Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)

The Department of Trade and Industry was a United Kingdom government department formed on 19 October 1970. It was replaced with the creation of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills on 28 June 2007.

History

The department was first formed on 19 October 1970 with the merger of the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Technology, creating a new cabinet post of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The new department also took over the Department of Employment's former responsibilities for monopolies and mergers. In January 1974, the department's responsibilities for energy production were transferred to a newly created Department of Energy. On 5 March that year, following a Labour Party victory in the February 1974 general election, the department was split into the Department of Trade, the Department of Industry and the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection.

Reformation

In 1983 the departments of Trade and Industry were reunited. The Department of Energy was re-merged back into the DTI in 1992, but various media-related functions transferred to the Department for National Heritage. Until it was succeeded in June 2007 the DTI continued to set the energy policy of the United Kingdom.

After the 2005 general election the DTI was renamed to the Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry, but the name reverted to Department of Trade and Industry less than a week later, after widespread derision, including some from the Confederation of British Industry.

Structure

The DTI had a wide range of responsibilities. There were ultimately nine main areas covered by the DTI:

• Company Law
• Trade
• Business Growth
• Innovation
• Employment Law
• Regional Economic Development
• Energy
• Science
• Consumer Law.

Corporate policing

It also had responsibility for investigating misconduct by company directors, in which role Private Eye repeatedly lampooned it as "the Department of Timidity and Inaction".

People

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry & President of the Board of Trade (1983–2007)

Name	Took office	Left office
Cecil Parkinson	12 June 1983	11 October 1983
Norman Tebbit	16 October 1983	2 September 1985
Leon Brittan	2 September 1985	22 January 1986
Paul Channon	24 January 1986	13 June 1987
David Young	13 June 1987	24 July 1989
Nicholas Ridley	24 July 1989	13 July 1990
Peter Lilley	14 July 1990	10 April 1992
Michael Heseltine†	10 April 1992	5 July 1995
Ian Lang†	5 July 1995	2 May 1997
Margaret Beckett†	2 May 1997	27 July 1998
Peter Mandelson	27 July 1998	23 December 1998
Stephen Byers	23 December 1998	8 June 2001
Patricia Hewitt	8 June 2001	6 May 2005
Alan Johnson††	6 May 2005	5 May 2006
Alistair Darling	5 May 2006	27 June 2007

• † - Primarily referred to as President of the Board of Trade, and not as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

• †† - Alan Johnson was initially announced on 6 May 2005, after the general election, as being "Secretary of State for Productivity, Energy and Industry and President of the Board of Trade", but after just a week, on 13 May, it was declared that the new title would not be used, after widespread derision of the new name, because the abbreviation for Johnson's title, Productivity, Energy and Industry Secretary, would have been "PENIS"

Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform & President of the Board of Trade (2007–2009)

Name	Took office	Left office
John Hutton	28 June 2007	3 October 2008
The Lord Mandelson	3 October 2008	5 June 2009

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills & President of the Board of Trade (since 2009)

Name	Took office	Left office
The Lord Mandelson	5 June 2009	11 May 2010
Vince Cable	12 May 2010	Incumbent

External links

• Friends of the Action Group
• DTI e-commerce awards
• DTI Website Archived on 6 June 2007

Video clips

• Enterprise Initiative