Robert Walpole, the longest-serving prime minister (1721–1742) (7620 days)
Longest term
The prime minister with the longest single term was Robert Walpole, lasting 20 years and 315 days from 3 April 1721 until 11 February 1742.[1] This is also longer than the accumulated terms of any other prime minister.
Shortest term
Liz Truss holds the record for the shortest unequivocal term of office, at 49 days. She was appointed by Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle on 6 September 2022, and officially resigned as prime minister to Charles III at Buckingham Palace on 25 October 2022. George Canning holds the record for the second shortest term in office, dying in office on 8 August 1827, 119 days after his appointment.
However, the record of the shortest term may depend on the criteria used. Lord Bath technically assumed office for only two days (10–12 February 1746), but was unable to find more than one person who would agree to serve in his cabinet. A satirist of the time wrote: "the minister to the astonishment of all wise men never transacted one rash thing; and, what is more marvellous, left as much money in the Treasury as he found in it." James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave was a prime minister for four days, 8–12 June 1757. However, neither Pulteney or Waldegrave formed an effective government, and so there are other contenders for the record of shortest term of office.
In November 1834, the Duke of Wellington declined to become prime minister for a second term, but formed a "caretaker" administration for 25 days (17 November – 9 December 1834) while his recommendation for the post, Robert Peel, returned from Europe. This caretaker administration is not necessarily considered a term of office in its own right, however.
Period between first and last day as PM
The prime minister with the longest period between the start of their first appointment and the end of their final term was the Duke of Portland, whose first term began on 2 April 1783 and whose second and final term ended on 4 October 1809, a period of about 26 years and 6 months.
Intervals between terms of office
The Duke of Portland was out of office between his two terms for 23 years and 101 days, from 19 December 1783 to 31 March 1807.
The shortest interval (or "fastest comeback") was achieved by Henry Pelham, who resigned on 10 February 1746 but returned to office two days later (12 February) when Lord Bath had been invited to form a ministry but failed to do so. The shortest interval where an intervening ministry had been formed was achieved by Lord Melbourne, who was out of office after being dismissed on 14 November 1834, but returned 155 days (under six months) later, following the end of successor Robert Peel's first ministry on 18 April 1835.
Number of terms
A prime minister's "term" is traditionally regarded as the period between the appointment and resignation, dismissal, or death, with the number of general elections taking place in the intervening period making no difference.
The only prime minister to serve four terms under that definition was William Ewart Gladstone:
The office of prime minister has coincided with the reigns of twelve British monarchs (including a Regency during the incapacity of George III from 1811 to his death in 1820), to whom the prime minister has been constitutionally head of government to the sovereign's headship of state.
Until 1837, the death of a sovereign led to Parliament being dissolved within six months which led to a general election. The results of such elections were:
George IV – 4, from Lord Liverpool to the Duke of Wellington
William IV – 4, from the Duke of Wellington to Lord Melbourne
Edward VII – 4, from Lord Salisbury to H. H. Asquith
George VI – 4, from Stanley Baldwin to Winston Churchill
Charles III – 3, from Liz Truss to Keir Starmer
George I – 1, Robert Walpole
Edward VIII – 1, Stanley Baldwin
PMs born during reigns in which they held office
Ten prime ministers have served office under sovereigns in whose own reigns they were born.
King George III (reigned 1760–1820)
Spencer Perceval – born 1762, served 1809–1812 – was assassinated in 1812; his is the only complete lifetime lived by a prime minister under a single sovereign
Winston Churchill (1874–1965), Clement Attlee (1883–1967), Anthony Eden (1897–1977) and Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) all lived under the reigns of the same six sovereigns: Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II.
Time between the start or end of a monarch's reign and the appointment of a prime minister
The record for the prime minister appointed latest into a monarch's reign is held by Liz Truss, who was appointed 70 years and 7 months into the reign of Elizabeth II. She also holds the record for the prime minister appointed closest to the end of a monarch's reign, being appointed two days before the death of Elizabeth II.
The record for the prime minister appointed soonest into the reign of a monarch goes to Rishi Sunak, the immediate successor of Liz Truss, appointed 47 days into the reign of Charles III.
These records all come about largely due to (but are not inherently dependent on) the unique circumstance of the end of Elizabeth II's record-breaking long reign coinciding with the start of Liz Truss' record-breaking short term. Various other records can be derived from these facts, such as the shortest time between the end of a prime minister's term and end of a monarch's reign being the 2 days between the resignation of Boris Johnson and death of Elizabeth II, or the shortest time between the start of a monarch's reign and end of a prime minister's term being the 47 days between the ascension of Charles III and the resignation of Liz Truss.
The youngest prime minister to be appointed was William Pitt the Younger on 19 December 1783 at the age of 24 years and 208 days.
William Ewart Gladstone was appointed more times (4) than any other prime minister. He was also the oldest person ever appointed (at age 82).
The oldest prime minister to be appointed for the first time was Lord Palmerston on 6 February 1855 at the age of 70 years and 109 days.
The oldest prime minister to be appointed overall, and oldest to win a General Election, was William Ewart Gladstone, who was born on 29 December 1809 and appointed for the final time on 15 August 1892 at the age of 82 years and 231 days, following that year's General Election.
Age on leaving office
The youngest prime minister to leave office was the Duke of Grafton, who retired in 1770, aged 34. The oldest was Gladstone, who was 84 years at the time of his final retirement in 1894.
Age differences of outgoing and incoming PMs
Greatest age difference – Lord Rosebery (born 7 May 1847) was 37 years, 129 days younger than William Ewart Gladstone (born 29 December 1809) whom he succeeded after the final retirement of the latter in 1894.
Smallest age difference – George Canning (born 11 April 1770) was 57 days senior to Lord Liverpool (born 7 June 1770), whom he succeeded after Liverpool retired in 1827. Canning and Liverpool were one of four pairs of immediately consecutive prime ministers who shared a birth year, the others being:
Harold Wilson (served 1964–1970 and 1974–1976) and Edward Heath (served 1970–1974), both born in 1916
The decade of the 1730s was the most productive for births of future prime ministers, with five: Lord Rockingham (born 1730, served 1765–1766 and 1782), Lord North (born 1732, served 1770–1782), the Duke of Grafton (born 1735, served 1768–1770), Lord Shelburne (born 1737, served 1782–1783), and the Duke of Portland (born 1738, served 1783 and 1807–1809).
Longest-lived
The longest-lived prime minister was James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, who was born on 27 March 1912 and died on 26 March 2005 at the age of 92 years 364 days, which was the day before his 93rd birthday. Prior to this the longest-living prime minister was Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, who was born on 10 February 1894 and died on 29 December 1986 (aged 92 years, 322 days). Alec Douglas-Home is the only other prime minister to have lived into his ninety-third year (he died on 9 October 1995 at 92 years, 99 days).
Of the eight former prime ministers currently alive, the oldest is John Major (born 29 March 1943), who is 81 years old. If he lives up to 28 March 2036, he will surpass Callaghan's record and he will become the longest-lived prime minister.
Shortest-lived
The shortest-lived prime minister was the Duke of Devonshire, who was born on 8 May 1720 and died on 2 October 1764 at the age of 44 years and 147 days.
Longest-lived after office
The prime minister who lived the longest after leaving office for the final time was the Duke of Grafton, who left office on 28 January 1770. He died on 14 March 1811, 41 years and 45 days later.
In the last 100 years, the prime minister who lived the longest after leaving office was Edward Heath, whose term ended on 4 March 1974. He died on 17 July 2005, 31 years and 135 days later.
The prime minister who lived the shortest period after leaving office was Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who resigned on 3 April 1908 and died just 19 days later on 22 April 1908, while still resident in 10 Downing Street.
General elections
Most PMs in office between general elections
There have been two intervals between general elections, both in the 18th century, when on both occasions five successive prime ministers were in office.
In modern times, since members of the House of Lords ceased to hold prime ministerial office (after 1902), there have been two occasions where there were three prime ministers in office between general elections:
Between the general elections of 1935 and 1945: Stanley Baldwin (retired 28 May 1937), Neville Chamberlain (resigned 10 May, and subsequently died 1940) and Winston Churchill (until dissolution of the parliament). It is important to note that this was an unusually long period between general elections, with the election due in 1940 not being held as a consequence of the Second World War.
Between the general elections of 2019 and 2024: Boris Johnson (resigned 6 September 2022), Liz Truss (resigned 25 October 2022), and Rishi Sunak (until dissolution of the parliament).
Neville Chamberlain, one of fifteen prime ministers in office without a general election
15 former prime ministers never fought a general election while they held office (or to gain office), usually by serving terms sandwiched between the victors of elections and the prime ministers who faced the next elections. Chronologically they were:
John Russell was unique in serving one entire term at Downing Street as Commons MP, when known as Lord John Russell (as younger son of a Duke of Bedford) in 1846–1852, and his second and last entirely as a member of the Lords as the 1st Earl Russell in 1865–1866, having been raised to the peerage between terms in 1861.
Without counting Lord Russell, eighteen prime ministers served their entire terms from the House of Lords where they were already members. In the following chronological list, those PMs who never served in the House of Commons during their political career are marked with an asterisk (*):
Three prime ministers were elevated from the Commons to the House of Lords during their terms through being raised to the peerage.
Robert Walpole – created 1st Earl of Orford five days before formally resigning in 1742
William Pitt the Elder – created 1st Earl of Chatham five days after taking office in 1766
Benjamin Disraeli – created 1st Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876, two years after taking his second term of office in 1874
Lord North succeeded to his father's peerage as the 2nd Earl of Guilford in 1790 after being in office.
Alec Douglas-Home disclaimed his hereditary peerage as the 14th Earl of Home four days after coming to office in 1963 (under the Peerage Act of that year), giving up his seat in the Lords, and subsequently sat in the Commons after succeeding in a by-election, pending which for 20 days he held office from neither House. He returned to the Lords when made a life peer as Baron Home of the Hirsel in 1974.
Thirteen prime ministers have served their entire terms as Members of the House of Commons but were elevated to the House of Lords afterwards by being created peers.
H. H. Asquith – became the 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith in 1925
Stanley Baldwin – became the 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley in 1937
David Lloyd George – became the 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor in 1945 (22 years after being prime minister, although he did not live to take his seat in the Lords)
David Cameron – became Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton in 2023 (life peer)
Theresa May – became Baroness May of Maidenhead in 2024 (life peer)
In contrast, 18 prime ministers preceding the current (Keir Starmer) have never become members of the House of Lords, including six of his eight immediate predecessors. Henry Pelham (served 1743 to his death in 1754) was the first to be a lifelong "Commoner". (The convention of prime ministers leading from the House of Commons only became established in the 20th century.)
Holders of Irish peerages (with the exception of 28 Irish representative peers allowed after 1801, who were elected from among their peers) legally did not sit in the House of Lords in the Parliaments of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, but were allowed to sit in the House of Commons. Lord Palmerston was the only Irish peer to serve as prime minister, thus leading from the House of Commons.
The shortest period between entering Parliament and being appointed prime minister was achieved by William Pitt the Younger who became prime minister two years after first becoming an MP. The longest period of service as an MP before becoming prime minister was 47 years for Lord Palmerston.
The youngest at first election was Augustus FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (later the Duke of Grafton), who was elected on 10 December 1756 aged 21 years and 73 days. He also had the shortest period as an MP enjoyed by a prime minister, nearly five months, representing two successive seats (the first of which he only held for 11 days before being elected for his second) until going to the House of Lords when he succeeded his father as the 3rd Duke of Grafton on 6 May 1757, eleven years before his term of office began.
Winston Churchillserved the longest as MP, for a total of 63 years and 360 days, for five successive seats, between 1 October 1900 and retirement on 25 September 1964, excluding two intervals out of parliament (in 1908 and in 1922–1924). He retired as Father of the House. He was in the Commons throughout both his terms as prime minister, and his service covered the terms of eleven other prime ministers, from Lord Salisbury (second ministry) to Alec Douglas-Home, but did not serve under Bonar Law who was in office when Churchill was briefly out of parliament.
David Lloyd George had the longest unbroken career as an MP, for one seat, Carnarvon Boroughs, from a by-election on 10 April 1890 until his death on 26 March 1945, a period of 54 years and 350 days. He received a peerage on 1 January 1945 but was not able to take his seat in the Lords. From 1929 he had been Father of the House. His career as an MP covered the terms of eleven other prime ministers, from Lord Salisbury (first ministry) to Winston Churchill (first ministry).
Alec Douglas-Home had the longest interval between terms of service in the Commons. He automatically vacated his Commons seat at Lanark on 11 July 1951 by succeeding his father and going to the House of Lords as the 14th Earl of Home. He gained his next Commons seat at Kinross and Western Perthshire in a by-election on 7 November 1963, after becoming prime minister and disclaiming his hereditary peerage. The interval between these terms as MP was 12 years and 123 days. He had a previous interval out of the Commons between defeat in the 1945 general election and returning in that of 1950 over four years later.
No parliamentary constituency has been represented by more than one serving prime minister. Four future prime ministers sat forNewport, Isle of Wight (constituency abolished 1832): Lord Palmerston and Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) in 1807–1809, George Canning in 1826–1827 and William Lamb, later Lord Melbourne in April–May 1827.
It is rare for veteran prime ministers sitting in the Commons to lose seats through electoral defeat at subsequent general elections. Those who have are:
Five prime ministers through longest unbroken service became Father of the House. Henry Campbell-Bannerman was the first prime minister to achieve this status, uniquely while in office, in 1907. He was still serving as an MP when he died shortly after retiring as prime minister. The others listed in the table below became Father after the end of their terms. James Callaghan became Father only 4 years and 36 days after the end of his term in office, while at the other extreme Edward Heath became Father 18 years after the end of his.
Four prime ministers have been in office at a time when no former prime ministers were alive.
Robert Walpole – As the first prime minister, for his entire term, April 1721 to February 1742.
Henry Pelham – From the death of Robert Walpole in March 1745, until his own death in March 1754.
The Duke of Newcastle – For his entire first term, June 1754 to May 1756.
William Ewart Gladstone – From the death of Benjamin Disraeli in April 1881 until the end of his second term in June 1885.
One
Twelve prime ministers have been in office at times when only one former prime minister has been alive at or for each time.
Lord Wilmington – From his appointment in February 1742 until his death in July 1743, only Robert Walpole was alive.
Henry Pelham – From his appointment in August 1743 until the death of Robert Walpole, in March 1745, only Walpole was alive.
The Duke of Newcastle – In his second term, July 1757 to May 1762, only the Duke of Devonshire was alive.
The Duke of Devonshire – In his term, November 1756 to June 1757, only the Duke of Newcastle was alive.
Lord Russell – In his second term, October 1865 to June 1866, only Lord Derby was alive.
Lord Derby – In his third term, June 1866 to February 1868, only Lord Russell was alive.
Benjamin Disraeli – From the death of Lord Russell in May 1878 until the end of his second term in April 1880, only Gladstone was alive.
William Ewart Gladstone – From his second appointment in April 1880 until the death of Benjamin Disraeli, in April 1881, only Disraeli was alive. In his third term, February 1886 to July 1886, and in his fourth term, August 1892 to March 1894, only Lord Salisbury was alive.
Lord Salisbury – In his first term, June 1885 to January 1886, and in his second term, July 1886 to August 1892, only Gladstone was alive. In his third term, from the death of Gladstone until the end of the term, May 1898 to July 1902, only Lord Rosebery was alive.
Arthur Balfour – From the death of Lord Salisbury in August 1903 until the end of his term in December 1905, only Lord Rosebery was alive.
Winston Churchill – In his second term, October 1951 to April 1955, only Clement Attlee was alive.
Clement Attlee – From the death of Stanley Baldwin in November 1947 until the end of his term in October 1951, only Winston Churchill was alive.
Most
Following Labour's victory at the 2024 general election, there are currently eight living former prime ministers, which is the record for the number of living former prime ministers at any time. From oldest to youngest:
The most recent death of a former prime minister was that of Margaret Thatcher (served1979–1990) on 8 April 2013 (aged 87).
In the House of Commons
The record for most prime ministers (current or former) to be members of the House of Commons at the same time is four: a sitting prime minister and three former prime ministers. This has occurred on five separate occasions:
The fewest former prime ministers still sitting in the House of Commons is zero, which has happened on a number of occasions, most recently between 12 September 2016 when David Cameron left Parliament and 24 July 2019 when Theresa May left office.
Lord Palmerston – died on 18 October 1865, aged 80 (two days before his 81st birthday); the oldest to die in office
Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Bonar Law each resigned during their respective final illnesses. Law died five months after his resignation, but Campbell-Bannerman lived only another 19 days, dying at 10 Downing Street, the only prime minister ever to do so.
Others who died within one year of the end of their term were the Duke of Portland who died in 1809, 26 days after he left office, and Neville Chamberlain, who died in 1940, 183 days after he left office, of a cancer that was undiagnosed at the time of his resignation.
Assassination and attempts
Spencer Perceval is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated.
All of the above-listed prime ministers were older than their immediate successors. The Duke of Portland and Lord Aberdeen are the only ones among this list whose immediate successors also died in office.
Armed forces veterans
Clement Attlee was a commissioned officer in World War I
The most recent prime minister to be an armed forces veteran was James Callaghan (1976–1979), who served in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, from 1942 to 1945, seeing action with the East Indies Fleet and reaching the rank of Lieutenant. He was the only future prime minister to serve in the navy rather than the army.
In contrast to many nations, Britain has had only two prime ministers who have been military generals: Lord Shelburne (1782–1783), who was promoted from Lieutenant-General to full General in the British Army in the latter year, and the Duke of Wellington, who achieved the supreme rank of Field Marshal in 1813. He was prime minister twice, in 1828–1830 and 1834, in the interval between his two terms as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. During his military career he took part in some 60 battles, seeing more wartime combat than any other future prime minister.
Although Eden and Alec Douglas-Home were Territorial Army officers at outbreak of war in 1939, neither was mobilised and the latter was invalided due to disabling spinal tuberculosis.
War-bereaved
The following lost close relations in their lifetimes as a result of war:
William Ewart Gladstone – two male line grandsons (born in his lifetime) were killed in action in the First World War
Lord Salisbury – four male line grandsons (born in his lifetime) were killed in action in the First World War
Decorated
Winston Churchill received 38 decorations and medalsThe Duke of Wellington received 28 decorations and medals from the UK and 17 overseas states
The most decorated British prime minister was Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, who received a total of 38 orders, decorations and medals,[note 2] from the United Kingdom and thirteen other states (on continents of Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America). Ten were awarded for active service as an Army officer in Cuba, India, Egypt, South Africa, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium. The greater number of awards were given in recognition of his service as a minister of the British government.[4][note 3]
Churchill was also the only British prime minister to have received a Nobel Prize (for Literature, in 1953).
The most widely decorated prime minister by the number of states from which he received honours was the Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, who is known to have received 28 orders, decorations and medals from the United Kingdom and seventeen other states (all in Europe), in recognition of his military services.
The British order of knighthood most frequently conferred on prime ministers has been the Order of the Garter, of which 30 male prime ministers (beginning with Sir Robert Walpole and later including Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Anthony Eden) have been Knights Companion (KG), and the first female, Margaret Thatcher, a Lady Companion (LG) of the Order. Nine prime ministers, including Thatcher, received it after serving office. Currently, the only living knights among them are Sir John Major, knighted in 2005, and Sir Tony Blair, knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours. Current Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, having been knighted in 2014 before entering office.
The only prime minister to have received a British gallantry award was Anthony Eden, who won the Military Cross (MC) while serving in the army in the First World War, before entering parliament.[5][6]
The longest-married prime minister was James Callaghan, who was married to his wife Audrey for 66 years from 28 July 1938 until her death on 15 March 2005.
Four prime ministers married while in office, three not being their first marriage:
Robert Walpole to Maria Skerrett before 3 March 1738. She died after a miscarriage on 4 June that year, after at least 93 days' marriage, making this the shortest marriage ever held by a prime minister (although she previously cohabited as his mistress).
The Duke of Grafton to Elizabeth Wrottesley on 24 June 1769. She survived him, dying in 1822.
Lord Liverpool to Lady Mary Chester on 24 September 1822. She survived him.
The British prime minister widowed the longest is Lord Rosebery who died more than 38 years after his wife.
Recently, the British prime minister widowed the longest is Harold Macmillan, who was widowed from 21 May 1966 to his death on 29 December 1986, a total of 20 years.
Widowed the shortest
The British prime minister widowed the shortest is James Callaghan, who died on 26 March 2005. His wife, Audrey Callaghan, died on 15 March 2005, only 11 days before him.
Other widowed
Robert Walpole (twice widowed, when in office: 1737 and 1738)
The Duke of Grafton divorced his first wife, Anne (née Liddell), by Act of Parliament passed 23 March 1769, during his term of office, then remarried on 24 June that year to Elizabeth Wrottesley. (Anne remarried on 26 March 1769 to John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory and died in 1804 in Grafton's lifetime.)
Anthony Eden, divorced his first wife Beatrice (née Beckett) in 1950, then remarried two years later to Clarissa Spencer-Churchill on 14 August 1952, before his term of office began. (Beatrice never remarried and died in 1957 in Eden's lifetime.)
Boris Johnson divorced his first wife Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1993 and married Marina Wheeler two weeks later. In 2018, Johnson and Wheeler separated, finalising their divorce in November 2020 during Johnson's term of office.
The most prolific prime minister was apparently Lord Grey who in wedlock fathered ten sons and six daughters[7] in addition to one illegitimate daughter by Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire who was subsequently raised by Grey's parents.[8]
Had children in office
Four prime ministers are known to have fathered children while in office: Lord John Russell (two sons, George (1848) and Francis (1849)), Tony Blair (one son, Leo (2000)), David Cameron (one daughter, Florence (2010)) and Boris Johnson (one son, Wilfred (2020) and one daughter, Romy (2021)).[9]
Russell and Johnson also have the rare distinction of fathering further children after leaving Downing Street.[10] David Lloyd George possibly had a daughter with his mistress Frances Stevenson after leaving office, but the historical consensus is that it is unlikely that he was her father.[11]
No female prime minister has ever given birth in office.
Kindred PMs
At least 24 British prime ministers were related to at least one other prime minister by blood or marriage.
Fathers and sons
Two sets of father and son have successively held the office:
Pitt the Younger and Lord Grenville (who directly succeeded the former in office) were the only set of full cousins to hold the office, their fathers being brothers-in-law.
Uncles and nephews
There have been two blood uncle-nephew sets of prime ministers.
Lord Wilmington was two-greats uncle of Spencer Perceval, whose mother, Catherine (née Compton), Baroness Arden, was a blood great-niece of Wilmington.
The most popular degree course with future prime ministers is Classics, read by 7 PMs (Robert Peel to Boris Johnson). Six prime ministers read PPE (Harold Wilson to Rishi Sunak).
The first prime minister never to have been a university graduate was the Duke of Devonshire (served 1756–1757); the most recent is John Major (served 1990–1997).
Languages and multilingualism
One British prime minister did not speak English as a first language – David Lloyd George, who was raised in a Welsh-speaking family.
Many prime ministers have understood Latin and/or Ancient Greek, which were traditionally taught as part of a classics education. The most recent prime minister noted to have studied these languages is Boris Johnson.
Until the early 20th century, French was the primary language of diplomacy, and most prime ministers until this time had at least some understanding of it. Benjamin Disraeli was notable for being unable to speak the language and addressing diplomatic conferences in English.[14]
Prime ministers who have been specifically noted as speaking languages other than English include:
After being appointed prime minister by King Charles III on 25 October 2022, Rishi Sunak became one of the wealthiest prime ministers ever, with an estimated combined fortune with his wife of £730million.[20]
The richest prime minister was Lord Derby, with a personal fortune of over £7million, equivalent to £871million in 2023.[21]
Before becoming prime minister, Robert Walpole was impeached and convicted in 1712 for "a high breach of trust and notorious corruption" and sentenced to six months imprisonment in the Tower of London.[24]
In January 2023, during his period in office, Rishi Sunak was issued a fixed penalty notice by Lancashire Police for failing to wear a seatbelt in his ministerial car while filming an Instagram video to promote his government's levelling up policy.[28] Sunak hence became the second prime minister in history to be found to have broken the law in office.[29]
Female
Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom
There have been three female prime ministers, all Conservative. They have led the United Kingdom for a total of 14 years, 268 days.
Margaret Thatcher – served May 1979 – November 1990, 11years, 208days.
Theresa May – served July 2016 – July 2019, 3years, 11days.
Liz Truss – served September–October 2022, 49days.
Between Cameron's appointment in 2010 and Sunak's resignation in 2024, male and female Prime Ministers alternated.
Birthplace
Two prime ministers were born in Ireland, both in Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland before the Act of Union 1801.
Boris Johnson – born in New York City in the United States, the first American-born prime minister and the first to be born outside English/British territory
All other prime ministers were born in Great Britain (46 in England and 7 in Scotland). Although of Welsh origin, David Lloyd George was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Lancashire.
Nationality and ethnicity
The English are a majority within the United Kingdom. Several prime ministers have come from the other nations of the United Kingdom.
Irish
Most of the Irish prime ministers were of Anglo-Irish background, largely descended from Protestant English settlers rather than the Gaelic Irish. However, James Callaghan's grandfather had an Irish Catholic background.[30]
George Canning (served 1827) – born in England to Irish parents, represented English constituencies, except for a brief period as MP for Tralee in 1802–1806
William Ewart Gladstone (served 1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886, and 1892–1894) – born in England to Scottish parents, represented a Scottish constituency (Midlothian) for his final three terms in office
Lord Rosebery (served 1894–1895) – born in England to a family of Scottish nobility
Bonar Law (served 1922–1923) – born in Canada to parents of Scottish ancestry, lived in Scotland from a young age, sat for a Scottish constituency during his term in office
Harold Macmillan (served 1956–1963) – though born and lived lifelong in England, his paternal grandfather was Scottish and Macmillan considered himself a Scot[31]
Alec Douglas-Home (served 1963–1964) – born in England to a family of Scottish nobility, lived in Scotland, where he sat for constituencies, in adulthood
Tony Blair (served 1997–2007) – born in Scotland, and went to school there, but subsequently lived in England
David Cameron (served 2010–2016) – born in England to a family of part Scottish ancestry, his great-great-grandfather Sir Ewan Cameron was born in Inverness-shire, and he is descended from the Chiefs of Clan Cameron of Lochiel
Welsh
David Lloyd George (served 1916–1922) – born in England of Welsh parents and Welsh-speaking, only prime minister from a non-English-speaking background. Sat for a Welsh constituency.
American
Boris Johnson, first American-born prime minister (born in New York City). Also first British prime minister to have been potentially eligible for the office of President of the United States: until 2016 he was a natural-born citizen, but had not completed the required 14 years of US residence. He has both Muslim (Turkish and Circassian) and (Russian-Lithuanian) Jewish ancestry, one ancestor having been a rabbi and a great-grandfather having been the journalist and politician Ali Kemal.
Benjamin Disraeli was of Jewish descent, though his ancestors had lived in other European countries.[32][33][34] His grandfather migrated to England from Italy in 1748.[35]
Britain's prime ministers have been predominantly Church of England by denomination, in an office which has had input into the appointment of that Church's bishops. The first to hold the office from outside the Church of England was Lord Bute, who was a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, while the Duke of Grafton was the first to convert away by formally becoming a Unitarian, after leaving office. Prime ministers of other denominations (when in office, unless otherwise stated) were:
The Duke of Grafton – Church of England when in office, became member of Unitarian congregation in London in 1774.[42]
Ramsay Macdonald – a Unitarian between leaving his native Free Church of Scotland and joining the Ethical Union.
Neville Chamberlain – raised in a Unitarian family, but, apart from funerals, was not shown to have attended religious services during his adult life and showed no interest in organised religion.[43]
Tony Blair – Anglican while in office, he was married to a Catholic and converted to Catholicism after leaving office in 2007
Boris Johnson – baptised as a Roman Catholic but became an Anglican while at school. On 29 May 2021, he married Carrie Symonds, a Catholic, at Westminster Cathedral, a Catholic church.[47]
Rishi Sunak – on 25 October 2022 became the first Hindu to be prime minister. As chancellor of the exchequer in 2021, he noted leaving lighted Diwali candles on the steps of 11 Downing Street as one of his proudest achievements and also has a history of taking his oath of office with a copy of the Bhagavad Gita.[48] He is also the first religious prime minister to follow a religion which is not Christianity upon taking office.[49]
David Lloyd George – lost his faith as a youth, but retained an appreciation of good preaching and hymn-singing[44][45]
Neville Chamberlain – described himself as "reverent agnostic", despite still holding some sympathies for the Unitarian principles he was raised in[43]
Winston Churchill – wrote that he "[did] not accept the Christian or any other form of religious belief". Was strongly anti-religious in his early years and agnostic for the rest of his life, supporting the established Anglican church "from the outside".[50]
Clement Attlee – an agnostic who described himself as "incapable of religious feeling", saying that he believed in "the ethics of Christianity" but not "the mumbo-jumbo"[51]
Liz Truss – described herself as "[sharing] the values of the Christian faith and the Church of England, but I'm not a regular practising religious person."[52]
The tallest prime minister is believed to be Lord Salisbury, who was around 6feet 4inches (193.0cm) in height,[55] although Downing Street's own website lists 6-foot-1-inch (185.4cm)James Callaghan as the tallest.[56]
The shortest prime minister to take office was believed to be Spencer Perceval who stood at around 5feet 3inches (160.0cm) in height,[55] becoming nicknamed "Little P." for his stature.[57] When prime minister Liz Truss took office on 6 September 2022, she drew equal with this record, being also 5 feet 3 inches in height.[58] The next smallest prime ministers were Lord John Russell, who remained "under" 5feet 5inches (165.1cm) throughout his adult life,[59] and Margaret Thatcher, who was 5feet 5inches (165.1cm).[60]
Facial hair
British male prime ministers, when in office, have been predominately clean-shaven men, except for the following (as borne out by pictures):
In a pattern similar to the bald–hairy rule in Russia, between 1922 and 1957 men with moustaches succeeded clean-shaven men as prime minister, and vice versa.
At least seven prime ministers are known to have been physically disabled when in office.
Lord Liverpool – incapacitated by a severe stroke on 17 February 1827,[61] forcing him to retire from office on 9 April 1827
The Duke of Wellington – permanently deaf in his left ear after an operation intended to improve hearing in 1822
William Ewart Gladstone – lost the forefinger of his left hand in an accident with a firearm in 1842. He also became partially blind by 1897, following his retirement from office.
Winston Churchill – became increasingly deaf during his second term (condition onset in 1949) and had a series of strokes that led to his retirement and using a wheelchair in later years[62]
Harold Macmillan – left with a slight limp and poor strength in his right hand, affecting his handwriting, after several wounds in the First World War.[63] He also became nearly blind later in his retirement.
Gordon Brown – lost the sight of one eye in a school rugby accident at the age of 16[64]
H. H. Asquith – became a wheelchair user by his last year (1928) following a stroke
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley – became deaf by October 1947, when he had to ask if a crowd cheering were booing him[66]
Harold Wilson is believed to have been aware he had early stage Alzheimer's disease when he resigned office in 1976, though he continued to serve as an MP until 1983.[67]
Prior to taking office, and while serving as an MP, Alec Douglas-Home was immobilised from 1940 to 1943 following an operation to treat spinal tuberculosis.
↑ Balfour resigned on 4 December 1905 but was succeeded the next day by his then Liberal opponent, Campbell-Bannerman, who did not hold the next general election until January 1906. Balfour contested this as Leader of the Conservative Party and lost.
↑ Medals in this context mean wearable awards, not including prize medals such as those accompanying the Nobel Prizes.
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament.
The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to Chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the chancellor is a high-ranking member of the British Cabinet.
Henry Pelham was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who served in Pelham's government and succeeded him as prime minister. Pelham is generally considered to have been Britain's third prime minister, after Robert Walpole and the Earl of Wilmington.
The First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom. Constitutional convention holds that the office of First Lord is held by the Prime Minister. The office is not the United Kingdom's finance minister; this role is instead held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is the second lord of the Treasury.
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill was a British aristocrat and politician. Churchill was a Tory radical and coined the term 'Tory democracy'. He participated in the creation of the National Union of the Conservative Party.
John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough,, styled Earl of Sunderland from 1822 to 1840 and Marquess of Blandford from 1840 to 1857, was a British Conservative cabinet minister, politician, peer, and nobleman. He was the paternal grandfather of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
The Conservative government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that began in 1866 and ended in 1868 was led by Lord Derby in the House of Lords and Benjamin Disraeli in the House of Commons.
Benjamin Disraeli was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a second time by Queen Victoria after William Ewart Gladstone's government was defeated in the 1874 general election. Disraeli's foreign policy was seen as immoral by Gladstone, and following the latter's Midlothian campaign, the government was heavily defeated in the 1880 general election, whereupon Gladstone formed his second government. The ailing Disraeli, by now created Earl of Beaconsfield, died in April 1881.
The Conservative Party is the oldest political party in the United Kingdom and arguably the world. The current party was first organised in the 1830s and the name "Conservative" was officially adopted, but the party is still often referred to as the Tory party. The Tories had been a coalition that more often than not formed the government from 1760 until the Reform Act 1832. Modernising reformers said the traditionalistic party of "Throne, Altar and Cottage" was obsolete, but in the face of an expanding electorate 1830s–1860s it held its strength among royalists, devout Anglicans and landlords and their tenants.
The leader of the Conservative Party is the highest position within the United Kingdom's Conservative Party. The current holder of the position is Rishi Sunak, who was elected to the position on 24 October 2022, following his unopposed victory in the party's leadership election. Sunak announced his pending resignation as Conservative leader on 22 July 2024, and will remain party leader until a successor is elected.
This is a graphical timeline of prime ministers of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from when the first prime minister of Great Britain in the modern sense, Robert Walpole, took office in 1721, until the present day.
The Cobhamite faction were an 18th-century British political faction built around Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham and his supporters. Among its members, the group included the future Prime Ministers William Pitt and George Grenville. They had a general Whig philosophy and were at first supporters of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole but later became opponents of his administration.
Number 10 was a 1983 British television series originally aired on ITV and lasting for 7 episodes from 13 February to 27 March 1983. It depicted the personal and political lives of seven British Prime Ministers, ranging from the 1780s to the 1920s, during their occupancy of 10 Downing Street. The series was a revealing insight on some of the more personal incidents in the lives of past British Prime Ministers and explored the effect the Prime Ministers had on the house.
Conservative or Tory government may refer to:
The position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was not created as a result of a single action; it evolved slowly and organically over three hundred years due to numerous Acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history.
↑ Payne, Edward John (1911). "Grey, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.12 (11thed.). Cambridge University Press. pp.586–588, see page 588, third para, penultimate sentence. By his wife Mary Elizabeth, only daughter of the first Lord Ponsonby, whom he married on the 18th of November 1794, he became the father of ten sons and five daughters.
↑ Shachem, Daniela (18 September 2008). "The Disraeli Legacy". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
↑ Blake, Robert (18 October 1984). "Weathering the storm". London Review of Books. Vol.6, no.19. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
↑ "Edward Croke's wife, Isabella Beizor (c. 1710–80), was a Portuguese Indian creole, thus giving Liverpool a trace (probably about one sixteenth, but maybe less) of Indian blood." Hutchinson, Martin, Britain's Greatest Prime Minister: Lord Liverpool
↑ Brendon, Vyvyen (2015). Children of the Raj. Hachette UK. ISBN9781780227474. It is true that [Lord Liverpool's] maternal grandmother was a Calcutta-born woman, Frances Croke...there is no evidence that her half-Portuguese mother, Isabella Beizor, was Eurasian.
↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 19. Oxford University Press. 2004. p.924. ISBN0-19-861369-5.
1 2 Ruston, Alan. "Neville Chamberlain". Unitarian Universalist Historical Society. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
1 2 Crosby, Travis L. (2014). "The Education of a Statesman". The Unknown Lloyd George. London: I. B. Tauris. p.6. ISBN978-1-78076-485-6.
1 2 Cregier, Don M. (1976). "Knickerbockers and Red Stockings, 1863–1884". Bounder from Wales — Lloyd George's Career before the First World War. Columbia & London: University of Missouri Press. p.13. ISBN0-8262-0203-9.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
