
- (Sir William Thomson) 1717–1720
- Sir Philip Yorke 1720–1724
- (Sir Clement Wearg) 1724–1725
- (Charles Talbot) 1726–1733
- (Sir Dudley Ryder) 1733–1737
- (John Strange) 1737–1742
- William Murray 1742–1754
- (Sir Richard Lloyd) 1754–1756
- (Charles Yorke) 1756–1762
- Sir Fletcher Norton 1762–1763
- (William de Grey) 1763–1766
- (Edward Willes) 1766–1768
- John Dunning 1768–1770
- (Edward Thurlow) 1770–1771
- Alexander Wedderburn 1771–1778
- James Wallace 1778–1780
- James Mansfield 1780–1782
- (John Lee) 1782
- (Richard Pepper Arden) 1782–1783
- (John Lee) 1783
- James Mansfield 1783
- (Richard Pepper Arden) 1783–1784
- (Archibald Macdonald) 1784–1788
- Sir John Scott 1788–1793
- Sir John Mitford 1793–1799
- Sir (William Grant) 1799–1801
19th century
- Spencer Perceval 1801–1802
- (Sir Thomas Manners-Sutton) 1802–1805
- (Sir Vicary Gibbs) 1805–1806
- (Sir Samuel Romilly) 1806–1807
- (Sir Thomas Plumer) 1807–1812
- Sir William Garrow 1812–1813
- (Sir Robert Dallas) 1813
- (Sir Samuel Shepherd) 1813–1817
- (Sir Robert Gifford) 1817–1819
- Sir John Copley 1819–1824
- (Sir Charles Wetherell) 1824–1826
- (Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal) 1826–1829
- (Sir Edward Sugden) 1829–1830
- (Sir William Horne) 1830–1832
- (Sir John Campbell) 1832–1834
- (Sir Charles Pepys) 1834
- Sir Robert Rolfe 1834
- William Webb Follett 1834–1835
- Robert Rolfe 1835–1839
- Sir Thomas Wilde 1839–1841
- Sir William Webb Follett 1841–1844
- (Sir Frederic Thesiger) 1844–1845
- (Sir Fitzroy Kelly) 1845–1846
- John Jervis 1846
- (Sir David Dundas) 1846–1848
- (Sir John Romilly) 1848–1850
- (Sir Alexander Cockburn) 1850–1851
- (Sir William Page Wood) 1851–1852
- (Sir Fitzroy Kelly) 1852
- (Sir Richard Bethell) 1852–1856
- (James Stuart-Wortley) 1856–1857
- Sir (Henry Singer Keating) 1857–1858
- (Sir Hugh Cairns) 1858–1859
- Sir (Henry Singer Keating) 1859
- (Sir William Atherton) 1859–1861
- (Sir Roundell Palmer) 1861–1863
- (Sir Robert Collier) 1863–1866
- Sir William Bovill 1866
- (Sir John Burgess Karslake) 1866–1867
- Sir Charles Jasper Selwyn 1867–1868
- (Sir William Brett) 1868
- (Sir Richard Baggallay) 1868
- Sir John Coleridge 1868–1871
- (Sir George Jessel) 1871–1873
- Sir Henry James 1873
- Sir William Harcourt 1873–1874
- (Sir Richard Baggallay) 1874
- (Sir John Holker) 1874–1875
- Sir Hardinge Giffard 1875–1880
- Sir Farrer Herschell 1880–1885
- Sir John Eldon Gorst 1885–1886
- (Sir Horace Davey) 1886
- Sir Edward Clarke 1886–1892
- (Sir John Rigby) 1892–1894
- (Sir Robert Reid) 1894
- Sir Frank Lockwood 1894–1895
- Sir Robert Finlay 1895–1900
20th century
Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sir Edward Carson | ![]() | 7 May 1900 | 4 December 1905 | Irish Unionist Alliance | 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | ||
Arthur Balfour | |||||||
Sir (William Robson) | ![]() | 12 December 1905 | 28 January 1908 | Liberal | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman | ||
Sir (Samuel Evans) | ![]() | 28 January 1908 | 6 March 1910 | ||||
H. H. Asquith | |||||||
Sir Rufus Isaacs | ![]() | 6 March 1908 | 7 October 1910 | ||||
Sir John Simon | ![]() | 7 October 1910 | 19 October 1913 | ||||
Sir Stanley Buckmaster | ![]() | 19 October 1913 | 8 November 1915 | ||||
Sir F. E. Smith | ![]() | 2 June 1915 | 8 November 1915 | Conservative | |||
Sir George Cave | ![]() | 8 November 1915 | 10 December 1915 | ||||
Sir Gordon Hewart | ![]() | 10 December 1915 | 10 January 1919 | Liberal | David Lloyd George | ||
Sir (Ernest Pollock) | ![]() | 10 January 1919 | 6 March 1922 | Conservative | |||
Sir Leslie Scott | 6 March 1922 | 19 October 1922 | |||||
Sir Thomas Inskip | ![]() | 31 October 1922 | 22 January 1924 | Bonar Law | |||
Stanley Baldwin | |||||||
Sir (Henry Slesser) | ![]() | 23 January 1924 | 3 November 1924 | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | ||
Sir Thomas Inskip | ![]() | 11 November 1924 | 28 March 1928 | Conservative | Stanley Baldwin | ||
Sir (Boyd Merriman) | 28 March 1928 | 5 June 1929 | |||||
Sir (James B. Melville) | 7 June 1929 | 22 October 1930 | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | |||
Sir Stafford Cripps | ![]() | 22 October 1930 | 24 August 1931 | ||||
Sir Thomas Inskip | ![]() | 3 September 1931 | 26 January 1932 | Conservative | |||
Sir (Boyd Merriman) | 26 January 1932 | 29 September 1933 | |||||
Sir (Donald Somervell) | 29 September 1933 | 19 March 1936 | |||||
Stanley Baldwin | |||||||
Sir Terence O'Connor | 19 March 1936 | 7 May 1940 | |||||
Neville Chamberlain | |||||||
Sir William Jowitt | ![]() | 15 May 1940 | 4 March 1942 | Labour | Sir Winston Churchill | ||
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe | ![]() | 4 March 1942 | 25 May 1945 | Conservative | |||
Sir (Walter Monckton) | 25 May 1945 | 26 July 1945 | |||||
Sir (Frank Soskice) | 4 August 1945 | 24 April 1951 | Labour | Clement Attlee | |||
Sir (Lynn Ungoed-Thomas) | 24 April 1951 | 26 October 1951 | |||||
Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller | 3 November 1951 | 8 October 1954 | Conservative | Sir Winston Churchill | |||
Sir Harry Hylton-Foster | 18 October 1954 | 22 October 1959 | |||||
Sir Winston Churchill Sir Anthony Eden | |||||||
Harold Macmillan | |||||||
Sir (Jocelyn Simon) | 22 October 1959 | 8 February 1962 | |||||
Sir John Hobson | 8 February 1962 | 19 July 1962 | |||||
Sir Peter Rawlinson | 19 July 1962 | 16 October 1964 | Harold Macmillan | ||||
Sir (Dingle Foot) | 18 October 1964 | 24 August 1967 | Labour | Harold Wilson | |||
Sir (Arthur Irvine) | 24 August 1967 | 19 June 1970 | |||||
Sir Geoffrey Howe | ![]() | 23 June 1970 | 5 November 1972 | Conservative | Edward Heath | ||
Sir Michael Havers | 5 November 1972 | 4 March 1974 | |||||
(Peter Archer) | 7 March 1974 | 4 May 1979 | Labour | Harold Wilson | |||
Sir (Ian Percival) | 5 May 1979 | 13 June 1983 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | |||
Sir Patrick Mayhew | 13 June 1983 | 13 June 1987 | |||||
Sir (Nicholas Lyell) | 13 June 1987 | 15 April 1992 | Margaret Thatcher | ||||
Sir (Derek Spencer) | 15 April 1992 | 2 May 1997 | John Major | ||||
Lord Falconer of Thoroton | ![]() | 6 May 1997 | 28 July 1998 | Labour | Tony Blair | ||
Sir (Ross Cranston) | 28 July 1998 | 11 June 2001 |
2001–present
Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative Labour
Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harriet Harman | ![]() | 11 June 2001 | 10 May 2005 | Labour | Tony Blair | ||
Mike O'Brien | ![]() | 11 May 2005 | 29 June 2007 | ||||
Dame Vera Baird | ![]() | 29 June 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Gordon Brown | |||
Sir Edward Garnier | ![]() | 13 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Conservative | David Cameron | ||
Sir (Oliver Heald) | ![]() | 4 September 2012 | 15 July 2014 | ||||
Sir Robert Buckland | ![]() | 15 July 2014 | 9 May 2019 | ||||
David Cameron Theresa May | |||||||
Lucy Frazer | ![]() | 9 May 2019 | 25 July 2019 | Theresa May | |||
Sir Michael Ellis | ![]() | 25 July 2019 | 2 March 2021 | Boris Johnson | |||
Lucy Frazer | ![]() | 2 March 2021 | 10 September 2021 | ||||
Sir Michael Ellis | ![]() | 10 September 2021 | 16 September 2021 | ||||
Alex Chalk | ![]() | 16 September 2021 | 5 July 2022 | ||||
(Edward Timpson) | ![]() | 7 July 2022 | 7 September 2022 | ||||
Michael Tomlinson | ![]() | 7 September 2022 | 7 December 2023 | Liz Truss | |||
Rishi Sunak | |||||||
Robert Courts | ![]() | 7 December 2023 | Incumbent |
See also
- (Solicitor general)
- Attorney General for England and Wales
- Law officers of the Crown
![image](https://www.wikiquery.en-us.nina.az/image/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2lraXF1ZXJ5LmVuLXVzLm5pbmEuYXovaW1hZ2UvYUhSMGNITTZMeTkxY0d4dllXUXVkMmxyYVcxbFpHbGhMbTl5Wnk5M2FXdHBjR1ZrYVdFdlpXNHZkR2gxYldJdk5DODBZUzlEYjIxdGIyNXpMV3h2WjI4dWMzWm5Mek13Y0hndFEyOXRiVzl1Y3kxc2IyZHZMbk4yWnk1d2JtYz0ucG5n.png)
References
- "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
- "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- "Solicitor General - gov.scot". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- "Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- "Rt Hon Mike O'Brien". UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- "PCC appointed as victims' commissioner". 13 May 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- "Sir Edward Garnier QC – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- "About Sir Oliver". Rt Hon Sir Oliver Heald QC MP. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- Bet, Martina (14 June 2019). "How John Bercow's 'Brexit betrayal is absurd contradiction of democracy' – David Starkey". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- "New Solicitor General appointed". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 July 2019.