UK Law

Author: Asa Briggs

  • John Wilmot

    John Wilmot History British Labour politician. First elected MP for Fulham East in 1933, and Minister of Supply from 1945-1947. On retiring from the Commons in 1950 he was made a peer.

  • Clay Cross

    Clay Cross History Former mining village in North East Derbyshire.

  • Leo Amery

    Leo Amery History Conservative MP for 34 years. Held various ministerial posts from 1919-1929, including Colonial Secretary, before becoming part of Churchill's wartime coalition. Famous for telling Chamberlain in the House of Commons in 1940: 'In the name of God, go!'.

  • Gilbert Islands

    Gilbert Islands History British colony in the Pacific Ocean. Autonomous in 1971, the Gilberts opted for independence as Kiribati in 1979.

  • Arthur Greenwood

    Arthur Greenwood History Labour MP, appointed Minister of Health in Ramsay Macdonald's 1929 Labour Government. In 1935 became Deputy Leader under Attlee, and served in the wartime coalition government.

  • Order-In-Council

    Order-In-Council History Legislation formally made in the name of the Monarch by the Privy Council. The President of the Council reads out batches of Orders-in-Council drafted by the government in front of the Monarch at their monthly meetings. Usually the Monarch agrees with the Orders, which […]

  • Radio Caroline

    Radio Caroline History Pirate' unlicensed pop radio station first set up in 1964, broadcasting 24 hours-a-day in the English language. Massively popular with the young and financed by advertising. Precursor of current-day commercial radio. A response to its popularity by the BBC led to Radio 1.

  • James Callaghan

    James Callaghan History Labour Prime Minister from 1976-1979 and the only person to have served in all four 'Great Offices of State'. As Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1964-1967 he dealt with the devaluation crisis. As Home Secretary from 1967-1970 he sent troops to Ulster. As […]

  • Dominion

    Dominion History Term that refers to an autonomous country in the British Empire and British Commonwealth. These states included Canada, Australia and New Zealand. After 1948 the term was used for independent nations that kept the British monarch as their head of state. These nations included […]

  • National Economic Development Council

    National Economic Development Council History Economic planning forum set up in 1962 in an attempt to explain and resolve the United Kingdom's relatively slow economic growth. It involved management, trade unions and government. Abolished by John Major in 1992.

  • Cyril Jones

    Sir Cyril Jones History Senior civil servant who in 1950 conducted an inquiry into the financial working of the National Health Service (NHS) critical of budgetary control mechanisms and suggested changes.

  • Dounreay

    Dounreay History Site of five nuclear reactors in the North of Scotland – three civil and two military – since the Second World War. The reactors were closed in 1994.

  • Edward Heath

    Edward Heath History Conservative politician and Prime Minister between 1970-1974. A committed pro-European, he led the United Kingdom into the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973. His confrontation with the miners led to the Three Day Week and to two lost elections in 1974. Replaced by […]

  • Derek Bentley

    Bentley And Craig History Derek Bentley was hanged for the murder of a policeman possibly committed by friend and accomplice, Christopher Craig, in the course of a robbery attempt. It created a cause célèbre and led to a 45-year-long successful campaign to win him a posthumous pardon. Craig, […]

  • Stormont

    Stormont History Name commonly given to the Protestant-dominated parliament for Northern Ireland which sat in Stormont Castle outside Belfast after partition in 1922. Suspended in 1972 when the British Conservative government introduced direct rule from Westminster, it is now the seat of […]