List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

Robert Walpole is considered the first prime minister of Great Britain.
Winston Churchill was prime minister during much of World War II.
Margaret Thatcher was the first female prime minister.
Keir Starmer is the current prime minister.

The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the principal minister of the crown of His 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 time through a merger of duties.[1] The term was regularly, if informally, used by Robert 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] although did not become the official title until 1905, when Henry Campbell-Bannerman was prime minister.

Historians generally consider Robert Walpole, who led the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain for over twenty years from 1721,[5] to be the first prime minister. Walpole is also the longest-serving British prime minister by this definition.[6] The first prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was William Pitt the Younger at its creation on 1 January 1801.[7] The first to use the title in an official act was Benjamin Disraeli who signed the 1878 Treaty of Berlin as "Prime Minister of Her Britannic Majesty".[8]

In 1905, the post of prime minister was officially given recognition in the order of precedence,[9] with the incumbent Henry Campbell-Bannerman the first officially referred to as "prime minister". The first prime minister of the current United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland upon its creation in 1922 (when 26 Irish counties seceded and created the Irish Free State) was Andrew Bonar Law,[10] although the country was not renamed officially until 1927, when Stanley Baldwin was the serving prime minister.[11]

The current prime minister is Keir Starmer, who assumed the office on 5 July 2024.

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.[12] By the late Tudor period, the Lord High Treasurer was regarded as one of the Great Officers of State,[12] and was often (though not always) the dominant figure in government: Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (lord high treasurer, 1547–1549),[13] served as lord protector to his young nephew King Edward VI;[13] William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (lord high treasurer, 1572–1598),[14] was the dominant minister to Queen Elizabeth I;[14] Burghley's son Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, succeeded his father as Chief Minister to Elizabeth (1598–1603) and was eventually appointed by King James I as lord high treasurer (1608–1612).[15]

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,[16] led by the first lord of the Treasury. The last lords high treasurer, Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (1702–1710) and Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford (1711–1714),[17] ran the government of Queen Anne.[18]

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.[19] For the next three years, the government was headed by Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, who was appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department.[20] Subsequently, Lords Stanhope and Sunderland ran the government jointly,[21] with Stanhope managing foreign affairs and Sunderland domestic.[21] Stanhope died in February 1721 and Sunderland resigned two months later;[21] Townshend and Robert Walpole were then invited to form the next government.[22] 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.[23] The prime minister still holds the office of first lord by constitutional convention,[24] the only exceptions being the Earl of Chatham and the Marquess of Salisbury.[25]

Since 1721

Prime ministers



    •   Conservative (20)
    •   Whig (16)
    •   Tory (10)
    •   Labour (7)
    •   Liberal (7)
    •   Scottish Unionists (2)
    •   National Labour (1)
    •   Peelite (1)
List of prime ministers of Great Britain or the United Kingdom since 1721
Portrait Prime minister
Office
(lifespan)
Term of office Mandate[a] Ministerial offices held as prime minister Party Government Monarch
Reign
Start End Duration
Robert Walpole [26]
  • MP for King's Lynn (to 1742)
  • 1st Earl of Orford (from 1742)[b]
  • (1676–1745)
3 April
1721
11 February
1742
20 years, 315 days 1722
Whig Walpole–Townshend George I
George I of Great Britain
r. 1714–1727
1727 George II
George II of Great Britain
r. 1727–1760
1734 Walpole
1741
Spencer Compton [27]
  • 1st Earl of Wilmington
  • (1673–1743)
16 February
1742
2 July
1743
1 year, 137 days[c]
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Carteret
Henry Pelham [28]
  • MP for Sussex
  • (1694–1754)
27 August
1743[d]
6 March
1754[d]
10 years, 192 days[c]
Broad Bottom I
1747 Broad Bottom II
Thomas Pelham-Holles [29]
  • 1st Duke of Newcastle
  • (1693–1768)
16 March
1754
11 November
1756
2 years, 241 days 1754
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Newcastle I
William Cavendish
William Cavendish
[30]
16 November
1756
29 June
1757
226 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
  • Lord Treasurer of Ireland
Pitt–Devonshire
1757 Caretaker
Thomas Pelham-Holles [31]
  • 1st Duke of Newcastle
  • (1693–1768)
29 June
1757
26 May
1762
4 years, 332 days 1761
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Pitt–Newcastle
Bute–Newcastle
(Tory–Whig)
George III
George III of Great Britain
r. 1760–1820
John Stuart
John Stuart
[32]
  • 3rd Earl of Bute[e]
  • (1713–1792)
26 May
1762
8 April
1763
318 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Tory Bute
George Grenville [33]
  • MP for Buckingham
  • (1712–1770)
16 April
1763
10 July
1765
2 years, 86 days
Whig
(Grenvillite)
Grenville
(mainly Whig)
Charles Watson-Wentworth [34]
  • 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
  • (1730–1782)
13 July
1765
30 July
1766
1 year, 18 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Whig
(Rockinghamite)
Rockingham I
William Pitt the Elder [35]
  • MP for Bath (to 1766)
  • 1st Earl of Chatham (from 1766)[f]
  • (1708–1778)
30 July
1766
14 October
1768
2 years, 77 days 1768
  • Lord Privy Seal
Whig Chatham
Augustus FitzRoy
Augustus FitzRoy
[36]
  • 3rd Duke of Grafton
  • (1735–1811)
14 October
1768
28 January
1770
1 year, 107 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Grafton
Frederick North, Lord North [37]
  • Lord North
  • MP for Banbury[g]
  • (1732–1792)
28 January
1770
27 March
1782
12 years, 59 days 1774
Tory North
1780
Charles Watson-Wentworth [34]
  • 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
  • (1730–1782)
27 March
1782
1 July
1782
97 days[c]
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Whig
(Rockinghamite)
Rockingham II
William Petty [38]
  • 2nd Earl of Shelburne
  • (1737–1805)
4 July
1782
26 March
1783
266 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Whig Shelburne
William Cavendish-Bentinck
William Cavendish-Bentinck
[39]
  • 3rd Duke of Portland
  • (1738–1809)
2 April
1783
18 December
1783
261 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Whig Fox–North
William Pitt the Younger [40]
  • MP for Appleby, later Cambridge University[h]
  • (1759–1806)
19 December
1783
14 March
1801
17 years, 86 days 1784
Tory Pitt I
1790
1796
Henry Addington [41]
  • MP for Devizes
  • (1757–1844)
17 March
1801
10 May
1804
3 years, 55 days 1801
Tory Addington
1802
William Pitt the Younger [42]
  • MP for Cambridge University
  • (1759–1806)
10 May
1804
23 January
1806
1 year, 259 days[c]
Tory Pitt II
William Grenville
William Grenville
[43]
  • 1st Baron Grenville
  • (1759–1834)
11 February
1806
25 March
1807
1 year, 43 days 1806
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Whig All the Talents
(WhigTory)
William Cavendish-Bentinck
William Cavendish-Bentinck
[44]
  • 3rd Duke of Portland
  • (1738–1809)
31 March
1807
4 October
1809
2 years, 188 days 1807
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Tory Portland II
Spencer Perceval [45]
  • MP for Northampton
  • (1762–1812)
4 October
1809
11 May
1812
2 years, 221 days[c]
  • Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
  • Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • Commissioner of the Treasury for Ireland (1810–1812)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Perceval
Robert Jenkinson [46]
  • 2nd Earl of Liverpool
  • (1770–1828)
8 June
1812
9 April
1827
14 years, 306 days 1812
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Liverpool
1818 George IV
George IV of Great Britain
r. 1820–1830
1820
1826
George Canning [47]
  • MP for Seaford
  • (1770–1827)
12 April
1827
8 August
1827
119 days[c]
Tory
(Canningite)
Canning
(Canningite–Whig)
F. J. Robinson
Frederick John Robinson
[48]
  • 1st Viscount Goderich
  • (1782–1859)
31 August
1827
8 January
1828
131 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Tory
(Canningite)
Goderich
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington [49]
22 January
1828
16 November
1830
2 years, 299 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Tory Wellington–Peel
(1830) William IV
William IV of Great Britain
r. 1830–1837
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey [50]
  • 2nd Earl Grey
  • (1764–1845)
22 November
1830
9 July
1834
3 years, 230 days 1831
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Whig Grey
1832
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne [51]
  • 2nd Viscount Melbourne
  • (1779–1848)
16 July
1834
14 November
1834
122 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Melbourne I
photograph [52]
17 November
1834
9 December
1834
23 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
  • Sec. of State for Foreign Affairs
  • Sec. of State for the Home Dept
  • Sec. of State for War & Colonies
Tory Wellington Caretaker
Robert Peel [53]
  • Baronet
  • MP for Tamworth
  • (1788–1850)
10 December
1834
8 April
1835
120 days (—)
Conservative Peel I
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne [54]
  • 2nd Viscount Melbourne
  • (1779–1848)
18 April
1835
30 August
1841
6 years, 135 days 1835
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Whig Melbourne II
1837 Victoria
Queen Victoria
r. 1837–1901
Robert Peel [53]
  • Baronet
  • MP for Tamworth
  • (1788–1850)
30 August
1841
29 June
1846
4 years, 304 days 1841
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Conservative Peel II
photograph [55]
  • MP for City of London
  • (1792–1878)
30 June
1846
21 February
1852
5 years, 237 days (1847)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Whig Russell I
painting [56]
  • 14th Earl of Derby
  • (1799–1869)
23 February
1852
17 December
1852
299 days 1852
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Conservative Who? Who?
engraving
George Hamilton-Gordon
[57]
  • 4th Earl of Aberdeen
  • (1784–1860)
19 December
1852
30 January
1855
2 years, 43 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Peelite Aberdeen
(Peelite–Whigothers)
photograph [58]
  • 3rd Viscount Palmerston
  • MP for Tiverton[i]
  • (1784–1865)
6 February
1855
19 February
1858
3 years, 14 days 1857
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Whig Palmerston I
engraving [59]
  • 14th Earl of Derby
  • (1799–1869)
20 February
1858
11 June
1859
1 year, 112 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Conservative Derby–Disraeli II
photograph [60]
  • 3rd Viscount Palmerston
  • MP for Tiverton[i]
  • (1784–1865)
12 June
1859
18 October
1865
6 years, 129 days[c] 1859
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Liberal Palmerston II
1865
photograph [55]
  • 1st Earl Russell
  • (1792–1878)
29 October
1865
26 June
1866
241 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Russell II
engraving [61]
  • 14th Earl of Derby
  • (1799–1869)
28 June
1866
25 February
1868
1 year, 243 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
Conservative Derby–Disraeli III
photograph [62]
  • MP for Buckinghamshire
  • (1804–1881)
  • Premierships
27 February
1868
1 December
1868
279 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
photograph [63]
  • MP for Greenwich
  • (1809–1898)
  • Premierships
3 December
1868
17 February
1874
5 years, 77 days 1868
Liberal Gladstone I
photograph [64]
  • MP for Buckinghamshire (to 1876)
  • Earl of Beaconsfield (from 1876)[j]
  • (1804–1881)
  • Premierships
20 February
1874
21 April
1880
6 years, 62 days 1874
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons (1874–1876)
  • Leader of the House of Lords (1876–1880)
  • Lord Privy Seal (1876–1878)
Conservative Disraeli II
photograph [65]
  • MP for Midlothian
  • (1809–1898)
  • Premierships
23 April
1880
9 June
1885
5 years, 48 days 1880
Liberal Gladstone II
photograph [66]
  • 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
  • (1830–1903)
23 June
1885
28 January
1886
220 days (—)
  • Leader of the House of Lords
  • Sec. of State for Foreign Affairs
Conservative Salisbury I
photograph [65]
  • MP for Midlothian
  • (1809–1898)
  • Premierships
1 February
1886
20 July
1886
170 days (1885)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
  • Lord Privy Seal
Liberal Gladstone III
photograph [67]
  • 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
  • (1830–1903)
25 July
1886
11 August
1892
6 years, 18 days (1886)
  • First Lord of the Treasury (1886–1887)
  • Leader of the House of Lords
  • Sec. of State for Foreign Affairs (1887–1892)
Conservative Salisbury II
photograph [65]
  • MP for Midlothian
  • (1809–1898)
  • Premierships
15 August
1892
2 March
1894
1 year, 200 days (1892)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
  • Lord Privy Seal
Liberal Gladstone IV
photograph [68]
  • 5th Earl of Rosebery
  • (1847–1929)
5 March
1894
22 June
1895
1 year, 110 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Lords
  • Lord President of the Council
Rosebery
photograph [69]
  • 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
  • (1830–1903)
25 June
1895
11 July
1902
7 years, 17 days 1895
  • Leader of the House of Lords
  • Lord Privy Seal (1900–1902)
  • Sec. of State for Foreign Affairs (1895–1900)
Conservative Salisbury III
(ConLib.U)
1900 Salisbury IV
(Con–Lib.U)
Edward VII
Edward VII
r. 1901–1910
photograph [70]
  • MP for Manchester East
  • (1848–1930)
12 July
1902
4 December
1905
3 years, 146 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
  • Lord Privy Seal (1902–1903)
Balfour
(Con–Lib.U)
photograph [71]
  • MP for Stirling Burghs
  • (1836–1908)
5 December
1905
3 April
1908
2 years, 121 days 1906
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Liberal Campbell-Bannerman
photograph [72]
  • MP for East Fife
  • (1852–1928)
8 April
1908
5 December
1916
8 years, 243 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
  • Sec. of State for War (1914)
Asquith I
(Jan.1910) Asquith II George V
George V
r. 1910–1936
(Dec.1910) Asquith III
(—) Asquith Coalition
(LibConothers)
photograph [73]
  • MP for Carnarvon Boroughs
  • (1863–1945)
6 December
1916
19 October
1922
5 years, 318 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Lloyd George War
1918 Lloyd George II
(LibCon)
photograph [74]
  • MP for Glasgow Central
  • (1858–1923)
23 October
1922
20 May
1923
210 days 1922
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Conservative
(Scot.U.)
Law
photograph [75]
  • MP for Bewdley
  • (1867–1947)
22 May
1923
22 January
1924
246 days
Conservative Baldwin I
photograph [76]
  • MP for Aberavon
  • (1866–1937)
22 January
1924
4 November
1924
288 days (1923)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
  • Sec. of State for Foreign Affairs
Labour MacDonald I
photograph [77]
  • MP for Bewdley
  • (1867–1947)
4 November
1924
4 June
1929
4 years, 213 days 1924
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Conservative Baldwin II
photograph [78]
  • MP for Seaham
  • (1866–1937)
5 June
1929
7 June
1935
6 years, 3 days (1929)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Labour MacDonald II
(—) National Labour National I
(Nat.Lab–Conothers)
1931 National II
photograph [79]
  • MP for Bewdley
  • (1867–1947)
7 June
1935
28 May
1937
1 year, 356 days 1935
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
Conservative National III
Edward VIII
Edward VIII
r. 1936
George VI
George VI
r. 1936–1952
photograph [80]
  • MP for Birmingham Edgbaston
  • (1869–1940)
28 May
1937
10 May
1940
2 years, 349 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons
National IV
Chamberlain War
photograph [81]
  • MP for Epping
  • (1874–1965)
10 May
1940
26 July
1945
5 years, 78 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Leader of the House of Commons (1940–1942)
  • Minister of Defence
Churchill War
Churchill Caretaker
(ConNat.Lib)
photograph [82]
  • MP for Limehouse
  • (1883–1967)
26 July
1945
26 October
1951
6 years, 93 days 1945
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister of Defence (1945–1946)
Labour Attlee I
1950 Attlee II
photograph [83]
  • MP for Woodford
  • (1874–1965)
26 October
1951
5 April
1955
3 years, 162 days 1951
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister of Defence (1951–1952)
Conservative Churchill III
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II
r. 1952–2022
photograph [84]
  • MP for Warwick and Leamington
  • (1897–1977)
6 April
1955
9 January
1957
1 year, 279 days 1955
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Eden
photograph [85]
  • MP for Bromley
  • (1894–1986)
10 January
1957
18 October
1963
6 years, 282 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Macmillan I
1959 Macmillan II
photograph [86]
  • 14th Earl of Home (to 1963)
  • MP for Kinross and Western Perthshire (from 1963)[k]
  • (1903–1995)
19 October
1963
16 October
1964
364 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Conservative
(Scot.U.)
Douglas-Home
photograph [87]
  • MP for Huyton
  • (1916–1995)
Premiership
16 October
1964
19 June
1970
5 years, 247 days 1964
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service (1968–1970)
Labour Wilson I
1966 Wilson II
photograph [88]
  • MP for Bexley
  • (1916–2005)
19 June
1970
4 March
1974
3 years, 259 days 1970
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Conservative Heath
photograph [87]
  • MP for Huyton
  • (1916–1995)
Premiership
4 March
1974
5 April
1976
2 years, 33 days (Feb.1974)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Labour Wilson III
Oct.1974 Wilson IV
photograph [89]
  • MP for Cardiff South East
  • (1912–2005)
5 April
1976
4 May
1979
3 years, 30 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Callaghan
photograph [90]
  • MP for Finchley
  • (1925–2013)
  • Premiership
4 May
1979
28 November
1990
11 years, 209 days 1979
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Conservative Thatcher I
1983 Thatcher II
1987 Thatcher III
photograph [91]
  • MP for Huntingdon
  • (born 1943)
  • Premiership
28 November
1990
2 May
1997
6 years, 156 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Major I
1992 Major II
photograph [92]
  • MP for Sedgefield
  • (born 1953)
  • Premiership
2 May
1997
27 June
2007
10 years, 57 days 1997
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Labour Blair I
2001 Blair II
2005 Blair III
photograph [93]
  • MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
  • (born 1951)
  • Premiership
27 June
2007
11 May
2010
2 years, 319 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Brown
photograph [94]
  • MP for Witney
  • (born 1966)
  • Premiership
11 May
2010
13 July
2016
6 years, 64 days (2010)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
Conservative Cameron–Clegg
(ConLib.Dem)
2015 Cameron II
photograph
Theresa May
[95]
  • MP for Maidenhead
  • (born 1956)
  • Premiership
13 July
2016
24 July
2019
3 years, 12 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
May I
(2017) May II
(DUP confidence & supply)
photograph [96]
  • MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip
  • (born 1964)
  • Premiership
24 July
2019
6 September
2022
3 years, 45 days (—)
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
  • Minister for the Union
Johnson I
(DUP confidence & supply)
2019 Johnson II
photograph
Liz Truss
[97]
  • MP for South West Norfolk
  • (born 1975)
  • Premiership
6 September
2022
25 October
2022
50 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
  • Minister for the Union
Truss
Charles III
r. 2022–present
photograph
Rishi Sunak
[98]
  • MP for Richmond (Yorks)
  • (born 1980)
  • Premiership
25 October
2022
5 July
2024
1 year, 255 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
  • Minister for the Union
Sunak
photograph
Keir Starmer
[99]
  • MP for Holborn and St Pancras
  • (born 1962)
  • Premiership
5 July
2024
Incumbent 1 year, 191 days 2024
  • First Lord of the Treasury
  • Minister for the Civil Service
  • Minister for the Union
Labour Starmer

Living former prime ministers

Currently, there are eight living former Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. The most recent death of a former prime minister was that of Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) on 8 April 2013.

Disputed prime ministers

Due to the gradual evolution of the post of prime minister, the title is applied to early prime ministers only retrospectively;[23] this has sometimes given rise to academic dispute. William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, and James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, are sometimes listed as prime ministers.[100] Bath was invited to form a ministry by George II when Henry Pelham resigned in 1746,[101] as was Waldegrave in 1757 after the dismissal of William Pitt the Elder,[102] 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[100] and Waldegrave after four.[102] Modern academic consensus does not consider either man to have held office as prime minister;[103] they are therefore listed separately.

List of disputed prime ministers of the United Kingdom since 1721
Portrait Prime minister
Office
(lifespan)
Term of office Mandate[a] Ministerial offices held as prime minister Party Government Monarch
Reign
Start End Duration
William Pulteney
William Pulteney
 
  • 1st Earl of Bath
  • (1684–1764)
10 February
1746
12 February
1746
3 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Whig Short-lived George II
George II of Great Britain
r. 1727–1760
James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave
James Waldegrave
 
  • 2nd Earl Waldegrave
  • (1715–1763)
8 June
1757
12 June
1757
5 days
  • First Lord of the Treasury
Waldegrave

List notes

  1. ^ a b Legend for the
    Mandate
    column:
    1722
    a year
    indicates a general election won by the government or that led to the formation of a government (the year links to the election's article);
    (1830)
    a parenthesised year
    indicates an election resulting in no single party winning a Commons majority (the year links to the election's article);
    a dash
    indicates the formation of a majority government without an election;
    (—)
    a parenthesised dash
    indicates the formation of a minority or coalition government during a hung parliament.
  2. ^ Walpole was made a peer five days before his resignation as Prime Minister (6 February) and thus relinquished his seat in the House of Commons.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Died in office
  4. ^ a b Resigned on 10 February 1746, reappointed by George II on 12 February 1746.
  5. ^ As a peer of Scotland, Lord Bute sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer.
  6. ^ Pitt served as a Member of Parliament for the first five days of his premiership (30 July – 4 August 1766). He relinquished his Commons seat in order to take the office of Lord Privy Seal, which required his elevation to the House of Lords.
  7. ^ Lord North was the heir to an earldom and himself a commoner while using the courtesy title.
  8. ^ Pitt was returned an MP for a different constituency in the 1784 British general election.
  9. ^ a b As a peer of Ireland, Lord Palmerston sat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament for an English constituency which was enabled by the Acts of Union 1800.
  10. ^ Disraeli was elevated to the House of Lords in 1876, two years into his second premiership. Consequently, he relinquished his Commons seat as MP for Buckinghamshire.
  11. ^ Douglas-Home disclaimed his peerage as the Earl of Home on 23 October 1963, 4 days after his appointment as Prime Minister. He was returned an MP and took his seat in the House of Commons on 12 November 1963. He had no seats in either of the Houses of Parliament between the two dates.

Timeline

Boris JohnsonDavid CameronGordon BrownTony BlairJohn MajorMargaret ThatcherJames CallaghanEdward HeathHarold WilsonAlec Douglas-HomeHarold MacmillanAnthony EdenClement AttleeWinston ChurchillNeville ChamberlainRamsay MacDonaldStanley BaldwinAndrew Bonar LawDavid Lloyd GeorgeHerbert Henry AsquithHenry Campbell-BannermanArthur BalfourThe Earl of RoseberyThe Marquess of SalisburyWilliam Ewart GladstoneBenjamin DisraeliThe Viscount PalmerstonThe Earl of DerbyJohn Russell, 1st Earl RussellRobert PeelThe Viscount MelbourneThe Earl GreyThe Duke of WellingtonGeorge CanningThe Earl of LiverpoolSpencer PercevalHenry AddingtonWilliam Pitt the YoungerThe Earl of ShelburneLord NorthWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of ChathamThe Marquess of RockinghamGeorge GrenvilleThe Duke of NewcastleHenry PelhamThe Earl of WilmingtonRobert Walpole

See also

  • Category:British premierships
  • List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure
  • List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by education
  • Assassination of Spencer Perceval
  • Downing Street
  • List of British governments
  • List of current heads of government in the United Kingdom and dependencies
  • List of prime ministers of Queen Victoria (for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Empire)
  • Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • List of United Kingdom general elections
  • Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom
  • List of government ministers of the United Kingdom

References

Citations

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  4. ^ Eardley-Wilmot 1885; Macfarlane 1885.
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  7. ^ Burt 1874, p. 106; Castlereagh 1805.
  8. ^ Bogdanor 1997.
  9. ^ Marriott 1923, p. 83.
  10. ^ Law 1922.
  11. ^ Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927.
  12. ^ a b Chisholm 1911f.
  13. ^ a b Pollard 1904.
  14. ^ a b Chisholm 1911a.
  15. ^ Chisholm 1911c.
  16. ^ Chapman 2002.
  17. ^ Fisher Russell Barker 1890; Stephen 1890.
  18. ^ Morrill 2018.
  19. ^ Chapman 2002, p. 15.
  20. ^ McMullen Rigg 1899.
  21. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911d; Chisholm 1911e.
  22. ^ Chisholm 1911b; McMullen Rigg 1899.
  23. ^ a b Leonard 2010, p. 1.
  24. ^ UK Government 2013.
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Works cited

Further reading