Solicitor General for England and Wales explained

Post:Solicitor General for England and Wales
Insignia:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg
Insigniacaption:Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Department:Attorney General's Office
Incumbent:Sarah Sackman
Incumbentsince:9 July 2024
Style:Solicitor
Reports To:Attorney General for England and Wales
Appointer:The Monarch
Appointer Qualified:on the advice of the Prime Minister
Termlength:At His Majesty's Pleasure
Formation: Before 1460
Salary:£142,106 per annum [1]
(including £84,144 MP salary)[2]

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.

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 current holder of the position, Sarah Sackman, was appointed by prime minister Keir Starmer following the victory of the Labour Party in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

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

15th century

incomplete

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century

NamePortraitTerm of officePolitical partyPrime Minister
Sir Edward Carson7 May 19004 December 1905Irish Unionist Alliance3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Arthur Balfour
Sir William Robson12 December 190528 January 1908LiberalSir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Sir Samuel Evans28 January 19086 March 1910
H. H. Asquith
Sir Rufus Isaacs6 March 19087 October 1910
Sir John Simon7 October 191019 October 1913
Sir Stanley Buckmaster19 October 19138 November 1915
Sir F. E. Smith2 June 19158 November 1915Conservative
Sir George Cave8 November 191510 December 1915
Sir Gordon Hewart10 December 191510 January 1919LiberalDavid Lloyd George
Sir Ernest Pollock10 January 19196 March 1922Conservative
Sir Leslie Scott6 March 192219 October 1922
Sir Thomas Inskip31 October 192222 January 1924Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Sir Henry Slesser23 January 19243 November 1924LabourRamsay MacDonald
Sir Thomas Inskip11 November 192428 March 1928ConservativeStanley Baldwin
Sir Boyd Merriman28 March 19285 June 1929
Sir James B. Melville7 June 192922 October 1930LabourRamsay MacDonald
Sir Stafford Cripps22 October 193024 August 1931
Sir Thomas Inskip3 September 193126 January 1932Conservative
Sir Boyd Merriman26 January 193229 September 1933
Sir Donald Somervell29 September 193319 March 1936
Stanley Baldwin
Sir Terence O'Connor19 March 19367 May 1940
Neville Chamberlain
Sir William Jowitt15 May 19404 March 1942LabourSir Winston Churchill
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe4 March 194225 May 1945Conservative
Sir Walter Monckton25 May 194526 July 1945
Sir Frank Soskice4 August 194524 April 1951LabourClement Attlee
Sir Lynn Ungoed-Thomas24 April 195126 October 1951
Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller3 November 19518 October 1954ConservativeSir Winston Churchill
Sir Harry Hylton-Foster18 October 195422 October 1959
Sir Winston ChurchillSir Anthony Eden

Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan
Sir Jocelyn Simon22 October 19598 February 1962
Sir John Hobson8 February 196219 July 1962
Sir Peter Rawlinson19 July 196216 October 1964Harold MacmillanSir Alec Douglas-Home
Sir Dingle Foot18 October 196424 August 1967LabourHarold Wilson
Sir Arthur Irvine24 August 196719 June 1970
Sir Geoffrey Howe23 June 19705 November 1972ConservativeEdward Heath
Sir Michael Havers5 November 19724 March 1974
Peter Archer7 March 19744 May 1979LabourHarold WilsonJames Callaghan
Sir Ian Percival5 May 197913 June 1983ConservativeMargaret Thatcher
Sir Patrick Mayhew13 June 198313 June 1987
Sir Nicholas Lyell13 June 198715 April 1992Margaret ThatcherJohn Major
15 April 19922 May 1997John Major
Lord Falconer of Thoroton6 May 199728 July 1998LabourTony Blair
Sir Ross Cranston28 July 199811 June 2001

2001–present

Colour key (for political parties):

NamePortraitTerm of officePolitical partyPrime Minister
Harriet Harman[4] 11 June 200110 May 2005LabourTony Blair
Mike O'Brien[5] 11 May 200529 June 2007
Dame Vera Baird[6] 29 June 200711 May 2010Gordon Brown
Sir Edward Garnier[7] 13 May 20104 September 2012 ConservativeDavid Cameron
Sir Oliver Heald[8] 4 September 201215 July 2014
Sir Robert Buckland[9] 15 July 20149 May 2019
David Cameron
Theresa May
Lucy Frazer[10] 9 May 201925 July 2019Theresa May
Sir Michael Ellis25 July 20192 March 2021Boris Johnson
Lucy Frazer2 March 202110 September 2021
Sir Michael Ellis10 September 202116 September 2021
Alex Chalk16 September 20215 July 2022
Edward Timpson7 July 20227 September 2022
Michael Tomlinson7 September 20227 December 2023Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Robert Courts7 December 20235 July 2024
Sarah Sackman9 July 2024IncumbentLabourKeir Starmer

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23 . 15 December 2022.
  2. Web site: Pay and expenses for MPs . 15 December 2022 . parliament.uk.
  3. Web site: Solicitor General - gov.scot. www.gov.scot. 2019-07-11.
  4. Web site: Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP. UK Parliament. English. 2019-07-11.
  5. Web site: Rt Hon Mike O'Brien. UK Parliament. English. 2019-07-11.
  6. News: PCC appointed as victims' commissioner. 2019-05-13. 2019-07-11. en-GB.
  7. Web site: Sir Edward Garnier QC – GOV.UK. www.gov.uk. en. 2019-07-11.
  8. Web site: About Sir Oliver. Rt Hon Sir Oliver Heald QC MP. en. 2019-07-11.
  9. Web site: How John Bercow's 'Brexit betrayal is absurd contradiction of democracy' – David Starkey. Bet. Martina. 2019-06-14. Express.co.uk. en. 2019-07-11.
  10. Web site: New Solicitor General appointed. GOV.UK. en. 2019-07-11.