Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the postal system, the Telegraph Act 1868 established the Postmaster General's right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs. This would subsequently extend to telecommunications and broadcasting.
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
Postmaster General
Monarch of the United Kingdom on advice of the Prime Minister
Master of the King's Post
1517
Brian Tuke
as Master of the King’s Post
1 October 1969
Overseen by the following:
Department of Trade and Industry
(1974–2007)
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(2007–2015)
Home Office
(1974–92)
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (1992– )
The office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A replacement public corporation, governed by a chairman, was established under the name of the Post Office (later subsumed by Royal Mail Group). The cabinet position of Postmaster General was replaced by a Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, with reduced powers, until 1974; most regulatory functions have now been delegated to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, although Royal Mail Group was overseen by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy before flotation.