HOME : PRIME MINISTER

Your PM Factfile

Q1: How many Prime Ministers have there been?

A: There have been 80 Prime Ministers

Q2: Which Prime Minister spent some time in the Tower of London?

A: Robert Walpole was impeached in 1712 for corruption and spent some months in the Tower of London after he led the opposition in Parliament to the Tory administration of 1710 to 1714.

Q3: Who is the only Prime Minister to have taken office whilst out of the UK?

A: Herbert Henry Asquith (1908 – 1916) Asquith is the only Prime Minister to have taken office on foreign soil. When he succeeded Campbell-Bannerman Edward VII was in Biarritz and Asquith travelled there for the official ‘kissing-hands’ with the monarch.

Q4: Who was the last Whig Prime Minister?

A: Lord John Russell who served a second term between 1865-1866

Q5: Which Prime Minister has a tea named after him?

A: Earl Grey who served 1830 – 1834

Q6: Who was the longest serving Prime Minister from the Labour Party?

A: Tony Blair who was Prime Minister between 1997and 2007

Q7: Which Prime Minister was appointed a special guardian to Princes William and Harry after the death of Princess Diana?

A: Sir John Major

Q8: Which Prime Minister won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953?

A: Sir Winston Churchill

Q9: Which Prime Minister became the Baroness of Kesteven?

A: Margaret Thatcher

Q10: Who was the youngest ever Prime Minister?

A: William Pitt ‘the Younger’ – who became a Tory PM aged 24 in 1783

Q11: Which Prime Minister served in the Second World War reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel?

A: Sir Edward Heath – Conservative Prime Minister 1970- 1974

Q12: Who is the only 20th-century British Prime Minister to have held all 4 major offices of state:

A: James Callaghan – Prime Minister (Labour) 1976 -1979 was Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister.

Q13: Which Prime Minister was also the 1st Earl of Avon?

A: Sir Anthony Eden – Conservative 1955 -1957

Q14: Which Prime Minister was known as ‘Supermac’?

A: Harold Macmillan – Conservative Prime Minister 1957 – 1963

Q15: Which Prime Minister went to University when he was sixteen?

A: Gordon Brown – Labour Prime Minister 2007- 2010

Q16: Which Prime Minister gave a fifth of his fortune to a First World War fund?

A: Stanley Baldwin – Conservative

Q17: Who was the only Prime Minister to have Welsh as their first language?

A: David Lloyd George - Liberal Prime Minister 1916-1922

Q18: Who was the first Labour Prime Minister

A: James Ramsey MacDonald – first elected in 1924

Q19: Who has been the first and only Jewish Prime Minister?

A: Benjamin Disraeli first elected in 1868

Q20: What age was Prime Minister Palmerston when he took up office?

A: He was 71, the oldest Prime Minister to take up office.

List of PM’s and Dates

Prime Ministers of the 20th & 21st Centuries

Liz Truss

The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss
2022 to 2022

Boris Johnson

The Rt Hon Boris Johnson
2019 to 2022

Theresa May

The Rt Hon Theresa May
2016 to 2017

The Rt Hon David Cameron

The Rt Hon David Cameron
2010 to 2016

Gordon Brown
Labour 2007 to 2010

Tony Blair

Tony Blair
Labour 1997 to 2007

Sir John Major

Sir John Major
Conservative 1990 to 1997

Baroness Margaret Thatcher

Baroness Margaret Thatcher
Conservative 1979 to 1990

James Callaghan

James Callaghan
Labour 1976 to 1979

Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson
Labour 1974 to 1976

Sir Edward Heath

Sir Edward Heath
Conservative 1970 to 1974

Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson
Labour 1964 to 1970

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Conservative 1963 to 1964

Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan
Conservative 1957 to 1963

Sir Anthony Eden

Sir Anthony Eden
Conservative 1955 to 1957

Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill
Conservative 1951 to 1955

Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee
Labour 1945 to 1951

Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill
Conservative 1940 to 1945

Neville Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain
Conservative 1937 to 1940

Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin
Conservative 1935 to 1937

James Ramsay MacDonald

James Ramsay MacDonald
Labour 1929 to 1935

Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin
Conservative 1924 to 1929

James Ramsay MacDonald

James Ramsay MacDonald
Labour 1924 to 1924

Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin
Conservative 1923 to 1924

Andrew Bonar Law

Andrew Bonar Law
Conservative 1922 to 1923

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George
Liberal 1916 to 1922

Herbert Henry Asquith

Herbert Henry Asquith
Liberal 1908 to 1916

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerma

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Liberal 1905 to 1908

Arthur James Balfour

Arthur James Balfour
Conservative 1902 to 1905

19th century Prime Ministers

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Conservative 1895 to 1902

Archibald Primrose 5th Earl of Rosebery

Archibald Primrose 5th Earl of Rosebery
Liberal 1894 to 1895

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone
Liberal 1892 to 1894

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Conservative 1886 to 1892

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone
Liberal 1886 to 1886

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Conservative 1885 to 1886

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone
Liberal 1880 to 1885

Benjamin Disraeli The Earl of Beaconsfield

Benjamin Disraeli The Earl of Beaconsfield
Conservative 1874 to 1880

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone
Liberal 1868 to 1874

Benjamin Disraeli The Earl of Beaconsfield

Benjamin Disraeli The Earl of Beaconsfield
Conservative 1868 to 1868

Edward Smith Stanley 14th Earl of Derby
Tory and Whig 1866 to 1868

Lord John Russell 1st Earl Russell

Lord John Russell 1st Earl Russell
Whig 1865 to 1866

Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Tory and Whig 1859 to 1865

Edward Smith Stanley 14th Earl of Derby
Tory and Whig 1858 to 1859

Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Henry John Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Tory and Whig 1855 to 1858

George Hamilton Gordon Earl of Aberdeen

George Hamilton Gordon Earl of Aberdeen
Conservative 1852 to 1855

Edward Smith Stanley 14th Earl of Derby
Tory and Whig 1852 to 1852

Lord John Russell 1st Earl Russell

Lord John Russell 1st Earl Russell
Whig 1846 to 1852

Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet

Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet
Conservative 1841 to 1846

William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne

William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Whig 1835 to 1841

Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet

Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet
Conservative 1834 to 1835

Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington
Tory 1834 to 1834

William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne

William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Whig 1834 to 1834

Charles Grey 2nd Earl Grey

Charles Grey 2nd Earl Grey
Whig 1830 to 1834

Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington
Tory 1828 to 1830

Frederick Robinson Viscount Goderich

Frederick Robinson Viscount Goderich
Tory 1827 to 1828

George Canning

George Canning
Tory 1827 to 1827

Robert Banks Jenkinson Earl of Liverpool

Robert Banks Jenkinson Earl of Liverpool
Conservative 1812 to 1827

Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval
Tory 1809 to 1812

William Bentinck Duke of Portland

William Bentinck Duke of Portland
Whig 1807 to 1809

William Wyndham Grenville 1st Baron Grenville

William Wyndham Grenville 1st Baron Grenville
Whig 1806 to 1807

William Pitt 'The Younger'

William Pitt ‘The Younger’
Tory 1804 to 1806

Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth

Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth
Tory 1801 to 1804

18th century Prime Minsters

William Pitt 'The Younger'

William Pitt ‘The Younger’
Tory 1783 to 1801

William Bentinck Duke of Portland

William Bentinck Duke of Portland
Whig 1783 to 1783

William Petty 2nd Earl of Shelburne

William Petty 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Whig 1782 to 1783

Lord Frederick North

Lord Frederick North
Tory 1770 to 1782

Augustus Henry Fitzroy 3rd Duke of Grafton

Augustus Henry Fitzroy 3rd Duke of Grafton
Whig 1768 to 1770

William Pitt ‘The Elder’ 1st Earl of Chatham
Whig 1766 to 1768

Charles Watson-Wentworth 2nd Marquess of Rockingham

Charles Watson-Wentworth 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
Whig 1765 to 1766

George Grenville

George Grenville
Whig 1763 to 1765

John Stuart 3rd Earl of Bute

John Stuart 3rd Earl of Bute
Tory 1762 to 1763

Thomas Pelham-Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle

Thomas Pelham-Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle
Whig 1757 to 1762

William Cavendish Duke of Devonshire

William Cavendish Duke of Devonshire
Whig 1756 to 1757

Thomas Pelham-Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle

Thomas Pelham-Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle
Whig 1754 to 1756

Henry Pelham

Henry Pelham
Whig 1743 to 1754

Spencer Compton 1st Earl of Wilmington
Whig 1742 to 1743

Sir Robert Walpole

Sir Robert Walpole
Whig 1721 to 1742