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Sir Patrick Hastings, present incumbent of the office, receives a salary of £7,000 plus fees which usually amount to anywhere from £10,000 to £25,000. He is 44 years of age, started life as a mining engineer. When the South African War broke out, he joined up and served until 1901. Home again, he devoted himself to journalism, studied law at the Middle Temple, was called to the Bar in 1904. In 1919 he took silk—i. e., became a King's Counsellor.
* The Premiership is not an office and the holder has no legal power over his fellow members Until 1905 the position was unrecognized but in December of that year King Edward VII signed a royal warrant granting Premiers of Britain precedence next after the Archbishop of York, or twelfth in the table of precedency. * The last time a sovereign of Britain refused assent to a bill was in 1707. when Queen Anne withheld assent to the Scotch Militia Bill.
† Prorogation of Parliament means the ending of a session without dissolution.
‡ The Parliaments of King George:
1st Liberal ended 1915
2nd Coalition ended 1916
3rd Coalition ended 1922
4th Conservative ended 1923
5th Labor ended 1924.