The Council of Europe was founded in London on 5 May 1949 with the goal of endeavouring to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe following the Second World War. Its founding treaty was signed by ten member states: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Its Parliamentary Assembly, comprising parliamentarians from across the member nations, met for the first time in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949.

Peter Smithers (formerly the chair of the Conservative Overseas Bureau and vice-chair of the Conservative Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee) was appointed the first British Secretary-General of the Council in 1964.