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{{Short description|Seventeenth-century English government cabal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
The '''First Whig Junto''' controlled the government of [[Kingdom of England|England]] from 1694 to 1699 and was the first part of the [[Whig Junto]], a [[wikt:cabal|cabal]] of people who controlled the most important political decisions.<ref group=n>Compare [[junta (disambiguation)|junta]] which has fallen into use only for [[military junta]]</ref> The Junto was reappointed twice following the elections of [[1695 English general election|1695]] and [[1698 English general election|1698]].

==History==
The [[British Whig Party|Whig]] elite rose to government ascendancy while [[Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds|Lord Danby]] held office through three shortly-spaced changes of sovereign (dating to the royal-dominated ministries of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]). The Junto established its dominance in 1694 with the appointment of Sir [[Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax|Charles Montagu]] as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] on 10 May.<ref name="HistParl">{{cite web |last1=Handley |first1=Stuart |title=The Politics of the House |url=http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1690-1715/survey/politics-house |website=History of Parliament Online |publisher=The History of Parliament Trust |accessdate=5 July 2019}}</ref> Danby, who had been created [[Duke of Leeds]] on 4 May, remained in office, under a diminished role while still [[Lord President of the Council]], but the Junto controlled the government of England from 1694 to 1699.

It was led by six prominent members: Montagu{{#tag:ref|Lord Montagu became overall leader in 1697, the same year that the last [[Tory Party|Tory]], Godolphin, was removed from office|group= n}}, John Somers, Wharton, Romney, Orford, and Shrewsbury. Supporting these [[House of Lords|peers]] were two unofficial [[whip (politics)|whip]]s in the House of Lords: the earls of [[Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland|Sunderland]] and [[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland|Portland]]. Only one of these held at the time an office, albeit less senior, as [[Lord Chamberlain]]. The Whig Party held a majority in the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]] after the election in 1695, although not all Whig MPs were unswervingly loyal to the Junto.

The Junto oversaw the creation of the [[Bank of England]] in 1694, but by 1699 the Junto's power had declined in the face of opposition by [[Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer|Robert Harley]] and the [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]].<ref name="HistParl" /> Many members of the Junto would return to government from 1706 to 1710 as part of the [[Godolphin-Marlborough ministry]].

==Ministry==

The government was led by the six most prominent members of the Junto.

{| class=wikitable
|-
!width=250|Office||width=250|Name||Term
|-
|[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]||rowspan="2"|'''Sir [[Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax|Charles Montagu]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[First Lord of the Treasury]]||1697–1699
|-
|[[Lord Keeper]]||rowspan="2"|'''[[John Somers, 1st Baron Somers]]'''||1694–1697
|-
|[[Lord Chancellor]]||1697–1699
|-
|[[Comptroller of the Household]]||'''[[Thomas Wharton, 5th Baron Wharton]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[Master-General of the Ordnance]]||'''[[Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[British Admiralty|Lord High Admiral]]||'''[[Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[Secretary of State for the Northern Department|Northern Secretary]]||rowspan="2"|'''[[Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury]]'''||1694–1695
|-
|[[Secretary of State for the Southern Department|Southern Secretary]]||1695–1698
|}

Other members of the ministry had less power.

{| class=wikitable
|-
!width=250|Office||width=250|Name||Term
|-
|[[Archbishop of Canterbury]]||'''[[Thomas Tenison]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[First Lord of the Treasury]]||'''[[Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin|Sidney Godolphin, 1st Baron Godolphin]]''' ([[Tory Party|Tory]])||1694–1697
|-
|[[Lord President of the Council]]||'''[[Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[Lord Privy Seal]]||'''[[Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[Lord Steward]]||'''[[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire]]'''||1694–1699
|-
|[[Lord Chamberlain]]||'''[[Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland]]'''||1695–1699
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Secretary of State for the Southern Department|Southern Secretary]]||'''Sir [[John Trenchard (Secretary of State)|John Trenchard]]'''||1694–1695
|-
|'''[[James Vernon (politician, born 1646)|James Vernon]]'''||1698–1699
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Secretary of State for the Northern Department|Northern Secretary]]||'''Sir [[William Trumbull]]'''||1695–1697
|-
|'''[[James Vernon (politician, born 1646)|James Vernon]]'''||1697–1699
|}

James Vernon was appointed Secretary of State in 1697, with responsibility for the Northern Department. The following year, after the Duke of Shrewsbury left the government, he took responsibility for the Southern Department as well.

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{Succession box | before=[[Carmarthen ministry]]| title=[[List of English ministries|Government of England]] | after=[[Pembroke ministry]] | years=1694–1699}}
{{S-end}}

{{English ministries}}
{{Kingdom of England}}

[[Category:English ministries]]
[[Category:Political history of England]]
[[Category:1690s in England]]
[[Category:1694 establishments in England]]
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[[Category:Whigs (British political party)|Government]]
[[Category:Ministries of William III and Mary II]]
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