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Solicitor General for England and Wales
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent
Robert Courts
since 7 December 2023
Attorney General's Office
StyleSolicitor
Reports toAttorney General for England and Wales
AppointerThe Monarch
on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term lengthAt His Majesty's Pleasure
Formation Before 1460
Salary£142,106 per annum (2022)[1]
(including £84,144 MP salary)[2]
Websitewww.attorneygeneral.gov.uk

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 can exercise the powers of the Attorney General in the Attorney General's absence. Despite the title, the position is usually held by a barrister as opposed to a solicitor.

There is also a Solicitor General for Scotland, who is the deputy of the Lord Advocate.[3] 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.

The role is held by Robert Courts, who was appointed on 7 December 2023.

Solicitors-General of England (and Wales), 1461–present

15th century

incomplete

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

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

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 Alec Douglas-Home

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

James Callaghan

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

John Major

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[4] 11 June 2001 10 May 2005 Labour Tony Blair
Mike O'Brien[5] 11 May 2005 29 June 2007
Dame Vera Baird[6] 29 June 2007 11 May 2010 Gordon Brown
Sir Edward Garnier[7] 13 May 2010 4 September 2012 Conservative David Cameron
Sir Oliver Heald[8] 4 September 2012 15 July 2014
Sir Robert Buckland[9] 15 July 2014 9 May 2019
David Cameron
Theresa May
Lucy Frazer[10] 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solicitors General for England and Wales.

References

  1. ^ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Solicitor General - gov.scot". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Rt Hon Mike O'Brien". UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  6. ^ "PCC appointed as victims' commissioner". 13 May 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Sir Edward Garnier QC – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  8. ^ "About Sir Oliver". Rt Hon Sir Oliver Heald QC MP. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "New Solicitor General appointed". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
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