Solicitor General for England and Wales

Solicitor General for England and Wales
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Incumbent Lucy Rigby since 2 December 2024
Attorney General's Office
Style	Solicitor
Reports to	Attorney General for England and Wales
Appointer	The Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Majesty's Pleasure
Formation	Before 1460
Salary	£142,106 per annum (2022) (including £84,144 MP salary)
Website	www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk

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. 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, Lucy Rigby, was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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

15th century

incomplete

• Richard Fowler 1461–1470
• Richard Page 1470-1483
• Thomas Lynon 1483–1485
• Andrew Dimmock 1485–1503

16th century

• Thomas Lucas 1503–1507
• John Ernley 1507–1514
• John Port 1514–1521
• Richard Lyster 1521–1525
• Christopher Hales 1525–1531
• Baldwin Mallet 1531–1533
• Richard Rich 1533–1536
• William Whorwood 1536–1540
• Henry Bradshaw 1540–1545
• Edward Griffin 1545–1552
• John Gosnold 1552–1553
• William Cordell 1553–1557
• Richard Weston 1557–1559
• William Rosewell 1559–1566
• Richard Onslow 1566–1569
• Sir Thomas Bromley 1569–1579
• Sir John Popham 1579–1581
• Sir Thomas Egerton 1581–1592
• Sir Edward Coke 1592–1594
• Thomas Fleming 1595–1604

17th century

• Sir John Doderidge 1604–1607
• Sir Francis Bacon 1607–1613
• Henry Yelverton 1613–1617
• Sir Thomas Coventry 1617–1621
• Sir Robert Heath 1621–1625
• Sir Richard Shelton 1625–1634
• Sir Edward Littleton 1634–1640
• Sir Edward Herbert 1640–1641
• Oliver St John 1641–1643 (continued to 1648 under parliament)
• Sir Thomas Gardiner 1643–1645
• Sir Geoffrey Palmer 1645–1649
• Edmund Prideaux 1648–1649
• John Cooke 1649–1650
• Robert Reynolds 1650–1654
• William Ellis 1654–1660
• Sir Heneage Finch 1660–1670
• Sir Edward Turnor 1670–1671
• Sir Francis North 1671–1673
• Sir William Jones 1673–1674
• Sir Francis Winnington 1674–1679
• Heneage Finch 1679–1686
• Sir Thomas Powys 1686–1687
• Sir William Williams 1687–1689
• Sir George Treby 1689
• Sir John Somers 1689–1692
• Sir Thomas Trevor 1692–1695
• Sir John Hawles 1695–1702

18th century

• Sir Simon Harcourt 1702–1707
• Sir James Montagu 1707–1708
• Robert Eyre 1708–1710
• Sir Robert Raymond 1710–1714
• Nicholas Lechmere 1714–1715
• John Fortescue Aland 1715–1717
• Sir William Thomson 1717–1720
• Sir Philip Yorke 1720–1724
• Sir Clement Wearg 1724–1725
• Charles Talbot 1726–1733
• Sir Dudley Ryder 1733–1737
• John Strange 1737–1742
• William Murray 1742–1754
• Sir Richard Lloyd 1754–1756
• Charles Yorke 1756–1762
• Sir Fletcher Norton 1762–1763
• William de Grey 1763–1766
• Edward Willes 1766–1768
• John Dunning 1768–1770
• Edward Thurlow 1770–1771
• Alexander Wedderburn 1771–1778
• James Wallace 1778–1780
• James Mansfield 1780–1782
• John Lee 1782
• Richard Pepper Arden 1782–1783
• John Lee 1783
• James Mansfield 1783
• Richard Pepper Arden 1783–1784
• Archibald Macdonald 1784–1788
• Sir John Scott 1788–1793
• Sir John Mitford 1793–1799
• William Grant 1799–1801

19th century

• Spencer Perceval 1801–1802
• Sir Thomas Manners-Sutton 1802–1805
• Sir Vicary Gibbs 1805–1806
• Sir Samuel Romilly 1806–1807
• Sir Thomas Plumer 1807–1812
• Sir William Garrow 1812–1813
• Sir Robert Dallas 1813
• Sir Samuel Shepherd 1813–1817
• Sir Robert Gifford 1817–1819
• Sir John Copley 1819–1824
• Sir Charles Wetherell 1824–1826
• Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal 1826–1829
• Sir Edward Sugden 1829–1830
• Sir William Horne 1830–1832
• Sir John Campbell 1832–1834
• Sir Charles Pepys 1834
• Sir Robert Rolfe 1834
• William Webb Follett 1834–1835
• Robert Rolfe 1835–1839
• Sir Thomas Wilde 1839–1841
• Sir William Webb Follett 1841–1844
• Sir Frederic Thesiger 1844–1845
• Sir Fitzroy Kelly 1845–1846
• John Jervis 1846
• Sir David Dundas 1846–1848
• Sir John Romilly 1848–1850
• Sir Alexander Cockburn 1850–1851
• Sir William Page Wood 1851–1852
• Sir Fitzroy Kelly 1852
• Sir Richard Bethell 1852–1856
• James Stuart-Wortley 1856–1857
• Sir Henry Singer Keating 1857–1858
• Sir Hugh Cairns 1858–1859
• Sir Henry Singer Keating 1859
• Sir William Atherton 1859–1861
• Sir Roundell Palmer 1861–1863
• Sir Robert Collier 1863–1866
• Sir William Bovill 1866
• Sir John Burgess Karslake 1866–1867
• Sir Charles Jasper Selwyn 1867–1868
• Sir William Brett 1868
• Sir Richard Baggallay 1868
• Sir John Coleridge 1868–1871
• Sir George Jessel 1871–1873
• Sir Henry James 1873
• Sir William Harcourt 1873–1874
• Sir Richard Baggallay 1874
• Sir John Holker 1874–1875
• Sir Hardinge Giffard 1875–1880
• Sir Farrer Herschell 1880–1885
• Sir John Eldon Gorst 1885–1886
• Sir Horace Davey 1886
• Sir Edward Clarke 1886–1892
• Sir John Rigby 1892–1894
• Sir Robert Reid 1894
• Sir Frank Lockwood 1894–1895
• Sir Robert Finlay 1895–1900

20th century

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	Sir Edward Carson		7 May 1900	4 December 1905	Irish Unionist Alliance		3rd Marquess of Salisbury
							Arthur Balfour
	Sir William Robson		12 December 1905	28 January 1908	Liberal		Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
	Sir Samuel Evans		28 January 1908	6 March 1910
							H. H. Asquith
	Sir Rufus Isaacs		6 March 1910	7 October 1910
	Sir John Simon		7 October 1910	19 October 1913
	Sir Stanley Buckmaster		19 October 1913	8 November 1915
	Sir F. E. Smith		2 June 1915	8 November 1915	Conservative
	Sir George Cave		8 November 1915	10 December 1915
	Sir Gordon Hewart		10 December 1915	10 January 1919	Liberal		David Lloyd George
	Sir Ernest Pollock		10 January 1919	6 March 1922	Conservative
	Sir Leslie Scott		6 March 1922	19 October 1922
	Sir Thomas Inskip		31 October 1922	22 January 1924			Bonar Law
							Stanley Baldwin
	Sir Henry Slesser		23 January 1924	3 November 1924	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	Sir Thomas Inskip		11 November 1924	28 March 1928	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin
	Sir Boyd Merriman		28 March 1928	5 June 1929
	Sir James B. Melville		7 June 1929	22 October 1930	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	Sir Stafford Cripps		22 October 1930	24 August 1931
	Sir Thomas Inskip		3 September 1931	26 January 1932	Conservative
	Sir Boyd Merriman		26 January 1932	29 September 1933
	Sir Donald Somervell		29 September 1933	19 March 1936
							Stanley Baldwin
	Sir Terence O'Connor		19 March 1936	7 May 1940
							Neville Chamberlain
	Sir William Jowitt		15 May 1940	4 March 1942	Labour		Sir Winston Churchill
	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe		4 March 1942	25 May 1945	Conservative
	Sir Walter Monckton		25 May 1945	26 July 1945
	Sir Frank Soskice		4 August 1945	24 April 1951	Labour		Clement Attlee
	Sir Lynn Ungoed-Thomas		24 April 1951	26 October 1951
	Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller		3 November 1951	8 October 1954	Conservative		Sir Winston Churchill
	Sir Harry Hylton-Foster		18 October 1954	22 October 1959
							Sir Winston Churchill Sir Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan
							Harold Macmillan
	Sir Jocelyn Simon		22 October 1959	8 February 1962
	Sir John Hobson		8 February 1962	19 July 1962
	Sir Peter Rawlinson		19 July 1962	16 October 1964			Harold Macmillan Sir Alec Douglas-Home
	Sir Dingle Foot		18 October 1964	24 August 1967	Labour		Harold Wilson
	Sir Arthur Irvine		24 August 1967	19 June 1970
	Sir Geoffrey Howe		23 June 1970	5 November 1972	Conservative		Edward Heath
	Sir Michael Havers		5 November 1972	4 March 1974
	Peter Archer		7 March 1974	4 May 1979	Labour		Harold Wilson James Callaghan
	Sir Ian Percival		5 May 1979	13 June 1983	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
	Sir Patrick Mayhew		13 June 1983	13 June 1987
	Sir Nicholas Lyell		13 June 1987	15 April 1992			Margaret Thatcher John Major
	Sir Derek Spencer		15 April 1992	2 May 1997			John Major
	Lord Falconer of Thoroton		6 May 1997	28 July 1998	Labour		Tony Blair
	Sir Ross Cranston		28 July 1998	11 June 2001

2001–present

Colour key (for political parties):
  Conservative   Labour

Name		Portrait	Term of office		Political party	Prime Minister
	Harriet Harman		11 June 2001	10 May 2005	Labour		Tony Blair
	Mike O'Brien		11 May 2005	29 June 2007
	Dame Vera Baird		29 June 2007	11 May 2010			Gordon Brown
	Sir Edward Garnier		13 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative		David Cameron
	Sir Oliver Heald		4 September 2012	15 July 2014
	Sir Robert Buckland		15 July 2014	9 May 2019
							David Cameron Theresa May
	Lucy Frazer		9 May 2019	25 July 2019			Theresa May
	Sir Michael Ellis		25 July 2019	2 March 2021			Boris Johnson
	Lucy Frazer		2 March 2021	10 September 2021
	Sir Michael Ellis		10 September 2021	16 September 2021
	Alex Chalk		16 September 2021	5 July 2022
	Edward Timpson		7 July 2022	7 September 2022
	Michael Tomlinson		7 September 2022	7 December 2023			Liz Truss
							Rishi Sunak
	Robert Courts		7 December 2023	5 July 2024
	Sarah Sackman		9 July 2024	2 December 2024	Labour		Keir Starmer
	Lucy Rigby		2 December 2024	Incumbent

See also

• Solicitor general
• Attorney General for England and Wales
• Law officers of the Crown