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List of prime ministers of the

United Kingdom
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The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the

principal minister of the crown of Her Majesty's
Government, and the head of the British Cabinet.
There is no specific date for when the office of
prime minister first appeared, as the role was not
created but rather evolved over a period of time
through a merger of duties.[1] However, the term was
regularly, if informally, used of Walpole by the 1730s.
[2] It was used in the House of Commons as early as
1805,[3] and it was certainly in parliamentary use by
the 1880s.[4] In 1905, the post of prime minister was
officially given recognition in the order of
precedence.[5] Modern historians generally consider
Sir Robert Walpole, who led the government of Great
Britain for over twenty years from 1721,[6] as the first
prime minister. Walpole is also the longest-serving
British prime minister by this definition.[7] However,
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was the first and
Margaret Thatcher the longest-serving prime
minister officially referred to as such in the order of
precedence.[8] The first to use the title in an official
act was Benjamin Disraeli, who signed the Treaty of
Berlin as "Prime Minister of Her Britannic Majesty" in
1878.[9]

Top left: Robert Walpole was the first and longest-serving

prime minister of Great Britain.

Top right: Winston Churchill was the prime minister during

much of World War II.

Bottom left: Margaret Thatcher was the first female prime

minister.

Bottom right: Boris Johnson is the current prime minister.

Strictly speaking, the first prime minister of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was
William Pitt the Younger.[10] The first prime minister
of the current United Kingdom (the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), was Bonar
Law,[11] although the country was not renamed
officially until 1927, when Stanley Baldwin was the
serving prime minister.[12]

Due to the gradual evolution of the post of prime

minister, the title is applied to early prime ministers
only retrospectively;[13] this has sometimes given
rise to academic dispute. Lord Bath and Lord
Waldegrave are sometimes listed as prime ministers.
[14] Bath was invited to form a ministry by George II
when Henry Pelham resigned in 1746,[15] as was
Waldegrave in 1757 after the dismissal of William Pitt
the Elder,[16] who dominated the affairs of
government during the Seven Years' War. Neither
was able to command sufficient parliamentary
support to form a government; Bath stepped down
after two days[14] and Waldegrave after four.[16]
Modern academic consensus does not consider
either man to have held office as prime minister;[17]
they are therefore listed separately.

Before the Kingdom of Great

…
Britain

Before the Union of England and Scotland in 1707,

the Treasury of England was led by the Lord High
Treasurer.[18] By the late Tudor period, the Lord High
Treasurer was regarded as one of the Great Officers
of State,[18] and was often (though not always) the
dominant figure in government: Edward Seymour, 1st
Duke of Somerset (Lord High Treasurer, 1547–1549),
[19] served as Lord Protector to his prepubescent
nephew Edward VI;[19] William Cecil, 1st Baron
Burghley (Lord High Treasurer, 1572–1598),[20] was
the dominant minister to Elizabeth I;[20] Burghley's
son Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, succeeded
his father as chief minister to Elizabeth I (1598–
1603) and was eventually appointed by James I as
Lord High Treasurer (1608–1612).[21]

By the late Stuart period, the Treasury was often run

not by a single individual (i.e., the Lord High
Treasurer) but by a commission of Lords of the
Treasury,[22] led by the First Lord of the Treasury.
The last Lords High Treasurer, Lord Godolphin
(1702–1710) and Lord Oxford (1711–1714),[23] ran the
government of Queen Anne.[24]

From 1707 to 1721 …

Following the succession of George I in 1714, the

arrangement of a commission of Lords of the
Treasury (as opposed to a single Lord High
Treasurer) became permanent.[25] For the next three
years, the government was headed by Lord
Townshend, who was appointed Secretary of State
for the Northern Department.[26] Subsequently, Lord
Stanhope and Lord Sunderland ran the government
jointly,[27] with Stanhope managing foreign affairs
and Sunderland domestic.[27] Stanhope died in
February 1721 and Sunderland resigned two months
later;[27] Townshend and Robert Walpole were then
invited to form the next government.[28] From that
point, the holder of the office of First Lord also
usually (albeit unofficially) held the status of prime
minister. It was not until the Edwardian era that the
title prime minister was constitutionally recognised.
[13] The prime minister still holds the office of First
Lord by constitutional convention,[29] the only
exceptions being Lord Chatham (1766–1768) and
Lord Salisbury (1885–1886, 1886–1892, 1895–
1902).[30]

Since 1721 …

Contents by century
18th 19th 20th 21st
century century century century

  Whig  (16)     Tory  (10)     Conservative  (19

Prime Minister
Term of o
Portrait Office
Duratio
(Lifespan)

Sir Robert Walpole 3 April

MP for King's Lynn 1721
(1676–1745)

20 ye

Spencer Compton 16 February

1st Earl of Wilmington 1742
(1673–1743)
1 yea

27 August
Henry Pelham 1743
MP for Sussex
(1694–1754)
10 yea

Thomas Pelham-Holles 16 March

1st Duke of Newcastle 1754
(1693–1768)
2 ye

16 November
William Cavendish
1756
4th Duke of Devonshire
(1720–1764)

29 June
Thomas Pelham-Holles
1757
1st Duke of Newcastle
(1693–1768) 4 yea

John Stuart 26 May

3rd Earl of Bute 1762
(1713–1792)

16 April
George Grenville 1763
MP for Buckingham
(1712–1770)
2 ye

Charles Watson-
13 July
Wentworth
2nd Marquess of 1765
Rockingham
(1730–1782) 1 ye

William Pitt the Elder 30 July

1st Earl of Chatham[b] 1766
(1708–1778)

2 ye

Augustus FitzRoy 14 October

3rd Duke of Grafton 1768
(1735–1811)
1 ye

Frederick North 28 January

Lord North 1770
MP for Banbury
(1732–1792)
12 ye

Charles Watson-
27 March
Wentworth
2nd Marquess of 1782
Rockingham
(1730–1782)

William Petty 4 July

2nd Earl of Shelburne 1782
(1737–1805)

William Cavendish- 2 April

Bentinck
1783
3rd Duke of Portland
(1738–1809)

William Pitt the Younger 19 December

MP for Appleby, 1783
later Cambridge University[c]
(1759–1806)
17 ye

17 March
Henry Addington 1801
MP for Devizes
(1757–1844)
3 ye

10 May
William Pitt the Younger 1804
MP for Cambridge University
(1759–1806)
1 yea

William Grenville 11 February

1st Baron Grenville 1806
(1759–1834)
1 ye

William Cavendish- 31 March

Bentinck
1807
3rd Duke of Portland
(1738–1809)
2 yea

4 October
1809

Spencer Perceval
MP for Northampton
(1762–1812)

2 yea

Robert Jenkinson 8 June

2nd Earl of Liverpool 1812
(1770–1828)

14 ye

12 April
George Canning 1827
MP for Seaford
(1770–1827)

F. J. Robinson 31 August
1st Viscount Goderich 1827
(1782–1859)

Arthur Wellesley 22 January

1st Duke of Wellington 1828
(1769–1852)
2 yea

Charles Grey 22 November

2nd Earl Grey 1830
(1764–1845)
3 yea

William Lamb 16 July

2nd Viscount Melbourne 1834
(1779–1848)

17 November
1834

Arthur Wellesley
1st Duke of Wellington
(1769–1852)

10 December
Sir Robert Peel 1834
MP for Tamworth
(1788–1850)

William Lamb 18 April

2nd Viscount Melbourne 1835
(1779–1848)
6 ye

Sir Robert Peel 30 August

MP for Tamworth 1841
(1788–1850)
4 yea

Lord John Russell 30 June

MP for City of London 1846
(1792–1878)
5 yea

Edward Smith-Stanley 23 February

14th Earl of Derby 1852
(1799–1869)

George Hamilton-Gordon 19 December

4th Earl of Aberdeen 1852
(1784–1860)
2 ye

Henry John Temple

6 February
3rd Viscount Palmerston
1855
MP for Tiverton
(1784–1865)
3 ye

Edward Smith-Stanley 20 February

14th Earl of Derby 1858
(1799–1869)
1 ye

Henry John Temple

12 June
3rd Viscount Palmerston
1859
MP for Tiverton
(1784–1865)
6 yea

John Russell 29 October

1st Earl Russell 1865
(1792–1878)

Edward Smith-Stanley 28 June

14th Earl of Derby 1866
(1799–1869)
1 ye

See als
Benjamin Disraeli
27 February
MP for Buckinghamshire
1868
(1804–1881)

See als

3 December
William Ewart Gladstone
1868
MP for Midlothian
(1809–1898)
5 ye

See als

20 February

Benjamin Disraeli 1874

1st Earl of Beaconsfield[d]
(1804–1881)

6 ye

See als

23 April
William Ewart Gladstone
1880
MP for Midlothian
(1809–1898)
5 ye

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 23 June

3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1885
(1830–1903)

See als

William Ewart Gladstone 1 February

MP for Midlothian 1886
(1809–1898)

25 July

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 1886

3rd Marquess of Salisbury
(1830–1903)
6 ye

See als

William Ewart Gladstone 15 August

MP for Midlothian 1892
(1809–1898)
1 ye

5 March
Archibald Primrose
1894
5th Earl of Rosebery
(1847–1929)
1 ye

25 June
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 1895
3rd Marquess of Salisbury
(1830–1903)
7 ye

12 July
Arthur Balfour 1902
MP for Manchester East
(1848–1930)
3 yea

Sir Henry Campbell-

5 December
Bannerman
1905
MP for Stirling Burghs
(1836–1908)
2 ye

H. H. Asquith 8 April
MP for East Fife 1908
(1852–1928)

8 yea

David Lloyd George 6 December

MP for Caernarfon 1916
(1863–1945)
5 yea

Bonar Law 23 October

MP for Glasgow Central 1922
(1858–1923)

22 May
Stanley Baldwin 1923
MP for Bewdley
(1867–1947)

22 January
Ramsay MacDonald 1924
MP for Aberavon
(1866–1937)

Stanley Baldwin 4 November

MP for Bewdley 1924
(1867–1947)
4 ye

Ramsay MacDonald 5 June

MP for Seaham 1929
(1866–1937)

6 ye

Stanley Baldwin 7 June

MP for Bewdley 1935
(1867–1947)

1 ye

Neville Chamberlain 28 May

MP for Birmingham Edgbaston 1937
(1869–1940)
2 yea

10 May
Winston Churchill 1940
MP for Epping
(1874–1965)
5 ye

Clement Attlee 26 July

MP for Limehouse 1945
(1883–1967)
6 ye

Sir Winston Churchill 26 October

MP for Woodford 1951
(1874–1965)
3 ye

Sir Anthony Eden

6 April
MP for Warwick and
1955
Leamington
(1897–1977) 1 ye

Harold Macmillan 10 January

MP for Bromley 1957
(1894–1986)
6 yea

Sir Alec Douglas-Home[e]

19 October
MP for Kinross and Western
1963
Perthshire
(1903–1995)

Harold Wilson 16 October

MP for Huyton 1964
(1916–1995)
5 yea

Edward Heath 19 June

MP for Bexley 1970
(1916–2005)
3 yea

Harold Wilson 4 March

MP for Huyton 1974
(1916–1995)
2 ye

James Callaghan 5 April

MP for Cardiff South East 1976
(1912–2005)
3 ye

See als

Margaret Thatcher
4 May
MP for Finchley
1979
(1925–2013)

11 ye

See als

John Major
28 November
MP for Huntingdon
1990
(born 1943)

6 ye

See als

Tony Blair
2 May
MP for Sedgefield
1997
(born 1953)

10 ye

See als
Gordon Brown
MP for Kirkcaldy and 27 June
Cowdenbeath 2007
(born 1951) 2 yea

See als
David Cameron
11 May
MP for Witney
2010
(born 1966)
6 ye

See als
Theresa May
13 July
MP for Maidenhead
2016
(born 1956)
3 ye

See als
Boris Johnson
MP for Uxbridge and South 24 July

Ruislip 2019
(born 1964)
3 ye

Prime Minister
Office Term of
(Lifespan)

Disputed …

  Whig   (2)

Ministerial
Title Term of office &
 offices
Prime mandate[a]
held as Pa
Minister Duration in years and
prime
(lifetime) days
minister
William
10 February 12 February
Pulteney –
1st Earl of 1746 1746
Bath
First
(1684–1764) 3 days Lord of
the W
James Treasury
8 June 12 June
Waldegrave –
2nd Earl 1757 1757
Waldegrave
(1715–1763) 5 days

Timeline …

Further information: Timeline of prime ministers of

Great Britain and the United Kingdom

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Last edited 3 minutes ago by John576424

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