The United Kingdom has witnessed 53 Prime Ministers so far. Historyplex provides a complete list of British Prime Ministers, their time in office, and the political party they were affiliated to, in chronological order.
One and Only
Baroness Margaret Thatcher was the only female Prime Minister that United Kingdom has had till date. She was in office for nearly 11 years, from 1979 to 1990. She belonged to the Conservative Party. She was nicknamed as ‘Iron Lady’. She proved to be the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century.
The Prime Minister is the Head of the Government of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He selects all the other ministers of the Cabinet from the members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. He is the key decision and policy maker. He also supervises the operations of the Civil Service and other government agencies.
Sir Robert Walpole was the first British Prime Minister. He is also the longest serving British Prime minister until now. His term lasted for about 21 years―from 1721 to 1742. The shortest term in this office was served by George Canning in 1827, which lasted for only 119 days.
List of British Prime Ministers
Name: Sir Robert Walpole (1676 – 1745)
Time in Office: 1721 to 1742
Political Party: Whig
Name: Spencer Compton (1673 or 1674 – 1743)
Title: 1st Earl of Wilmington
Time in Office: 1721 to 1742
Political Party: Whig
Name: Henry Pelham (1696 – 1754)
Time in Office: 1743 to 1754
Political Party: Whig
Name: William Cavendish (baptized in 1720 – 1764)
Title: Duke of Devonshire
Time in Office: 1756 to 1757
Political Party: Whig
Name: Thomas Pelham-Holles (1693 – 1768)
Title: 1st Duke of Newcastle
Time in Office: 1754 to 1756, 1757 to 1762
Political Party: Whig
Name: John Stuart (1713 – 1792)
Title: 3rd Earl of Bute
Time in Office: 1762 to 1763
Political Party: Tory
Name: George Grenville (1712 – 1770)
Time in Office: 1763-1765
Political Party: Whig
Name: Charles Watson-Wentworth (1730 – 1782)
Title: 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
Time in Office: 1765-1766 and in 1782 (for 5 months)
Political Party: Whig
Name: William Pitt ‘The Elder’ (1708 – 1778)
Title: 1st Earl of Chatham
Time in Office: 1766 to 1768
Political Party: Whig
Name: Augustus Henry Fitzroy (1735 – 1811)
Title: 3rd Duke of Grafton
Time in Office: 1768 to 1770
Political Party: Whig
Name: Lord Frederick North (1732 – 1792)
Title Earl of Guilford
Time in Office: 1770 to 1782
Political Party: Tory
Name: William Petty (1737 – 1805)
Title: 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Time in Office: 1782 to 1783
Political Party: Whig
Name: Henry Addington (1757 – 1844)
Title: 1st Viscount Sidmouth
Time in Office: 1801 to 1804
Political Party: Tory
Name: William Pitt ‘The Younger’ (1759 – 1806)
Time in Office: 1783 to 1801, 1804 to 1806
Political Party: Tory
Name: William Wyndham Grenville (1759 – 1834)
Title: 1st Baron Grenville
Time in Office: 1806 to 1807
Political Party: Whig
Name: William Bentinck (1738 – 1809)
Title: Duke of Portland
Time in Office: 1783 to 1783, 1807 to 1809
Political Party: Whig
Name: Spencer Perceval (1762 – 1812)
Time in Office: 1809 to 1812
Political Party: Tory
Name: Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770 – 1828)
Title: Earl of Liverpool
Time in Office: 1812 to 1827
Political Party: Conservative
Name: George Canning (1770 – 1827)
Time in Office: 1827 to 1827
Political Party: Tory
Name: Frederick Robinson (1782 – 1828)
Title: Viscount Goderich
Time in Office: 1827 to 1828
Political Party: Tory
Name: Charles Grey (1764 – 1845)
Title: 2nd Earl Grey
Time in Office: 1830 to 1834
Political Party: Whig
Name: Arthur Wellesley (1769 – 1852)
Title:1st Duke of Wellington
Time in Office: 1828 to 1830, 1834 to 1834
Political Party: Tory
Name: William Lamb (1779 – 1848)
Title: 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Time in Office: 1834 to 1834, 1835 to 1841
Political Party: Whig
Name: Sir Robert Peel (1788 – 1850)
Title: 2nd Baronet
Time in Office: 1834 to 1835, 1841 to 1846
Political Party: Conservative
Name: George Hamilton (1784 – 1860)
Title: Gordon Earl of Aberdeen
Time in Office: 1852 to 1855
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Henry John Temple (1784 – 1865)
Title: 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Time in Office: 1855 to 1858, 1859 to 1865
Political Party: Tory and Whig
Name: Lord John Russel (1792 – 1878)
Title: 1st Earl Russell
Time in Office: 1846 to 1852, 1865 to 1866
Political Party: Whig
Name: Edward Smith Stanley (1799 – 1869)
Title: 14th Earl of Derby
Time in Office: 1852 to 1852, 1858 to 1859, 1866 to 1868
Political Party: Tory and Whig
Name: Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)
Title: The Earl of Beaconsfield
Time in Office: 1868 to 1868, 1874 to 1880
Political Party: Conservative
Name: William Ewart Gladstone (1809 – 1898)
Time in Office: 1868 to 1874, 1880 to 1885, 1886 to 1886, 1892 to 1894
Political Party: Liberal
Name: Archibald Primrose (1847 – 1929)
Title: 5th Earl of Rosebery
Time in Office: 1894 to 1895
Political Party: Liberal
Name: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (1830 – 1903)
Title: 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Time in Office: 1885 to 1886, 1886 to 1892, 1895 to 1902
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Arthur James Balfour (1848 – 1930)
Time in Office: 1902 – 1905
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836 – 1908)
Time in Office: 1905 to 1908
Political Party: Liberal
Name: Herbert Henry Asquith (1852 – 1928)
Time in Office: 1908 to 1916
Political Party: Liberal
Name: David Lloyd George (1863 – 1945)
Time in Office: 1916 to 1922
Political Party: Liberal
Name: Andrew Bonar Law (1858 – 1923)
Time in Office: 1922 to 1923
Political Party: Conservative
Name: James Ramsay MacDonald (1866 – 1937)
Time in Office: 1924 to 1924, 1929 to 1935
Political Party: Labour
Name: Stanley Baldwin (1867 – 1947)
Time in Office: 1923 to 1924, 1924 to 1929, 1935 to 1937
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Neville Chamberlain (1869 – 1940)
Time in Office: 1937 to 1940
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Clement Attlee (1883 – 1967)
Time in Office: 1945 to 1951
Political Party: Labour
Name: Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965)
Time in Office: 1940 to 1945, 1951 to 1955
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Sir Anthony Eden (1897 – 1977)
Time in Office: 1955 to 1957
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Harold Macmillan (1894 – 1986)
Time in Office: 1957 to 1963
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1903 – 1995)
Time in Office: 1963 to 1964
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Sir Edward Heath (1916 – 2005)
Time in Office: 1970-1974
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Harold Wilson (1916 – 1995)
Time in Office: 1964 to 1970, 1974 to 1976
Political Party: Labour
Name: James Callaghan (1912 – 2005)
Time in Office: 1976 to 1979
Political Party: Labour
Name: Baroness Margaret Thatcher (1925 – 2013)
Time in Office: 1979 to 1990
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Sir John Major (born 1943)
Time in Office: 1990 to 1997
Political Party: Conservative
Name: Tony Blair (born 1953)
Time in Office: 1997 to 2007
Political Party: Labour
Name: Gordon Brown (born 1951)
Time in Office: 2007 to 2010
Political Party: Labour
Name: David Cameron (born 1966)
Time in Office: 2010 – present
Political Party: Conservative
British Prime Ministers during World War I (1914 – 1918)
The First World War began when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife were assassinated on June 28, 1914 at Sarajevo, Bosnia. It ended when the treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28,1919. Herbert Henry Asquith was serving as the British Prime Minister until 1916. He was then replaced by David Lloyd George in the same year.
British Prime Ministers during World War II (1939 – 1945)
The Second World War began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. It ended when Japan surrendered by signing the surrender documents on USS Missouri, an American warship on September 2, 1945. During this period, Neville Chamberlain was the prime minister of United kingdom in 1939. He was succeeded by Sir Winston Churchill in 1940, who continued in office until 1945. Clement Attlee then became the prime minister before the surrender of Japan in 1945.
The next general elections in the United Kingdom are scheduled to be held on 7 May 2015. A new government shall be formed thereafter. May the best candidate win!
