Part of Oral Answers to Questions — ST. Vincent – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 28 April 1964.
Mr Donald Chapman
, Birmingham, Northfield
12:00,
28 April 1964
But the Chief Minister is involved—he is shown to be by paragraph 11(c)—because he actually turned up with some of the money to pay illegally some of the road gangs. Although it was nothing to do with him lie was helping out his wife's improprieties. If he is involved, how does the Secretary of State expect him to advise his own dissolution? Surely we must now use our reserve power against the Chief Minister.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
