Why Britain prioritized Admiral-class battlecruisers after 1918

Why were Admiral-class battlecruisers prioritized before their companion battleship design?

Britain expected the next naval war to be a mobile, global contest against commerce threats, making fast battlecruisers the more urgent postwar requirement.

A companion battleship design existed alongside the Admiral-class program, but Britain ordered the battlecruisers first. Naval planners understood that the First World War was ending and were looking toward the fleet needed for the next conflict. They expected a dispersed maritime war beyond the North Sea, where speed and the ability to hunt commerce raiders mattered more than another concentrated battle line. The decision therefore reflected a postwar global mission assessment rather than a belief that battleships had no value.