Records of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

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The portraits of former prime ministers line the staircase of 10 Downing Street, with then United States Secretary of State John Kerry walking past them (2016).

The article lists the records of prime ministers of the United Kingdom since 1721.

Period of service

Main article: List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure
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 term of office, at 50 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 in favour of Robert Peel but formed a "caretaker" administration for 25 days (17 November–9 December 1834) while Peel returned from Europe. However, in being a caretaker administration, it is not not necessarily considered a term of office in its own right.

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.

Number of terms

A prime minister's "term" is traditionally regarded as the period between their 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: 3 December 1868–20 February 1874, 23 April 1880–23 June 1885, 1 February–25 July 1886, and 15 August 1892–5 March 1894.

Three prime ministers have served three terms.

  • The Earl of Derby — 23 February 1852–17 December 1852, 20 February 1858–11 June 1859, and 28 June 1866–25 February 1868
  • The Marquess of Salisbury — 23 June 1885–28 January 1886, 25 July 1886–11 August 1892, and 25 June 1895–11 July 1902
  • Stanley Baldwin — 22 May 1923–22 January 1924, 4 November 1924–4 June 1929, and 7 June 1935–28 May 1937

Thirteen prime ministers have served two terms: Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli, Ramsay MacDonald, The Viscount Melbourne, The Duke of Newcastle, Lord Palmerston, Robert Peel, William Pitt the Younger, The Duke of Portland, The Marquess of Rockingham, Lord John Russell, The Duke of Wellington, and Harold Wilson.

Terms of PMs and reigns of sovereigns

The office of Prime Minister has coincided with the reigns of eleven 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:

Served under most sovereigns

Stanley Baldwin is the only prime minister to have served three sovereigns, in succession: King George V, King Edward VIII and King George VI.

Ten prime ministers served under two sovereigns, nine through being in office at transitions between reigns.

Number of PMs serving during reign

  • Elizabeth II — 15, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss
  • George III — 14, from the Duke of Newcastle to Lord Liverpool
  • Victoria — 10, from Lord Melbourne to Lord Salisbury
  • George II — 5, from Robert Walpole to the Duke of Newcastle
  • George V — 5, from H. H. Asquith to Stanley Baldwin
  • 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 — 2, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak
  • George I — 1, Robert Walpole
  • Edward VIII — 1, Stanley Baldwin

PMs born during reigns in which they held office

Eight prime ministers have served office under sovereigns in whose own reigns they were born.

King George III (reigned 1760–1820)

Queen Victoria (reigned 1837–1901)

Queen Elizabeth II (reigned 1952–2022)

Cameron, Johnson, and Truss have the additional distinction of being younger than all of Elizabeth II's children.

PMs who lived under most reigns

Both Robert Walpole (1676–1745) and Lord Wilmington (c. 1673–1743) lived under the reigns of the same seven sovereigns: Charles II, James II, joint sovereigns William III and Mary II, Queen Anne, George I, and George II.

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.

Age

Main article: List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by age

Age at appointment

William Pitt the Younger was the youngest prime minister ever appointed (at age 24).

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 67 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 same birth year, the others being:

The decade of the 1730s was the most productive for births of five future prime ministers: Lord Rockingham (born 1730, served 1765–66 and 1782), Lord North (born 1732, served 1770–82), the Duke of Grafton (born 1735, served 1768–70), Lord Shelburne (born 1737, served 1782–83), and the Duke of Portland (born 1738, served 1783 and 1807–09).

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).

Of the seven former prime ministers currently alive, the oldest is John Major (born 29 March 1943), who is 79 years old. If he reaches his 93rd birthday on 29 March 2036, he will surpass Callaghan's record and 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 and died on 14 March 1811, a total of 41 years and 45 days. The oldest living former prime minister, John Major, left office on 2 May 1997. If he lives until 17 June 2038, by which point he will be 95 years and 80 days old, he will surpass Grafton's record.

In recent 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.

Shortest-lived after office

Henry Campbell-Bannerman died 19 days after resigning as Prime Minister

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.

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.

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, 273 days.

Birthplace

Two prime ministers were born in Ireland, both in Dublin in the Kingdom of Ireland before the Act of Union of 1801.

Two further prime ministers were born outside of the British Isles.

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.

Facial hair

British male prime ministers, when in office, have been predominately clean-shaven men, except for the following (as borne out by pictures):

Bearded

  • Benjamin Disraeli (goatee) (served 1868 and 1874–80)
  • Lord Salisbury (only prime minister to wear a full-set beard; served 1885–86, 1886–92, 1895–1902)

Moustached when in office

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.

Side whiskers (sideburns)

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.

White

Irish

All of the Irish prime ministers were of Anglo-Irish background, largely descended from Protestant English settlers rather than the Gaelic Irish.

  • Lord Shelburne (served 1782–83)
  • George Canning (served 1827) — born in England to Irish parents, represented English constituencies, except for a brief period as MP for Tralee in 1802–06
  • The Duke of Wellington (served 1828–30)
  • Lord Palmerston (served 1855–58 and 1859–65) — born in England to an Anglo-Irish noble family, represented an English constituency

Scottish

  • Lord Bute (served 1762–63)
  • Lord Aberdeen (served 1852–55)
  • William Ewart Gladstone (served 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, and 1892–94) — born in England to Scottish parents, represented a Scottish constituency (Midlothian) for his final three terms in office
  • Lord Rosebery (served 1894–95) — born in England to a family of Scottish nobility
  • Arthur Balfour (served 1902–05)
  • Henry Campbell-Bannerman (served 1905–08)
  • Bonar Law (served 1922–23) — 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
  • Ramsay MacDonald (served 1924 and 1929–35)
  • Harold Macmillan (served 1956–63) — though born and lived lifelong in England, his paternal grandfather was Scottish and Macmillan considered himself a Scot[2]
  • Alec Douglas-Home (served 1963–64) — 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
  • Gordon Brown (served 2007–10)
  • David Cameron (served 2010–16) — 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 1916–22) — 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.

Canadian

British Jewry

Anglo-Indian

Non-white

British Indian

Religious background

Christian

Britain's prime ministers have been predominately 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:

Church of Scotland

Gordon Brown is a member of the Church of Scotland

Scottish Episcopal Church

Unitarian Church

  • The Duke of Grafton — Church of England when in office, became member of Unitarian congregation in London in 1774.[14]
  • Neville Chamberlain — was 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 organized religion.[15]

Congregationalist Church

Baptist

Free Church of Scotland

Methodist Church

Roman Catholic Church

  • Tony Blair — Anglican while in office, he 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, Boris Johnson married Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral – a Roman Catholic Church – adding an additional Catholic sacrament.[19]

Other religions

Judaism

Benjamin Disraeli, the only ethnically Jewish prime minister of the United Kingdom

Hinduism

  • Rishi Sunak — on 25 October 2022 became the first Hindu and the first British Asian to become UK Prime Minister. As Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2021, he noted leaving lighted Diwali candles on the steps of Number 11 Downing Street as one of his proudest achievements and also has a history of taking his oath of office with a Bhagavad Gita.[20] He is also the first religious UK Prime Minister to follow a religion which is not Christianity upon taking office.[21]

Irreligion

  • David Lloyd George — lost his faith as a youth, but retained an appreciation of good preaching and hymn-singing.[16][17]
  • Neville Chamberlain — described himself as "reverent agnostic," despite still holding some sympathies for the Unitarian principles he was raised in.[15]
  • 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".[22]
  • James Callaghan — became an atheist while working as a trade union official.[18]

Disabled

At least seven prime ministers are known to have been physically disabled when in office.

  • Lord Liverpool — was incapacitated by a severe stroke on 17 February 1827,[23] forcing him to retire from office on 9 April 1827.
  • The Duke of Wellington — was 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 — during his second term became increasingly deaf (condition onset in 1949) and had a series of strokes that led to his retirement and using a wheelchair in later years.[24]
  • Harold Macmillan — was left with a slight limp and poor strength in his right hand, affecting his handwriting, after several wounds in the First World War.[25] 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.[26]
  • Theresa May — has diabetes.

Others became disabled after leaving office, notably:

  • The Duke of Newcastle — was left lame and speech-impaired after a stroke in December 1767.
  • Lord North — lost his eyesight between 1786 and 1790.
  • John Russell, 1st Earl Russell — used a wheelchair in later life; his grandson Bertrand Russell recalled him as "a kindly old man in a wheelchair."[27]
  • Lord Rosebery — movement, hearing, and eyesight increasingly impaired between a stroke in 1918 and his death in 1929.
  • 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.[28]

Harold Wilson is believed to have been aware he had early-onset Alzheimer's disease when he resigned office in 1976, though he continued to serve as an MP until 1983.[29]

Prior to taking office, and while serving as an MP, Alec Douglas-Home was immobilised following an operation to treat spinal tuberculosis from 1940 to 1943.

PMs who served from (or later entered) the House of Lords

Main article: List of peerages held by prime ministers of the United Kingdom

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 1846–52, and his second and last entirely as a member of the Lords as the 1st Earl Russell in 1865–66, 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, chronologically:

^a never served in the House of Commons during political career

Three prime ministers were elevated from the Commons to the House of Lords during their terms through being raised to the peerage.

  • Robert Walpole — made the 1st Earl of Orford five days before formally resigning in 1742
  • William Pitt the Elder — made the 1st Earl of Chatham five days after taking office in 1766
  • Benjamin Disraeli — made the 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 life peer as Baron Home of the Hirsel in 1974.

Eleven 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.

In contrast, 19 prime ministers preceding the current (Rishi Sunak) have never become members of the House of Lords, including his seven 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.

Service in House of Commons

David Lloyd George had the longest unbroken career as an MP
Main article: List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies represented by sitting prime ministers

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 oldest debut of a future prime minister as MP was by Neville Chamberlain who was elected, aged 49 years 261 days, at general election in 1918.[30]

The youngest at first election was Lord Euston (later the Duke of Grafton), who was elected at by election 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.

The longest service as MP was enjoyed by Winston Churchill, who sat for a total of 63 years and 360 days, for five successive seats, between 1 October 1900 and retiring on 25 September 1964, excluding two intervals out of parliament (in 1908 and 1922–24), retiring 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 (having received a peerage on 1 January 1945 but not been able to take his seat in the Lords) on 26 March 1945, a period of 54 years and 350 days. From 1929 he had been Father of the House. It also covered the successive terms of eleven other prime ministers, from Lord Salisbury (first ministry) to Winston Churchill (first ministry).

Of intervals between service in the Commons, Alec Douglas-Home had the longest between automatically vacating his seat at Lanark on 11 July 1951 by succeeding his father and going to the House of Lords as the 14th Earl of Home, and gaining his next seat at Kinross and Western Perthshire in a by-election on 7 November 1963, a total of 12 years 123 days, after becoming Prime Minister and disclaiming his hereditary peerage. He had a previous interval out of the Commons between defeat in the 1945 General Election and returning in that of 1950 more than four years later.

Of parliamentary constituencies that have been represented, none have been represented by more than one serving prime minister. Four future prime ministers sat for Newport, Isle of Wight (constituency abolished 1832): Lord Palmerston and Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) in 1807–09, George Canning in 1826–27 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:

PMs who were Father of the House

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 below became Father after the end of their terms. James Callaghan only 4 years and 36 days after end of office, while at the other extreme Edward Heath became Father 18 years after the end of his.

name entered House tenure as PM became Father left House party constituency
Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1868 1905–1908 1907 1908 (died) Liberal Stirling Burghs
David Lloyd George 1890 1916–1922 1929 1945 Liberal Caernarvon Boroughs
Winston Churchill 1900
  • 1940–1945
  • 1951–1955
 1959 1964 Conservative
James Callaghan 1945 1976–1979 1983 1987 Labour Cardiff South and Penarth
Edward Heath 1950 1970–1974 1992 2001 Conservative Old Bexley and Sidcup

Education

John Major is the most recent prime minister not to be educated at a university
Main article: List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by education


record institution number of PMs first and last notes
school with most alumni prime ministers Eton College 20 Robert Walpole to Boris Johnson Harrow School has educated 7 prime ministers, most recently Winston Churchill
university with most alumni prime ministers Oxford University 30 Lord Wilmington to Rishi Sunak Cambridge University has educated 14 prime ministers, most recently Stanley Baldwin
university college with most alumni prime ministers Christ Church, Oxford 13 George Grenville to Alec Douglas-Home
vocational institution with most prime ministers as students The Inns of Court 11 Lord Wilmington to Tony Blair of these, eight passed through Lincoln's Inn (William Pitt the Younger to Tony Blair)

The first prime minister never to have been a university graduate was the Duke of Devonshire (served 1756–57); the most recent is John Major (served 1990–97).

Armed forces veterans

Clement Attlee was a commissioned officer in World War I

The earliest prime minister to be an armed forces veteran was Henry Pelham (1743–54), who had served as a volunteer soldier in James Dormer's Regiment of Dragoons during the Jacobite rising of 1715 and fought at the Battle of Preston that year against the Jacobite forces.

The most recent prime minister to be an armed forces veteran was James Callaghan (1976–79), 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 (1782–83), 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 1828–30 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.

No future prime ministers have yet served in the flying services, although Neville Chamberlain (1937–40) and Winston Churchill (1940–45 and 1951–55) were honorary Air Commodores in the Auxiliary Air Force during their respective terms of office.

Active service veterans

Jacobite Rising (1715)

  • Henry Pelham — Dormer's Regiment — fought Battle of Preston

Jacobite Rising (1745)

  • Lord Rockingham — Colonel of volunteers raised against invasion from Scotland

Seven Years' War

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

In addition, the following served in home-based militia, volunteer, or yeomanry units raised during the same wars, but were not deployed abroad:

Mahdist War

Second Boer War

World War I

World War II

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:

  • Lord Rosebery — one son killed in action in the First World War
  • H. H. Asquith — one son killed in action in the First World War (during his father's period in office)
  • Bonar Law — two sons killed in action in the First World War
  • Anthony Eden — two brothers killed in action in the First World War, and one son killed in action in the Second World War
  • Alec Douglas-Home — one brother killed on active service in the Second World War

Also:

Decorated

Winston Churchill received 38 decorations and medals
The 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,[31] 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.[32][33]

Churchill was also the only British prime minister to have receive 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 Knight Companions (KG), and the first female, Lady 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 Years Honours.

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.

Number of living former PMs

None

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 a time when only one former prime minister has been alive.

  • 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 the resignation of Liz Truss in October 2022, there are currently seven living former prime ministers. The other six are John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson. This is the record for the number of living former prime ministers at any time.

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:

prime minister former prime ministers from to duration
Stanley Baldwin Asquith, Lloyd-George, Law 20 May 1923 30 October 1924 163 days
Ramsay MacDonald Asquith, Lloyd-George, Baldwin 22 January 1924 9 October 1924 261 days
Neville Chamberlain Lloyd-George, MacDonald, Baldwin 28 May 1937 30 June 1937 33 days
Margaret Thatcher Heath, Wilson, Callaghan 4 May 1979 13 May 1983 4 years 9 days
Rishi Sunak May, Johnson, Truss 25 October 2022 present 5 days

The fewest former prime ministers still sat 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.

Living former PMs

There are currently seven living former prime ministers. From oldest to youngest:

name date of birth tenure
John Major (1943-03-29) 29 March 1943 (age 79) 1990–1997
Gordon Brown (1951-02-20) 20 February 1951 (age 71) 2007–2010
Tony Blair (1953-05-06) 6 May 1953 (age 69) 1997–2007
Theresa May (1956-10-01) 1 October 1956 (age 66) 2016–2019
Boris Johnson (1964-06-19) 19 June 1964 (age 58) 2019–2022
David Cameron (1966-10-09) 9 October 1966 (age 56) 2010–2016
Liz Truss (1975-07-28) 28 July 1975 (age 47) 2022

Three of these former prime ministers are still serving members of the House of Commons, and of the governing Conservative Party. These are Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

The most recent death of a former prime minister was that of Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) on 8 April 2013 (aged 87).

Died in office

Spencer Perceval is the only prime minister to be assassinated

Seven prime ministers have died in office:

Spencer Perceval is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated. Lord Liverpool, Robert Peel, Margaret Thatcher, and John Major survived targeted assassination attempts in 1820, 1843, 1984, and 1991 respectively while in office, while Edward Heath survived one in 1974 after he had been ousted from office.[34]

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.

Died while immediate successor was in office

Nine former prime ministers have died while their immediate successor was in office:

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.

Married

James Callaghan was the longest-married prime minister
Further information: Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom

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 to second wives:

Widowed

Widowed the longest

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 21 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

Divorced

Three British prime ministers have been divorced.

  • 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.

Bachelors

Four British prime ministers have been bachelors.

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:

Brothers

Full cousins

  • 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.

Great-great-uncle and great-great-nephew

Father-in-law and son-in-law

Brothers-in-law

Uncle-in-law and nephew-in-law

  • Lord Chatham (also known as William Pitt the Elder) married Hester Grenville who was the sister of George Grenville and the aunt of William, Lord Grenville (also known as William Grenville), which makes Lord Chatham the uncle-in-law of Lord Grenville.
  • Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden. In 1952, during Churchill's second term, Eden married Clarissa, daughter of John Strange Spencer-Churchill, Winston's brother, before succeeding to the office.

Great-uncle-in-law and great-nephew-in-law

Great-great-great-grandfather and great-great-great-grandson

Great-great-great-uncle and great-great-great-nephew

Most children

The most prolific prime minister was apparently Lord Grey who in wedlock fathered ten sons and six daughters.[37] In addition to one illegitimate daughter by Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire who was subsequently raised by Grey's parents.[38]

Height

The tallest prime minister is believed to be Lord Salisbury, who was around 6 feet 4 inches (193.0 cm) in height,[39] although Downing Street's own website lists 6-foot-1-inch (185.42 cm) James Callaghan as the tallest.[40]

The shortest prime minister to take office was believed to be Spencer Perceval who stood at around 5 feet 3 inches (160.0 cm) in height.[41] 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.[42] The next smallest prime ministers were Lord John Russell who remained "under" 5 feet 5 inches (165.1 cm) throughout his adult life.[43] and Margaret Thatcher, who was 5 feet 5 inches (165.1 cm).[44]

Wealth

After being appointed prime minister by King Charles III on 25 October 2022, Rishi Sunak became the richest prime minister ever, with an estimated combined personal fortune with his wife of £730 million.[45]

The previous richest prime minister was Lord Derby, with a personal fortune of over £7 million (about £444 million in today's money).[46]

The poorest prime minister was William Pitt the Younger, who was £40,000 (now over £1 million) in debt by 1800.[47][48]

Legal issues

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.[49]

In 2006 and 2007, Tony Blair became the first sitting prime minister to be questioned as part of a criminal investigation, following the Cash-for-Honours scandal, but this was not under caution.[50][51]

In 2022, Boris Johnson received a fixed-penalty notice relating to violations of the COVID-19 lockdown regulations in the Partygate scandal, becoming the first prime minister found to have broken the law in office. Future prime minister Rishi Sunak, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, was also fined at the same time.[52]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sir Robert Walpole (Whig, 1721–1742) – History of government". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Winds of Change" speech, minute 29:04. "PM Harold Macmillan – Wind of Change Speech at the Cape Town Parliament – 3 February 1960". YouTube. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  3. ^ Blake (1967), p. 3
  4. ^ Wolf, Lucien. 1905. The Disraeli Family, "Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England", vol. 5, pp. 202–218. Of these surnames, Shiprut de Gabay, Cardoso, Aboab, and, most likely, Israeli are Sephardic, Basevi is of Ashkenazic origin, while Rieti was originally taken by a family whose ancestors lived in Italy for centuries; -see Beider, Alexander. [1] Pseudo-Sephardic Surnames from Italy. "Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy," vol. XXXIII, Number 3, Fall 2017, pp. 3–8 (see pp. 5–6).
  5. ^ Roth, Cecil (1952). Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Philosophical Library. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8022-1382-2.
  6. ^ Blake (1967), p. 6
  7. ^ Shachem, Daniela (18 September 2008). "The Disraeli Legacy". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  8. ^ Blake, Robert (18 October 1984). "Weathering the storm". London Review of Books. Vol. 6, no. 19. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  9. ^ "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
  10. ^ "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." Brendon, de Vyvyen, Children of the Raj
  11. ^ "Lord Liverpool was Not a Ninny". Shannon Selin. 10 January 2014.
  12. ^ Rao, Prashant (25 October 2022). "Rishi Sunak is the U.K.'s new Prime Minister. Who is he?". lA. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  13. ^ Sherwood, Harriet (24 October 2022). "Rishi Sunak to become first British PM of colour and also first Hindu at No 10". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  14. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 19. Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 924. ISBN 0-19-861369-5.
  15. ^ a b Ruston, Alan. "Neville Chamberlain". Unitarian Universalist Historical Society. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  16. ^ a b Crosby, Travis L. (2014). "The Education of a Statesman". The Unknown Lloyd George. London: I. B. Tauris. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-78076-485-6.
  17. ^ a b 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. ISBN 0-8262-0203-9.
  18. ^ a b "James Callaghan". infobritain.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  19. ^ Hazel Shearing; Kathryn Snowdon (30 May 2021). "Boris Johnson marries Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral". Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  20. ^ "When Rishi Sunak celebrated Diwali at 11 Downing Street, took oath on 'Bhagavad Gita'". Deccan Herald. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  21. ^ Murphy, Neil (24 October 2022). "Rishi Sunak: young, wealthy and the UK's first Hindu prime minister". The National. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  22. ^ "Clement Attlee". Humanist Heritage.
  23. ^ "Robert Jenkinson, Lord Liverpool". Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015. Spartacus Educational website biography on Lord Liverpool.
  24. ^ W. Attenborough, Churchill and the Black Dog of Depression (2014), pp. 175–186.
  25. ^ [2] Spartacus Educational website biography on Harold Macmillan.
  26. ^ Gaby Hinsliff (10 October 2009). "How Gordon Brown's loss of an eye informs his view of the world". The Observer. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013.
  27. ^ Clark, Ronald (2011). The Life of Bertrand Russell. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4482-0215-7.
  28. ^ Baldwin: A Biography by Keith Middlemass and John Barnes (1969), page 1070. Publisher, Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
  29. ^ Morris, Nigel (11 November 2008). "Wilson 'may have had Alzheimer's when he resigned'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  30. ^ Dermot Englefield (1995), Facts About the British Prime Ministers, H.W. Wilson Co, ISBN 978-0-8242-0863-9
  31. ^ Medals in this context mean wearable awards, not including prize medals such as those accompanying the Nobel Prizes.
  32. ^ "Orders, Decorations and Medals". The International Churchill Society. 18 June 2008.
  33. ^ Before Churchill, the most decorated was the Duke of Wellington, whose orders, decorations and medals totaled at least 28.
  34. ^ "History – The Year London Blew Up". Channel 4. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  35. ^ Trahair, R.C.S. (1994). From Aristotelian to Reaganomics: A Dictionary of Eponyms With Biographies in the Social Science. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-313-27961-4. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  36. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (2006). Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang. Canongate U.S. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-55584-794-4. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  37. ^ Payne, Edward John (1911). "Grey, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 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.
  38. ^ Bolen, Cheryl. "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire". Cheryl Bolen. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  39. ^ Englefield, Dermot; Janet Seaton; Isobel White (1995). Facts About the British Prime Ministers. Mansell. p. 374.
  40. ^ "James Callaghan". 10 Downing Street. Archived from the original on 25 June 2007.
  41. ^ Englefield, Dermot; Janet Seaton; Isobel White (1995). Facts About the British Prime Ministers. Mansell. p. 374.
  42. ^ Dasgupta, Reshmi (22 July 2022). "Can tall tales 'short' circuit Rishi Sunak's campaign?". Firstpost. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  43. ^ Prest, John (21 May 2009). "Russell, John, first Earl Russell (1792–1878)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24325. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  44. ^ "Statesmen and stature: how tall are our world leaders?". The Guardian. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  45. ^ "Does Rishi Sunak's £730m fortune make him too rich to be PM?". theguardian.com. Retrieved 24 October 2022. Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, are sitting on a combined fortune of about £730m
  46. ^ "Richest British Prime Minister". guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  47. ^ "PITT, Hon. William (1759–1806), of Holwood and Walmer Castle, Kent". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  48. ^ "William Pitt the Younger". Regency History. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  49. ^ "Hall of fame: Robert Walpole, Britain's first PM". The Gazette. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  50. ^ "Police quiz Blair inside Downing St on peerages". The Guardian. 15 December 2006. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  51. ^ "Blair interviewed for second time". The Guardian. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  52. ^ "How much Boris Johnson was fined and what the law says about Covid fixed penalty notices". Daily Telegraph. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

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