List of current heads of government in the United Kingdom and dependencies

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Map showing governing parties of UK administrations by political party as of July 2017 (click to enlarge) UK countries and dependencies by political party.svg
Map showing governing parties of UK administrations by political party as of July 2017 (click to enlarge)

In the United Kingdom, various titles are used for the head of government of each of the countries of the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies, and Overseas Territories. Following elections to the assembly or parliament, the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats is invited to form a government. The monarch (in the United Kingdom) or governor  / lieutenant governor (in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies) appoints the head of government, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly.

Contents

The head of the British government is referred to as the prime minister, the leader of one of the constituent countries is referred to as a first minister, and the terms chief minister and premier are used in the Overseas Territories. In the Crown Dependencies, the term chief minister is used in all apart from Guernsey, where the leader is referred to as the president of the Policy and Resources Committee.

Government of the United Kingdom

Prime Minister PortraitSincePartyRef
Rishi Sunak Portrait of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (cropped).jpg 25 October 2022
(18 months ago)
Conservative [1]

Devolved governments

Note: As England does not have a devolved government, all English affairs are governed by the UK government.
CountryPositionNamePortraitSinceParty [note 1] Ref
Northern Ireland [2] First Minister Michelle O'Neill Michelle O'Neill (cropped from Martin McGuinness, Michelle O'Neill, Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams).jpg 3 February 2024
(3 months ago)
Sinn Féin [3]
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly Official portrait of Emma Little Pengelly crop 2.jpg Democratic Unionist Party
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland First Minister John Swinney Court of Session (53707469110) (cropped).jpg 8 May 2024
(2 days ago)
Scottish National Party [4]
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales First Minister Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething (cropped official portrait).jpg 20 March 2024
(51 days ago)
Welsh Labour [5]

Crown Dependencies

Crown dependencyPositionNamePortraitSincePartyRef
Flag of Guernsey.svg  Bailiwick of Guernsey P&RC President Lyndon Trott Guernseys finansminister Lyndon Trott vid Nordiska radets session i Helsingfors 2008-10-28 (cropped).jpg 13 December 2023
(4 months ago)
  Future Guernsey [6]
Flag of Jersey.svg  Bailiwick of Jersey Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham Farnham after 2024 CM election.png 30 January 2024
(3 months ago)
Independent
Flag of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man Chief Minister Alfred Cannan Chief Minister Alfred Cannan.jpg 12 October 2021
(2 years ago)
Independent [7]

Overseas Territories

Overseas TerritoryPositionNamePortraitSincePartyRef
Flag of Anguilla.svg  Anguilla Premier Ellis Webster Ellis Webster 2021.jpg 30 June 2020
(3 years ago)
Anguilla Progressive Movement [8]
Flag of Bermuda.svg  Bermuda Premier Edward David Burt Edward David Burt 2017.jpg 19 July 2017
(6 years ago)
Progressive Labour Party [9]
Flag of the British Virgin Islands.svg  British Virgin Islands Premier Natalio Wheatley Natalio D. Wheatley - Meeting with US Congressional Delegation (cropped).jpg 5 May 2022
(2 years ago)
Virgin Islands Party [10]
Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg  Cayman Islands Premier Julianna O'Connor-Connolly 15 November 2023
(5 months ago)
United People's Movement [11]
Flag of the Falkland Islands.svg  Falkland Islands Chief Executive Andy Keeling 5 April 2021
(3 years ago)
Independent
Flag of Gibraltar.svg  Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo Fabian Picardo in London (portrait).jpg 9 December 2011
(12 years ago)
Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party [12]
Flag of Montserrat.svg  Montserrat Premier Easton Taylor-Farrell J E Taylor-Farrell (cropped).jpg 19 November 2019
(4 years ago)
Movement for Change and Prosperity [13]
Flag of the Pitcairn Islands.svg  Pitcairn Islands Mayor Simon Young Pitcairn Deputy Mayor Simon Young.jpg 1 January 2023
(16 months ago)
Independent [14]
Flag of Saint Helena.svg  Saint Helena Chief Minister Julie Thomas 25 October 2021
(2 years ago)
Independent [15]
Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands.svg  Turks and Caicos Islands Premier Washington Misick Washington Misick 2013.jpg 20 February 2021
(3 years ago)
Progressive National Party

Timeline

Ieuan Wyn JonesMike German, Baron GermanVaughan GethingMark DrakefordCarwyn JonesRhodri MorganEmma Little-PengellyMichelle O'NeillMartin McGuinnessSeamus MallonMichelle O'NeillPeter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)David TrimbleShona RobisonJohn SwinneyNicola SturgeonNicol StephenJim WallaceHumza YousafNicola SturgeonAlex SalmondJack McConnellDominic RaabWilliam HagueJohn PrescottOliver DowdenDominic RaabNick CleggJohn PrescottRishi SunakBoris JohnsonTheresa MayDavid CameronGordon BrownTony BlairList of current heads of government in the United Kingdom and dependencies

Notes

  1. This column names only the leader's party. The executive they are heading may be a coalition of parties and independents; those are not listed here.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Guernsey</span>

Politics of Guernsey take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic British Crown dependency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Overseas Territories</span> Territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom

The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are the 14 territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, while not forming part of the United Kingdom itself, are part of its sovereign territory. The permanently inhabited territories are delegated varying degrees of internal self-governance, with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence, foreign relations and internal security, and ultimate responsibility for good governance. All of the territories are inhabited by civilians, except three that are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel. All fourteen have the British monarch as head of state. These UK government responsibilities are assigned to various departments of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and are subject to change.

The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, both located in the English Channel and together known as the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bailiwick of Guernsey</span> British Crown Dependency consisting of several islands

The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a self-governing British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of 78 square kilometres (30 sq mi) and an estimated total population of 67,334.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Olympic Association</span> National Olympic Committee

The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. However it is almost unique in that its teams also incorporate representatives from other British dependent territories, who do not have their own separate Olympics teams, but which also excludes some UK citizens from Northern Ireland due to internal governing body territories in sports such as rugby, tennis and field hockey. Founded in 1905, it is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both the summer and winter Olympic Games, the Youth Olympic Games, the European Youth Olympic Festivals, and at the European Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)</span> Ministerial department of the UK Government

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to provide access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system, and to uphold people's civil liberties. The Secretary of State is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system, prisons, and probation in England and Wales, with some additional UK-wide responsibilities, e.g., the UK Supreme Court and judicial appointments by the Crown. The department is also responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law, and information rights law across the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">States of Alderney</span>

The States of Alderney is the parliament/council and the legislature of Alderney, part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The origin of the States is unknown, but has operated from the medieval period. The States of Alderney comprises ten Members, and a President of the States of Alderney, currently William Tate who was elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devolution in the United Kingdom</span> Granting governmental powers to parts of the UK

In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">External relations of Jersey</span>

The External relations of the Bailiwick of Jersey are conducted by the External Relations department of the Government of Jersey. Jersey is not an independent state; it is a British Crown dependency, so internationally the United Kingdom is responsible for protecting the island and for consulting Jersey on international trade agreements but it is not a British territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CANZUK</span> Proposed international alliance

CANZUK is an acronym for a proposed alliance comprising Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as part of an international organisation or confederation similar in scope to the former European Economic Community. This includes increased trade, foreign policy co-operation, military co-operation and mobility of citizens between the four states, tied together by similar economic systems, social values and political and legal systems, in addition to the majority population of each country speaking English. The idea is lobbied by the advocacy group CANZUK International and supported primarily by conservatives. Other supporters include think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute, the Henry Jackson Society, Bruges Group and politicians from the four countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers</span> Anguillan politician, model, and athlete

Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers is an Anguillan politician, lawyer, athlete, former model and beauty pageant titleholder. A member of the Anguilla Progressive Movement, Kentish-Rogers has served as the Minister for Education and Social Development in the government of Ellis Webster since 2020. She has also represented the constituency of Valley South in the House of Assembly since 2020. Since 2021, she has been a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.

References

  1. "Sunak officially becomes prime minister after meeting King". BBC News. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  2. The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland is a diarchy.
  3. "Michelle O'Neill appointed Northern Ireland's first nationalist first minister". BBC News. 2024-02-03.
  4. James Cook, Mary McCool (8 May 2023). "John Swinney sworn in as Scotland's first minister". BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  5. "Vaughan Gething confirmed as Wales's new first minister". Sky News. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  6. "Guernsey States elects Lyndon Trott as senior politician". BBC News . 16 October 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  7. Cannan, Alf (12 October 2021). "Isle of Man: Alfred Cannan elected new chief minister". BBC News.
  8. "Dr. Ellis Lorenzo Webster sworn in, as APM takes over in Anguilla". Anguilla News. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. "Bermuda profile". BBC News. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  10. "Dr Wheatley sworn in as Premier! New cross-party gov't also installed". BVINews. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  11. "United People's Movement Secures the Government". Cayman Islands Government. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  12. "Gibraltar profile Leaders". BBC News. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  13. "Montserrat Election 2019". Archived from the original on 2019-12-03. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  14. "Approved Council Minutes" (PDF). Pitcairn Island Council. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  15. Inaugural Meeting of Legislative Council – Councillor Julie Thomas elected as Chief Minister Government of Saint Helena