Rt. Hon. D. S. Senanayake
from 24th September 1947
to 22nd March 1952
Hon. Dudly Senanayake
from 26th March 1952
to 12th October 1953
Rt. Hon. Sir John Kotelawala
from 12th October 1953
to 12th April 1956
Hon. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
from 12th April 1956
to 26th September 1959
Hon. Dr. Wijeyananda Dahanayake
from 26th September 1959
to 20th March 1960
Hon. Dudly Senanayake
from 21st March 1960
to 21st July 1960
Hon. (Mrs.) Sirimavo Bandaranaike
from 21st July 1960
to 25th March 1965
Hon. Dudly Senanayake
from 25th March 1965
to 29th May 1970
Hon. (Mrs.) Sirimavo Bandaranaike
from 29th May 1970
to 23rd July 1977
Hon. J. R. Jayewardene
from 23rd July 1977
to 4th February 1978
Hon. Ranasinghe Premadasa
from 6th February 1978
to 2nd January 1989
Hon. D. B. Wijetunga
from 6th March 1989
to 7th May 1993
Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe
from 7th May 1993
to 19th August 1994
Hon. (Mrs.) Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
from 19th August 1994
to 12th November 1994
Hon. (Mrs.) Sirimavo Bandaranaike
from 14th November 1994
to 9th August 2000
Hon. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
from 10th August 2000
to 7th December 2001
Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe
from 9th December 2001
to 2nd April 2004
Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa
from 6th April 2004
to 19th November 2005
Hon. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
from 19th November 2005
to 20th April 2010
Hon. D. M. Jayaratne
from 21st April 2010
to 9th January 2015
Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe
from 9th January 2015
to 26th October 2018
Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa
from 26th October 2018
to 15th December 2018
Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe
from 16th December 2018
to 20th November 2019
Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa
from 21st November 2019
to 9th May 2022
Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe
from 12th May 2022
to 21th July 2022
Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena
from 22nd July 2022
to 23rd September 2024