List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure

Last updated April 18, 2024

This is a list of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure. This is based on the difference between dates; if counted by the number of calendar days, the figures would be one day greater for each term served.

The term prime minister appeared in the early eighteenth century as an unofficial title for the leader of the government, usually the head of the Treasury.^[1] Jonathan Swift, for example, wrote that in 1713 there had been "those who are now commonly called Prime Minister among us", referring to Sidney Godolphin and Robert Harley, Queen Anne's lord treasurers and chief ministers.^[2] Robert Walpole is regarded as the first prime minister; he became First Lord of the Treasury of Great Britain in 1721. This list includes all prime ministers of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the modern-day United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Notable lengths

20 years and 314 days: Robert Walpole (1721–1742)
Longest term and longest total tenure

12 years and 126 days: William Ewart Gladstone (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886, and 1892–1894)
Most non-consecutive terms

11 years and 208 days: Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990)^[3]
Longest-serving prime minister since the 19th century

49 days: Liz Truss (2022)^[4]
Shortest-serving British prime minister

Of the 56 past prime ministers, nine served more than 10 years while eight served less than a year.^[5] Robert Walpole is the only person to have served as prime minister for more than two decades. Liz Truss is the shortest-serving prime minister, resigning after seven weeks.^[4]^[6]^[7] The previous shortest time served was George Canning, who served for less than four months before dying in office.^[8] Margaret Thatcher, in office for 11 years and 288 days between 1979 and 1990, is the longest serving prime minister in modern history,^[3] and the longest-serving prime minister officially referred to as such.^[9]^[10] William Gladstone is the only person to have served four separate terms.

List of office holders by tenure

In this table, "Terms" is the number of separate periods served as prime minister.

Rank	Prime Minister	Tenure length	Terms	Party	Start	Reason for exit	Ref.
1	Sir Robert Walpole	20 years, 314 days	1	Whig	1721	Resigned	^[5]
2	William Pitt the Younger	18 years, 343 days	2	Tory (Pittite)	1783	Died	^[5]
3	The Earl of Liverpool	14 years, 305 days	1	Tory (Pittite)	1812	Resigned due to illness	^[11]
4	The Marquess of Salisbury	13 years, 252 days	3	Conservative	1885	Resigned due to illness	^[11]
5	William Ewart Gladstone	12 years, 126 days	4	Liberal	1868	Resigned	^[11]
6	Lord North	12 years, 58 days	1	Tory (Northite)	1770	Resigned	^[11]
7	Margaret Thatcher	11 years, 208 days	1	Conservative	1979	Resigned	^[11]
8	Henry Pelham	10 years, 191 days	1	Whig	1743	Died	^[11]
9	Tony Blair	10 years, 56 days	1	Labour	1997	Resigned	^[11]
10	The Viscount Palmerston	9 years, 141 days	2	Whig /Liberal	1855	Died	^[5]
11	H. H. Asquith	8 years, 244 days	1	Liberal	1908	Resigned	^[11]
12	Sir Winston Churchill	8 years, 239 days	2	Conservative	1940	Resigned due to illness	^[5]
13	Harold Wilson	7 years, 279 days	2	Labour	1964	Resigned	^[11]
14	The Duke of Newcastle	7 years, 205 days	2	Whig	1754	Replaced	^[5]
15	Stanley Baldwin	7 years, 82 days	3	Conservative	1923	Resigned	^[5]
16	Benjamin Disraeli	6 years, 339 days	2	Conservative	1868	Election	^[5]
17	Ramsay MacDonald	6 years, 289 days	2	Labour / National Labour	1924	Resigned due to illness	^[5]
18	Harold Macmillan	6 years, 281 days	1	Conservative	1957	Resigned	^[11]
19	The Viscount Melbourne	6 years, 255 days	2	Whig	1834	Resigned	^[5]
20	John Major	6 years, 155 days	1	Conservative	1990	Election	^[5]
21	Lord John Russell	6 years, 110 days	2	Whig /Liberal	1846	Election	^[5]
22	Clement Attlee	6 years, 92 days	1	Labour	1945	Election	^[11]
23	David Cameron	6 years, 63 days	1	Conservative	2010	Resigned	^[11]
24	David Lloyd George	5 years, 317 days	1	Liberal	1916	Resigned	^[5]
25	Sir Robert Peel	5 years, 57 days	2	Conservative	1834	Resigned	^[11]
26	The Earl of Derby	3 years, 280 days	3	Conservative	1852	Resigned due to illness	^[11]
27	Edward Heath	3 years, 259 days	1	Conservative	1970	Election	^[11]
28	The Earl Grey	3 years, 229 days	1	Whig	1830	Resigned	^[5]
29	Arthur Balfour	3 years, 145 days	1	Conservative	1902	Resigned	^[5]
30	The Duke of Portland	3 years, 82 days	2	Whig /Tory (Pittite)	1783	Resigned due to illness	^[11]
31	Henry Addington	3 years, 54 days	1	Tory (Pittite)	1801	Replaced	^[11]
32	Boris Johnson	3 years, 44 days	1	Conservative	2019	Resigned	^[11]
33	James Callaghan	3 years, 29 days	1	Labour	1976	Election	^[5]
34	Theresa May	3 years, 11 days	1	Conservative	2016	Resigned	^[11]
35	Neville Chamberlain	2 years, 348 days	1	Conservative	1937	Resigned	^[5]
36	The Duke of Wellington	2 years, 320 days	2	Tory	1828	Replaced	^[5]
37	Gordon Brown	2 years, 318 days	1	Labour	2007	Election	^[5]
38	Spencer Perceval	2 years, 221 days	1	Tory (Pittite)	1809	Assassinated	^[5]
39	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman	2 years, 122 days	1	Liberal	1905	Resigned due to illness	^[5]
40	George Grenville	2 years, 85 days	1	Whig (Grenvillite)	1763	Replaced	^[11]
41	The Earl of Chatham	2 years, 76 days	1	Whig (Chathamite)	1766	Resigned due to illness	^[11]
42	The Earl of Aberdeen	2 years, 42 days	1	Peelite	1852	Resigned	^[5]
43	Sir Anthony Eden	1 year, 279 days	1	Conservative	1955	Resigned due to illness	^[11]
44	Rishi Sunak	1 year, 176 days	1	Conservative	2022	Incumbent	^[11]
45	The Earl of Wilmington	1 year, 119 days	1	Whig	1742	Died	^[11]
46	The Marquess of Rockingham	1 year, 113 days	2	Whig (Rockinghamite)	1765	Died	^[5]
47	The Earl of Rosebery	1 year, 109 days	1	Liberal	1894	Election	^[11]
48	The Duke of Grafton	1 year, 106 days	1	Whig (Chathamite)	1768	Resigned	^[5]
49	The Lord Grenville	1 year, 42 days	1	Whig	1806	Replaced	^[11]
50	Sir Alec Douglas-Home	363 days	1	Conservative (Scot. Unionist)	1963	Election	^[11]
51	The Earl of Bute	317 days	1	Tory	1762	Resigned	^[5]
52	The Earl of Shelburne	266 days	1	Whig (Chathamite)	1782	Replaced	^[11]
53	The Duke of Devonshire	225 days	1	Whig	1756	Replaced	^[5]
54	Andrew Bonar Law	211 days	1	Conservative (Scot. Unionist)	1922	Resigned due to illness	^[5]
55	The Viscount Goderich	144 days	1	Tory (Canningite)	1827	Replaced	^[5]
56	George Canning	119 days	1	Tory (Canningite)	1827	Died	^[11]
57	Liz Truss	49 days	1	Conservative	2022	Resigned	^[4]^[11]

Disputed

Prime Minister	Length served	Terms in office	Party	Start and end	Reason for exit
The Earl Waldegrave	4 days	0	Whig	1757	Unsupported
The Earl of Bath	2 days	0	Whig	1746	Unsupported

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References

↑ Dodd, A. H. (1956). The Growth of Responsible Government from James the First to Victoria. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 50.
↑ Marriott, J. A. R. (1925). English Political Institutions. Oxford University Press, Oxford. p. 87.
1 2 "Baroness Margaret Thatcher: Conservative 1979 to 1990". GOV.UK. Crown . Retrieved 10 November 2022.
1 2 3 "Liz Truss doubles down on disastrous 'growth' plan in farewell speech". The Independent. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 "Past Prime Ministers". gov.uk . Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 25 August 2008.
↑ Marx, Willem (20 October 2022). "British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after weeks of criticism and turmoil". NPR. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
↑ Landler, Mark; Castle, Stephen (20 October 2022). "Here is the latest on the political turmoil in Britain". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
↑ Fortescue, Ali (20 October 2022). "The divided Tories won't find it easy choosing a new PM". Sky News . Retrieved 20 October 2022.
↑ Mackay, Robert (28 December 1987). "Thatcher longest serving British prime minister". United Press International. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
↑ Marriott, John (1923). English Political Institutions: An Introductory Study (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 83. OL 17361473W .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 "British Prime Ministers | University of Oxford". www.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

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[1] Dodd, A. H. (1956). The Growth of Responsible Government from James the First to Victoria. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 50.

[2] Marriott, J. A. R. (1925). English Political Institutions. Oxford University Press, Oxford. p. 87.

[IronLady-3] 1 2 "Baroness Margaret Thatcher: Conservative 1979 to 1990". GOV.UK. Crown . Retrieved 10 November 2022.

[LizTruss-4] 1 2 3 "Liz Truss doubles down on disastrous 'growth' plan in farewell speech". The Independent. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

[PastPrimeGovUK-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 "Past Prime Ministers". gov.uk . Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 25 August 2008.

[NPRTrussResign2022-6] Marx, Willem (20 October 2022). "British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after weeks of criticism and turmoil". NPR. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

[LatestNYT2022-7] Landler, Mark; Castle, Stephen (20 October 2022). "Here is the latest on the political turmoil in Britain". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

[8] Fortescue, Ali (20 October 2022). "The divided Tories won't find it easy choosing a new PM". Sky News . Retrieved 20 October 2022.

[9] Mackay, Robert (28 December 1987). "Thatcher longest serving British prime minister". United Press International. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2017.

[10] Marriott, John (1923). English Political Institutions: An Introductory Study (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 83. OL 17361473W .

[:0-11] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 "British Prime Ministers | University of Oxford". www.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

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