List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History

This is a list of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom from when the first Prime Minister (in the modern sense), Robert Walpole, took office in 1721, until the present day.

Political party ideologies

Whigs and Tories: 1688-1832

Robert Walpole (1721-1742) is regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain and accepted 10 Downing Street in 1732 as the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury.

From the latter part of the 17th century until the early 19th, there were essentially two major political parties in Great Britain: the Whigs and Tories. Neither could be described as "modern" in the sense of organised voters working together, compromising their differences for the sake of gain at the polls. In the 18th century, the only voters were men of means: the landed aristocracy and wealthy merchants. They considered party organization as dishonest and activities such as campaigning beneath their status. A "gentleman" was expected to be independent, to think for himself and to protect his own interests. He might ally himself with others on a particular issue, but such alliances were temporary and fragile. The early political parties were loose groupings of like-minded individuals (called "factions") with little discipline and less loyalty.

The party labels "Whig" and "Tory" began as derisive terms when they first appeared during the Exclusion crisis of 1678. Across the country people disagreed on the issue of whether or not James Stuart, Duke of York and heir to the throne, should be allowed to succeed King Charles II, his brother. The Tories believed that James should succeed, the Whigs that he should not.

The origins of this dispute are found in the religious and political controversies of the previous one hundred and fifty years. With much bloodshed and trauma, the Tudor monarchs of the 16th century had broken with the Catholic Church, created an Anglican Church and formed a Protestant state. This new allegiance was confirmed during the Civil Wars and the Interregnum of 1649 - 1660. At the same time, England had also begun to embrace some modern democratic ideas which empowered Parliament and constrained the Monarchy. King Charles II was probably secretly a Catholic but at least adhered publicly to the Anglican faith. James however was openly Catholic and very devout. Some saw his Catholicism as a threat to all the religious and political changes that had taken place. Therefore, the Whigs, as they came to be known, opposed James' succession to the throne. Those who supported James' hereditary right to the crown came to be known as Tories.

The term Whig was probably short for "Whiggamore" and referred to a horse thief; also to Scottish Presbyterians who were associated with republican ideas, with nonconformity, and with rebellion against legitimate authority. By calling them Whigs, the Tories tried to slander those who claimed the right to exclude the "legitimate" heir from the succession. In response, the Whigs tried to slander those who supported James' hereditary rights despite his faith by calling them "Tories." "Tory" was probably an Irish word meaning "papist outlaw." Both slanders backfired: each group embraced with pride the derisive term flung at them by their opponents.

Sir Robert Peel (1834-1835 and 1841-1846), founded the modern Conservative Party in 1834 with the publication of the Tamworth Manifesto.

The result of the initial struggle between the two "parties" during the succession crisis was that the Whigs lost and James became king when Charles II died in 1685. However, during his short reign of only three years, James II (1685 - 1688) managed to offend not only the Whigs but many Tories with his radical Catholicism and his claims to rule by "Divine Right", like the autocratic Catholic princes of Europe. Consequently, most Whigs and many Tories conspired to oust James during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. After a brief struggle, James ignominiously abandoned the throne and Parliament invited William of Orange and his wife Mary Stuart, both Protestants, to succeed jointly to the English crown.

Although the succession crisis was the specific event that led to the formation of the two major parties, the differences between them ran much deeper. Generally those who identified themselves as Whigs were inspired by the values of liberal democracy brought about by the Enlightenment, and consisted of the noble houses, wealthy merchants and non- Anglicans. Those who identified themselves as Tory consisted of the landed gentry and the Church of England, and were opposed to the reformism of the Whigs, such as expanding the franchise and increased Parliamentary representation for lower classes.

After 1688, most Tories accepted a limited version of the Whig theory of a Constitutional Monarchy. However, whether rightly or wrongly, their loyalty to the new order was suspect because they had supported James' succession in the first place. This suspicion was confirmed in 1714 when the Tory ministers of the late Queen Anne (1702-1714) were disgraced for negotiating for the return of James II on her death. This uprising in favour of a Stuart restoration (and another one in 1745) stigmatized the Tories as supporters of absolute monarchy and as being opponents of the Protestant Succession. Except for a brief ascendancy from 1710 to 1714, the Tories were in a weak political position for almost one hundred years. The Whigs became so dominant after the first Jacobite uprising that the period from 1714 to 1784 is often called the "Whig Supremacy." Many of the Prime Ministers categorised as Whigs did not actively support a party policy: for them it was in practice merely their nominal label.

With the French Revolution in 1789, and the ensuing wars, the Whigs split, with many aligning themselves with the then Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger against the Revolution. Pitt and his successors became known as Tories, originally as an insult, but by the time of the Earl of Liverpool they had accepted the term.

Conservative and Liberal: 1832-1922

Clement Attlee (1945-1951) was the second Labour Prime Minister and introduced the post-war consensus, nationalised many utilities, and created the National Health Service.

The Whig and Tory parties both altered after the enactment of the Great Reform Act of 1832. Two of the three major modern political parties, Conservative and Liberal, grew directly out of these earlier ones. The Conservative Party was founded in 1834 by Sir Robert Peel as a result of his Tamworth Manifesto, a speech in which he outlined the new political philosophy. The party has been consistently socially conservative but has shifted its position on economics, initially supporting free trade under Peel, then favouring protectionism for much of the nineteenth century, to become a party of economic liberalism and reduced government after World War II.

The Liberal Party was formed after the collapse of the Whig party due to the enfranchisement of the British middle class following the Reform Act 1832, and has typically been a reforming party. From the 1840s until the 1940s it was strongly defined by its support for free trade and social welfare, in contrast to Conservative preference for protectionism and private charity. The Liberals were also known for their pragmatic support for state intervention in the economy where necessary, whereas the Conservatives opposed such intervention on ideological grounds. In its last government, from 1906-1922, it introduced a number of social reforms including welfare, regulation of working hours and national insurance. The division of the Liberal Party in the early 1920s led many previous supporters to switch their allegiance to the Labour Party. The Liberal Democrats, the successor party to the Liberal Party, are socially liberal and typically support higher taxation to support the welfare state, but have an increasing faction of economic liberals.

Conservative and Labour: 1922 to present

The Labour Party was founded in 1900 to represent the views of the working class population and the trade union movement. The party has been traditionally socialist or social democratic in outlook, proven by the introduction of the welfare state and central planning in the United Kingdom in the 1940s. Following the electoral success of Thatcherism in the 1980s, the disastrous result of the 1983 general election for the Labour Party, and the electoral success of the SDP-Liberal Alliance, the Labour Party has moved towards a neo-liberal stance, as shown in the Third Way philosophy. Since entering government in 1997, some have argued that Labour has become increasingly right wing. Others, however, have pointed to large increases in social spending as evidence that the party remains committed to social democratic values.

18th century Prime Ministers

Prime Ministers during the 18th century were Prime Minister of England, Wales and Scotland (the United Kingdom of Great Britain, formed by the Act of Union 1707).

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Notes and key events
	Sir Robert Walpole (from 1742 as Earl of Orford)		4 April 1721	11 February 1742	Whig	Regarded as the first Prime Minister in the modern sense; The South Sea Company bubble; criticised for Great Britain's poor performance in the War of Jenkins' Ear.
	The Earl of Wilmington		16 February 1742	2 July 1743	Whig	Increased tax on spirits; in poor health for much of his time as Prime Minister, the government was led de facto by John Carteret.
	Henry Pelham		27 August 1743	6 March 1754	Whig	Reorganisation of the Royal Navy; adoption of the Gregorian Calendar; Marriage Act 1753; helped end the War of the Austrian Succession.
	The Duke of Newcastle (1st term)		16 March 1754	16 November 1756	Whig	Led Great Britain into the Seven Years' War with France in North America.
	The Duke of Devonshire		16 November 1756	25 June 1757	Whig	The government was largely run by William Pitt the Elder.
	Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2nd term)		2 July 1757	26 May 1762	Whig	Great Britain gained more influence abroad in the Seven Years' War; the war was largely prosecuted by Pitt the Elder as Secretary of State.
	The Earl of Bute		26 May 1762	16 April 1763	Tory	Ended the dominance of the Whigs and the Seven Years' War.
	George Grenville		16 April 1763	13 July 1765	Whig	Lowered domestic tax at the expense of the colonies; introduced the Stamp Act 1765 (which ultimately led to the American Revolution).
	The Marquess of Rockingham (1st term)		13 July 1765	30 July 1766	Whig	Repealed the controversial Stamp Act, inspired by protests in the colonies.
	The Earl of Chatham, "William Pitt the Elder"		30 July 1766	14 October 1768	Whig	The first real Imperialist; credited with the birth of the British Empire; indirectly responsible for the French Revolution (due to Great Britain's defeat of France in Canada).
	The Duke of Grafton		14 October 1768	28 January 1770	Whig	Attempted to reconcile with the American colonies.
	Lord North		28 January 1770	22 March 1782	Tory	Led Britain into the American Revolution, making a number of tactical errors; the Gordon Riots; resigned after a vote of no confidence.
	The Marquess of Rockingham (2nd term)		27 March 1782	1 July 1782	Whig	Acknowledged the independence of the United States; began a process of political reform (however died in office).
	The Earl of Shelburne		4 July 1782	2 April 1783	Whig	Planned political reform; secured peace with the United States, France and Spain.
	The Duke of Portland (1st term)		2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Whig	Titular head of the Fox-North Coalition. Attempted to reform the British East India Company, but was blocked by George III.
	William Pitt the Younger (1st term)		19 December 1783	14 March 1801	Tory	India Act 1784; attempted to remove rotten boroughs; personally opposed to the slave trade; reduced the national debt due to the rebellion in the North American colonies; formed the Triple Alliance; Constitutional Act of 1791; war with France starting in 1793; introduced the first income tax; Act of Union 1800.

19th century Prime Ministers

Prime Ministers during the 19th century were Prime Minister of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, following the Act of Union 1800 (which merged the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as of 1 January 1801).

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Notes and key events
	Henry Addington		17 March 1801	10 May 1804	Tory	Negotiated the Treaty of Amiens with France in 1802.
	William Pitt the Younger (2nd term)		10 May 1804	23 January 1806	Tory	Alliance with Russia, Austria and Sweden against France ( Third Coalition); Battle of Trafalgar; Battle of Ulm; Battle of Austerlitz.
	The Lord Grenville		11 February 1806	31 March 1807	Whig	Abolition of the slave trade.
	The Duke of Portland (2nd term)		31 March 1807	4 October 1809	Tory	Headed a Tory government; was old and ill, leaving the Cabinet to their own devices (largely headed by Spencer Perceval).
	Spencer Perceval		4 October 1809	11 May 1812	Tory	Industrial revolution; descent of George III into madness; his administration was notable for the lack of senior statesmen (Perceval also served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer); Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars; as of 2006, the only Prime Minister to have been assassinated.
	The Earl of Liverpool		8 June 1812	9 April 1827	Tory	Oversaw Great Britain's victory in the Napoleonic Wars; the Congress of Vienna; an economic recession in 1817; The War of 1812 (in Britain, the American War of 1812 to 1815); Peterloo Massacre in 1819; the Cato Street Conspiracy to assassinate Liverpool; return to the gold standard in 1819.
	George Canning		10 April 1827	8 August 1827	Tory	Died shortly after taking office.
	The Viscount Goderich		31 August 1827	21 January 1828	Tory	Lacked support amongst colleagues; resigned.
	The Duke of Wellington (1st term)		22 January 1828	16 November 1830	Tory	Catholic Emancipation Bill (which he fought a duel over).
	The Earl Grey		22 November 1830	9 July 1834	Whig	Reform Act 1832; restriction of employment of children; abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.
	The Viscount Melbourne (1st term)		16 July 1834	14 November 1834	Whig	William IV's opposition forced him to resign.
	The Duke of Wellington (2nd term)		14 November 1834	10 December 1834	Tory	Caretaker government while Sir Robert Peel was located and returned to London.
	Sir Robert Peel (1st term)		10 December 1834	8 April 1835	Conservative	Unable to form a majority in Parliament so resigned.
	The Viscount Melbourne (2nd term)		18 April 1835	30 August 1841	Whig	A father figure to Queen Victoria; Municipal Corporations Act 1835.
	Sir Robert Peel (2nd term)		30 August 1841	29 June 1846	Conservative	Mines Act 1842; Factory Act 1844; repeal of the Corn Laws (triggered by the Irish potato famine);
	The Lord John Russell (1st term) (afterwards PM as Earl Russell)		30 June 1846	21 February 1852	Whig	Education Act 1847; Australian Colonies Act 1850; improved the Poor Law.
	The Earl of Derby (1st term)		23 February 1852	17 December 1852	Conservative	Government collapsed when his Chancellor's Budget was defeated.
	The Earl of Aberdeen		19 December 1852	30 January 1855	Peelite	Entered the country into the Crimean War; resigned due to the formation of an enquiry into the conduct of the war.
	The Viscount Palmerston (1st term)		6 February 1855	19 February 1858	Whig	Responded to the Indian mutiny of 1857; introduced the India Bill 1858.
	The Earl of Derby (2nd term)		20 February 1858	11 June 1859	Conservative	India Bill 1858, transferring ownership of the East India Company to the Crown; Jews Relief Act, allowing Jews to become MPs.
	The Viscount Palmerston (2nd term)		12 June 1859	18 October 1865	Liberal	Between periods in office he founded the Liberal Party; died in office.
	The Earl Russell (2nd term) (previously PM as Lord John Russell)		29 October 1865	26 June 1866	Liberal	attempted to introduce a further Reform Bill, but was opposed by his Cabinet.
	The Earl of Derby (3rd term)		28 June 1866	25 February 1868	Conservative	Reform Act 1867; considered to be the father of the modern Conservative Party.
	Benjamin Disraeli (1st term)		27 February 1868	1 December 1868	Conservative	The UK's first and, as of 2006, only, Prime Minister from Jewish ancestry; dissolved Parliament as the Conservatives did not have a majority.
	William Ewart Gladstone (1st term)		3 December 1868	17 February 1874	Liberal	Introduced reforms to the British Army, Civil Service and local government; made peacetime flogging illegal; Ballot Act 1872; failed to prevent the Franco-Prussian War.
	Benjamin Disraeli (2nd term) (from 1876 as Earl of Beaconsfield)		20 February 1874	21 April 1880	Conservative	Various reforms including the Climbing Boys Act 1875, the Public Health Act 1875 and the Employers and Workmen Act 1878; Congress of Berlin; breaking up of the League of the Three Emperors.
	William Ewart Gladstone (2nd term)		23 April 1880	9 June 1885	Liberal	First Boer War; Irish Coercion Act; Redistribution of Seats Act; Reform Act, 1884; failure to rescue General Gordon in Khartoum, Sudan.
	The Marquess of Salisbury (1st term)		23 June 1885	28 January 1886	Conservative	Legislation providing for housing the working class.
	William Ewart Gladstone (3rd term)		1 February 1886	20 July 1886	Liberal	First introduction of the Home Rule Bill for Ireland, which split the Liberal Party, resulting in the end of Gladstone's government.
	The Marquess of Salisbury (2nd term)		25 July 1886	11 August 1892	Conservative	Opposed Irish home rule; Local Government Act 1888; Partition of Africa; Free Education Act 1891; creation of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
	William Ewart Gladstone (4th term)		15 August 1892	2 March 1894	Liberal	Reintroduction of the Home Rule Bill, which was passed by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords leading to his resignation.
	The Earl of Rosebery		5 March 1894	22 June 1895	Liberal	Imperialist; plans for expanding the Royal Navy caused disagreement within the Liberal Party; resigned following a vote of censure over military supplies.
	The Marquess of Salisbury (3rd term)		25 June 1895	11 July 1902	Conservative	Workmen's Compensation Act 1897; Second Boer War; Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

20th century Prime Ministers

There was no change in the jurisdiction of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (and hence the area the Prime Minister was Prime Minister of) until 1922, when following the Anglo-Irish War, 26 counties in Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, forming the Irish Free State. The other 6 counties, in the northeast of Ireland, remained in the Union, becoming Northern Ireland. The official name of the United Kingdom became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party	Notes and key events
	Arthur Balfour		11 July 1902	5 December 1905	Conservative	Had poor relations with Edward VII; his cabinet was split over free trade; establishment of the Committee of Imperial Defence; Entente Cordiale.
	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman		5 December 1905	3 April 1908	Liberal	Restored autonomy to Transvaal and the Orange Free State; Anglo-Russian Entente; first Prime Minister to be referred to as such in Parliamentary legislation.
	H. H. Asquith		5 April 1908	5 December 1916	Liberal	The Liberal Welfare Reforms; Parliament Act 1911; National Insurance and pensions; Home Rule Act 1914; World War I.
	David Lloyd George		6 December 1916	19 October 1922	Liberal	End of World War I; Paris Peace Conference; attempted to extend conscription to Ireland during the First World War; granted women over 31 the vote. Formation of the Irish Free State.
	Andrew Bonar Law		23 October 1922	20 May 1923	Conservative	Resigned due to ill health; died six months after leaving office.
	Stanley Baldwin (1st term)		23 May 1923	16 January 1924	Conservative	Called a general election to gain a mandate for protectionist tariffs but failed to gain a majority; resigned after losing a vote of confidence.
	Ramsay MacDonald (1st term)		22 January 1924	4 November 1924	Labour	First Labour prime minister; did not have a majority so could not introduce radical legislation; settled reparations with Germany following World War I.
	Stanley Baldwin (2nd term)		4 November 1924	5 June 1929	Conservative	Treaty of Locarno; signatory of the Kellogg-Briand Pact; Pensions Act; enfranchisement of women over 21; UK General Strike of 1926.
	Ramsay MacDonald (2nd term)		5 June 1929	24 August 1931	Labour	Appointed the first female minister, Margaret Bondfield; economic crises following the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
	Ramsay MacDonald (3rd term)		24 August 1931	7 June 1935	National Labour	Unable to retain the support of the Labour Party, MacDonald officially resigned and was then re-appointed to form a National Government with the support of the Conservative and Liberal parties. He was expelled from the Labour Party.
	Stanley Baldwin (3rd term)		7 June 1935	28 May 1937	Conservative	Managed the abdication crisis of Edward VIII; started rearmament but later criticised for failing to rearm more when Adolf Hitler broke Germany's Treaty of Versailles obligations.
	Neville Chamberlain		28 May 1937	10 May 1940	Conservative	Attempted to prevent World War II through appeasement of Germany; widely criticised following the invasion of Poland; resigned after failing to form a Coalition Government.
	Winston Churchill (1st term)		10 May 1940	27 July 1945	Conservative	World War II; led a Coalition Government; foundation of the United Nations; proposed what would eventually lead to the European Union.
	Clement Attlee		27 July 1945	26 October 1951	Labour	Initiated the post-war consensus; introduced nationalisation of utilities; foundation of the National Health Service; extended national insurance scheme; independence of India and the end of the British role in Palestine; foundation of NATO.
	Winston Churchill (2nd term)		26 October 1951	7 April 1955	Conservative	Domestic policy interrupted by foreign disputes ( Operation Ajax, Mau Mau Uprising, Malayan Emergency).
	Sir Anthony Eden		7 April 1955	9 January 1957	Conservative	Failed to prevent the Egyptian nationalisation of the Suez Canal; invaded Egypt leading to the Suez Crisis.
	Harold Macmillan		11 January 1957	19 October 1963	Conservative	The UK applied to join the European Economic Community for the first time, the application split the Conservatives and was rejected by Charles de Gaulle, President of France; Profumo Affair.
	The Earl of Home (from 1963 as Sir Alec Douglas-Home)		19 October 1963	16 October 1964	Conservative	Was an Earl on becoming Prime Minister, and renounced his peerage in order to enter the House of Commons.
	Harold Wilson (1st term)		16 October 1964	19 June 1970	Labour	Rhodesian U.D.I.; adopted, then abandoned, the National Plan for the economy; Devaluation of the pound; foundation of the Open University; dispute over In Place of Strife trade union reforms.
	Edward Heath		19 June 1970	4 March 1974	Conservative	U-turned over intervention in industry; negotiated entry to the EC; Violence due to Northern Ireland's 'Troubles' peaked; the Sunningdale Agreement agreed; Three-Day Week; called early election in backfiring attempt to confront striking miners.
	Harold Wilson (2nd term)		4 March 1974	5 April 1976	Labour	Ended dispute with miners; Social Contract with trade unions over the economy; Health and Safety at Work Act; Renegotiated terms for EC membership, then 1975 referendum validated entry; North Sea oil.
	James Callaghan		5 April 1976	4 May 1979	Labour	International Monetary Fund loan to support the pound; the Lib-Lab pact; enacted devolution to Scotland and Wales but referendums stopped them; relations with trade unions broke down in the Winter of Discontent.
	Margaret Thatcher		4 May 1979	28 November 1990	Conservative	First female Prime Minister of the UK; Falklands War; sold council housing to tenants ( right to buy); miners' strike 1984-5; privatisation of many previously government-owned industries; decreased the power of trade unions; Anglo-Irish Agreement; Section 28; abolition of GLC; negotiation of the UK rebate towards the European Community budget; fall of the Berlin Wall; the " Poll tax".
	John Major		28 November 1990	2 May 1997	Conservative	Global recession; Gulf War; ratification of the Maastricht Treaty; forced exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (" Black Wednesday"); Citizen's charter; " Back to Basics" campaign; Maastricht Rebels.
	Tony Blair		2 May 1997	incumbent	Labour	Independence for the Bank of England; Belfast Agreement; Human Rights Act; devolution to Scotland and Wales; House of Lords Reform; minimum wage; Kosovo War; Mayor of London and GLA; war in Afghanistan; university tuition fees; Iraq War; Civil Partnership Act