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| - The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry before the June 28, 2007 reshuffle) is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade. The Secretary of State is responsible for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry). The current holder of the post is John Hutton, since June 28, 2007. The idea of a Board of Trade was first translated into action by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 when he appointed his son Richard Cromwell to head a body of Lords of the Privy Council, Judges and merchants to consider measures to promote trade. Charles II established a Council of Trade on November 7, 1660 f
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| abstract
| - The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry before the June 28, 2007 reshuffle) is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade. The Secretary of State is responsible for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry). The current holder of the post is John Hutton, since June 28, 2007. The idea of a Board of Trade was first translated into action by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 when he appointed his son Richard Cromwell to head a body of Lords of the Privy Council, Judges and merchants to consider measures to promote trade. Charles II established a Council of Trade on November 7, 1660 followed by a Council of Foreign Plantations on December 1 that year. The two were united on September 16, 1672 as the Board of Trade and Plantations. After the Board was re-established in 1696, there were 15 (and later 16) members of the Board - 7 (later 8) Great officers of state, and 8 unofficial members, who did the majority of the work. The senior unofficial member of the board was the President of the Board, commonly known as the First Lord of Trade. The board was abolished on July 11, 1782, but a Committee of the Privy Council was established on March 5, 1784 for the same purposes. On August 23, 1786 a new Committee was set up, more strongly focused on commercial functions than the previous boards of trade. At first the President of the Board of Trade only occasionally sat in the Cabinet, but from the early 19th century it was usually a cabinet level position. During the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the then President of the Board of Trade Edward Heath was given in addition the job of Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development. This title was not continued under Harold Wilson, but when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970 he decided to merge the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Technology to create the Department of Trade and Industry. The head of this department became known as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade. When Harold Wilson re-entered office in March 1974, the office was split into the Department of Trade, the Department of Industry and the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection. The title President of the Board of Trade became the secondary title of the Secretary of State for Trade. In 1979 the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was abolished by the incoming Conservative government and its responsibilities were reintegrated into the Department of Trade. The current Secretary of State for Industry is Keith Joseph.
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