List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by experience

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This article lists which other significant offices have been held by the prime ministers before and after they have come to power as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. [1] The positions and amount of experience a prime minister has acquired has changed over the years, with modern prime ministers having gained experience through leading the opposition, while earlier prime ministers would be more likely to have held roles within the government. Usually a prime minister does not hold high office again after leaving the role. However, there are some cases where individuals have gone on to hold senior roles in future administrations. [2]

Contents

Prime ministers

Robert Walpole

Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington

Henry Pelham

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute

George Grenville

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham

William Pitt the Elder

Augustus Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton

Frederick North, Lord North

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland

William Pitt the Younger

Henry Addington

William Grenville

Spencer Perceval

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

George Canning

Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Charles Grey

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

Robert Peel

John Russell

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Benjamin Disraeli

William Ewart Gladstone

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Arthur Balfour

Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Herbert Henry Asquith

David Lloyd George

Bonar Law

Stanley Baldwin

Ramsay MacDonald

Neville Chamberlain

Winston Churchill

Clement Attlee

Anthony Eden

Harold Macmillan

Alec Douglas-Home

Harold Wilson

Edward Heath

James Callaghan

Margaret Thatcher

John Major

Tony Blair

Gordon Brown

David Cameron

Theresa May

Boris Johnson

Liz Truss

Rishi Sunak

Keir Starmer

Prime ministers sitting in cabinet after their premierships

NamePrime MinisterCabinet postPrime Minister serving under
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
(Created Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne on 17 November 1756)
16 March 175411 November 1756 Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal 30 July 176530 July 1766 The Marquess of Rockingham
(first term)
29 June 175726 May 1762
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire 16 November 175629 June 1757 Lord Chamberlain of the Household 17571762 The Duke of Newcastle
The Earl of Bute
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton 14 October 176828 January 1770 Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal 12 June 17714 November 1775 The Lord North
27 March 17824 April 1783 The Marquess of Rockingham
(second term)
The Earl of Shelburne
Frederick North, Lord North
(Became 2nd Earl of Guilford from 4 August 1790)
28 January 177027 March 1782 Home Secretary 2 April 178319 December 1783 The Duke of Portland
(first term)
Leader of the House of Commons
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland 2 April 178318 December 1783 Home Secretary 11 July 179430 July 1801 William Pitt the Younger
(first term)
Henry Addington
31 March 18074 October 1809 Lord President of the Council 30 July 180114 January 1805 Henry Addington
William Pitt the Younger
(second term)
Henry Addington
(Created Viscount Sidmouth on 12 January 1805)
17 March 180110 May 1804 Lord President of the Council 14 January 180510 July 1805 William Pitt the Younger
(second term)
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal 5 February 180615 October 1806 The Lord Grenville
Lord President of the Council 8 October 180626 March 1807
8 April 181211 June 1812 Spencer Perceval
The Earl of Liverpool
Home Secretary 11 June 181217 January 1822 The Earl of Liverpool
F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich
(Created Earl of Ripon on 13 April 1833)
31 August 182721 January 1828 War and Colonial Secretary 22 November 18303 April 1833 The Earl Grey
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal 3 April 18335 June 1834
President of the Board of Trade 3 September 184115 May 1843 Sir Robert Peel
(second term)
President of the Board of Control 17 May 184330 June 1846
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 22 January 182816 November 1830 Foreign Secretary 17 November 18348 April 1835Himself as interim Prime Minister
Leader of the House of Lords Sir Robert Peel
(first term)
17 November 18349 December 18343 September 184127 June 1846 Sir Robert Peel
(second term)
Lord John Russell
(Created Earl Russell on 30 July 1861)
30 June 184621 February 1852 Foreign Secretary 28 December 185221 February 1853 The Earl of Aberdeen
29 October 186526 June 1866 Leader of the House of Commons 30 January 1855
Lord President of the Council 12 June 18548 February 1855
Colonial Secretary 23 February 185521 July 1855 The Lord Palmerston
(first term)
Foreign Secretary 18 June 18593 November 1865 The Lord Palmerston
(second term)
Arthur Balfour
(Created Earl of Balfour on 5 May 1922)
12 July 19024 December 1905 First Lord of the Admiralty 25 May 191510 December 1916 H. H. Asquith
David Lloyd George
Foreign Secretary 10 December 191623 October 1919 David Lloyd George
Lord President of the Council 23 October 191919 October 1922
27 April 19254 June 1929 Stanley Baldwin
(second term)
Stanley Baldwin
(Created Earl Baldwin of Bewdley on 8 June 1937)
22 May 192322 January 1924 Lord President of the Council 25 August 19317 June 1935 Ramsay MacDonald
(second term)
4 November 19244 June 1929
7 June 193528 May 1937 Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal 29 September 193231 December 1933
Ramsay MacDonald 22 January 19244 November 1924 Lord President of the Council 7 June 193528 May 1937 Stanley Baldwin
(third term)
5 June 19297 June 1935
Neville Chamberlain 28 May 193710 May 1940 Lord President of the Council 10 May 194029 September 1940 Winston Churchill
(first term)
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
(Became 14th Earl of Home from 11 July 1951 and disclaimed the title on 23 October 1963)
(Created Baron Home of the Hirsel for life on 19 December 1974)
18 October 196316 October 1964 Foreign Secretary 20 June 19704 March 1974 Edward Heath
David Cameron
(Created Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton for life on 17 November 2023)
11 May 201013 July 2016 Foreign Secretary 13 November 20235 July 2024 Rishi Sunak

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References

  1. "Past Prime Ministers - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
  2. "list of prime ministers of Great Britain and the U.K. | Names". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  3. Note: Johnson was appointed leader of the Conservative party on 23 July 2019 but did not hold office of prime minister until 24 July 2019 making the start of his tenure as party leader a very brief prior office.
  4. Note: Truss was appointed leader of the Conservative party on 5 September 2022 but did not hold office of prime minister until 6 September 2022 making the start of her tenure as party leader a very brief prior office.
  5. Note: Sunak was appointed leader of the Conservative party on 24 October 2022, but did not hold office of prime minister until 25 October 2022, making the start of his tenure as party leader a very brief prior office.

Further reading