List of peerages held by prime ministers of the United Kingdom

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This article lists all peerages held by prime ministers of the United Kingdom, whether created or inherited before or after their premiership. Extant titles are in bold.

Contents

Peerages created for prime ministers by reign

  Created after their respective Premierships
PeerageTitle(s)CreatedPrime MinisterCurrent statusNotes

King George I, 1714–1727

Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Earl of Clare
Viscount Haughton
19 October 1714 Thomas Pelham-Holles 2nd Baron Pelham Extinct 17 November 1768Created before Premiership
Created with a special remainder
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Marquess of Clare
11 August 1715 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Earl of Clare

King George II, 1727–1760

Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Baron Wilmington 8 January 1728 Sir Spencer Compton Extinct 2 July 1743Created before Premiership
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Earl of Wilmington
Viscount Pevensey
14 May 1730 Spencer Compton, 1st Baron Wilmington
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Earl of Orford
Viscount Walpole
Baron Walpole of Houghton
6 February 1742 Sir Robert Walpole Extinct 2 March 1797Created during Premiership
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne 17 November 1756 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Extinct 25 December 1988Created with a special remainder

King George III, 1760–1820

Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Baron Pelham of Stanmer 4 May 1762 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle ExtantCreated during Premiership
Created with a special remainder
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Earl of Chatham
Viscount Pitt
4 August 1766 William Pitt the Elder Extinct 24 September 1835Created during Premiership
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Marquess of Lansdowne
Earl of Wycombe
Viscount Calne and Calston
6 December 1784 William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne Extant
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Baron Grenville 25 November 1790 William Grenville Extinct 12 January 1834Created before Premiership
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Viscount Sidmouth 12 January 1805 Henry Addington Extant
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Viscount Wellington
Baron Douro
4 September 1809 Sir Arthur Wellesley ExtantCreated before Premiership
On 5 February 1811, George Prince of Wales became the Prince Regent
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Wellington 28 February 1812 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Viscount Wellington ExtantCreated before Premiership
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Marquess of Wellington 3 October 1812 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Earl of Wellington
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Duke of Wellington
Marquess Douro
11 May 1814 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Viscount Gordon 16 July 1814 George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen

King George IV, 1820–1830

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Viscount Goderich 28 April 1827 F. J. Robinson Extinct 22 September 1923Created before Premiership

King William IV, 1830–1837

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Ripon 13 April 1833 F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich Extinct 22 September 1923

Queen Victoria, 1837–1901

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl Russell
Viscount Amberley
30 July 1861 Lord John Russell Extant
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Beaconsfield
Viscount Hughenden
21 August 1876 Benjamin Disraeli Extinct 19 April 1881Created during Premiership

King Edward VII, 1901–1910

no peerage creations for prime ministers

King George V, 1910–1936

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Midlothian
Viscount Mentmore
Baron Epsom
3 July 1911 Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Extant
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Balfour
Viscount Traprain
5 May 1922 Sir Arthur Balfour Created with a special remainder
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Oxford and Asquith
Viscount Asquith
9 February 1925 H. H. Asquith

King Edward VIII, 1936

no peerage creations for prime ministers

King George VI, 1936–1952

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
Viscount Corvedale
8 June 1937 Sir Stanley Baldwin Extant
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor
Viscount Gwynedd
12 February 1945 David Lloyd George

Queen Elizabeth II, 1952–2022

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl Attlee
Viscount Prestwood
16 December 1955 Clement Attlee Extant
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Avon
Viscount Eden
12 July 1961 Sir Anthony Eden Extinct 17 August 1985
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Baron Home of the Hirsel19 December 1974 Sir Alec Douglas-Home Extinct 9 October 1995 Life peerage
Earl of Home before becoming prime minister
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Baron Wilson of Rievaulx16 September 1983 Sir Harold Wilson Extinct 24 May 1995Life peerage

Granted as part of the 1983 Dissolution Honours

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Earl of Stockton
Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden
24 April 1984 Harold Macmillan Extant
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Baron Callaghan of Cardiff5 November 1987 Sir James Callaghan Extinct 26 March 2005Life peerage

Granted as part of the 1987 Dissolution Honours

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Baroness Thatcher26 June 1992 Margaret Thatcher Extinct 8 April 2013Life peerage

Granted as part of the 1992 Dissolution Honours

King Charles III, 2022–present

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton17 November 2023 David Cameron ExtantLife peerage

Granted for his tenure as Foreign Secretary

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Baroness May of Maidenhead21 August 2024 Theresa May ExtantLife peerage

Granted as part of the 2024 Dissolution Honours

Peerages inherited before, during or after premiership

Irish and Scottish Peers did not have an automatic seat in the House of Lords unlike their English and British counterparts, until the Peerage Act 1963 which granted all Scottish Peers (those without Imperial status) to have an automatic seat in the House of Lords until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and Peers to disclaim their own peerage for the rest of their life, which Alec Douglas-Home did on the 23 October 1963.

Lord Palmerston never sat in the House of Lords as he was a holder of an Irish peerage, but sat as a member of Parliament for Tiverton during his two spells as prime minister.

NameCourtesy title
(before inheriting main title)
Writ of acceleration Inherited titleWhen inherited
(before premiership
unless stated)
Sat in the House of Commons
Thomas Pelham(-Holles) Flag of England.svg 2nd Baron Pelham of Laughton 23 February 1712No
John Stuart Lord Mount Stuart Flag of Scotland.svg 3rd Earl of Bute [1] 28 February 1723No
Charles Watson-Wentworth Earl of Malton Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg 2nd Marquess of Rockingham 14 December 1750No
William Cavendish Marquess of HartingtonBaron Cavendish of Hardwick Flag of England.svg 4th Duke of Devonshire 5 December 1755Yes
Augustus FitzRoy Earl of Euston Flag of England.svg 3rd Duke of Grafton 6 May 1757Yes
William Petty Viscount FitzMaurice Saint Patrick's Saltire.svg 2nd Earl of Shelburne [2] 14 May 1761Yes
William Cavendish-Bentinck Marquess of Titchfield Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg 3rd Duke of Portland 1 May 1762Yes
Frederick North Lord North Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg 2nd Earl of Guilford 4 August 1790 (after premiership)Yes
George Hamilton-Gordon Lord Haddo Flag of Scotland.svg 3rd Earl of Aberdeen [3] 13 August 1801No
Henry John Temple Lord Temple Saint Patrick's Saltire.svg 3rd Viscount Palmerston 17 April 1802Yes
Charles Grey Viscount Howick Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 2nd Earl Grey 14 November 1807Yes
Robert Jenkinson Baron HawkesburyBaron Hawkesbury Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg 2nd Earl of Liverpool 17 December 1808Yes
William Lamb Saint Patrick's Saltire.svg 2nd Viscount Melbourne [4] 22 July 1828Yes
Edward Smith-Stanley Lord StanleyBaron Stanley of Bickerstaffe Flag of England.svg 14th Earl of Derby 30 June 1851Yes
Archibald Primrose Lord Dalmeny Flag of Scotland.svg 5th Earl of Rosebery [5] 4 March 1868No
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil Viscount Cranborne Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 12 April 1868Yes
Alec Douglas-Home Lord Dunglass Flag of Scotland.svg 14th Earl of Home [6] 11 July 1951 (disclaimed it in 1963)Yes

Prime ministers never raised to the peerage

  Eligible for Peerage
Prime MinisterNotesConstituencyRelated peerage
Henry Pelham Died in office Seaford He was in line to the Barony of Pelham of Laughton which title was extinct in 1768.
Sussex
George Grenville Died as an MP Buckingham He and his male line descendants were in line to the Viscountcy of Cobham (title extant) and the Earldom Temple (title extinct). His son George became in 1784 the 1st Marquess of Buckingham and his grandson in 1822 the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (titles extinct in 1889). His other son William, also Prime Minister, became Baron Grenville
William Pitt the Younger Died in office Appleby He was in line to the Earldom of Chatham which title was extinct in 1835.
Cambridge University
Spencer Perceval Died in office Northampton He and his male line descendants were in line to the Earldom of Egmont (his great-grandson became the 10th Earl in 1929) which title was extinct in 2011.
George Canning Died in office Newtown His widow was created Viscountess Canning in 1828, and his son Charles Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning was created Earl Canning in 1859. The titles were extinct in 1862.
Wendover
Tralee
Hastings
Petersfield
Liverpool
Harwich
Newport (Isle of Wight)
Seaford
Sir Robert Peel, Bt. Died as an MP Cashel His baronetcy merged with the Earldom of Peel in 1942 (his younger son became Viscount Peel and his grandson Earl Peel).
Chippenham
Oxford University
Westbury
Tamworth
William Ewart Gladstone Declined a peerage Newark He and his male line descendants are in the line of the Gladstone Baronetcy. Two of his sons became Peers (Viscount Gladstone and Baron Gladstone of Hawarden) but their titles are extinct.
Oxford University
South Lancashire
Greenwich
Midlothian
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Died as an MP Stirling Burghs
Bonar Law Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown His third and last surviving son Richard Law was created Baron Coleraine in 1954, which title is extant.
Dulwich
Bootle
Glasgow Central
Ramsay MacDonald Leicester
Aberavon
Seaham
Combined Scottish Universities
Neville Chamberlain Birmingham Ladywood
Birmingham Edgbaston
Sir Winston Churchill Declined a peerage Oldham He and his male line descendants are in the line of the Dukedom of Marlborough. Twice offered and declined a Dukedom. His widow was created Baroness Spencer-Churchill for life in 1965.
Manchester North West
Dundee
Epping
Woodford
Sir Edward Heath Bexley
Sidcup
Old Bexley and Sidcup
Sir John Major Declined a peerage Huntingdonshire
Huntingdon
Sir Tony Blair Sedgefield
Gordon Brown Dunfermline East
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Boris Johnson Currently living as a commoner Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Liz Truss South West Norfolk
Rishi Sunak Currently serving as an MP Richmond (Yorks)
Sir Keir Starmer Holborn and St Pancras

See also

Notes