The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to the union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. There were Lord Chancellors of Ireland until 1922.
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor (Viscount Hailsham), as depicted on a cigarette card produced for the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. His ceremonial purse would once have contained the Great Seal of the Realm.
The Lord High Chancellor wearing full ceremonial dress at the 2023 State Opening of Parliament, preceded by his purse-bearer and a serjeant-at-arms.
Heraldic banner of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was the archbishop of York and lord chancellor, showing the arms of the See of York impaling his personal arms, with a cardinal's hat above. The griffin supporter holds the lord chancellor's mace
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament. The current prime minister is Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party, who assumed the office on 25 October 2022.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Sir Robert Walpole is generally considered to have been the first person to hold the position of Prime Minister.
Dominic Raab was the First Secretary of State from 2019 to 2021. He deputised for Boris Johnson when he was ill with COVID-19 in April 2020.
Prime Minister Liz Truss announces her resignation outside 10 Downing Street, 20 October 2022