List of peerages held by prime ministers of the United Kingdom

This page lists all peerages held by Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, whether created or inherited before or after their premiership. Extant titles are in bold.

Peerages created for Prime Minister
Title(s) Created Prime Minister Current status Notes

Reign of King George I, 1714–1727

Earl of Clare
Viscount Haughton		 19 October 1714 Thomas Pelham-Holles 2nd Baron Pelham Extinct 17 November 1768 Created Before Premiership
Created with a special remainder
Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Marquess of Clare		 11 August 1715 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Earl of Clare Extinct 17 November 1768 Created Before Premiership
Created with a special remainder

Reign of King George II, 1727–1760

Baron Wilmington 8 January 1728 Sir Spencer Compton Extinct 2 July 1743 Created Before Premiership
Earl of Wilmington
Viscount Pevensey		 14 May 1730 Spencer Compton, 1st Baron Wilmington Extinct 2 July 1743 Created Before Premiership
Earl of Orford
Viscount Walpole
Baron Walpole of Houghton		 6 February 1742 Sir Robert Walpole Extinct 2 March 1797
Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne 17 November 1756 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Extinct 25 December 1988 Created with a special remainder

Reign of King George III, 1760–1820

Baron Pelham of Stanmer 4 May 1762 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle Extant Created with a special remainder
Earl of Chatham
Viscount Pitt		 4 August 1766 William Pitt the Elder Extinct 24 September 1835
Marquess of Lansdowne
Earl of Wycombe
Viscount Calne and Calston		 6 December 1784 William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne Extant
Baron Grenville 25 November 1790 William Grenville Extinct 12 January 1834 Created Before Premiership
Viscount Sidmouth 12 January 1805 Henry Addington Extant
Viscount Wellington
Baron Douro		 4 September 1809 Sir Arthur Wellesley Extant Created Before Premiership
On 5 February 1811, George Prince of Wales became the Prince Regent
Earl of Wellington 28 February 1812 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Viscount Wellington Extant Created Before Premiership
Marquess of Wellington 3 October 1812 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Earl of Wellington Extant Created Before Premiership
Duke of Wellington
Marquess Douro		 11 May 1814 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington Extant Created Before Premiership
Viscount Gordon 16 July 1814 George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen Extant Created Before Premiership

Reign of King George IV, 1820–1830

Viscount Goderich 28 April 1827 F. J. Robinson Extinct 22 September 1923 Created Before Premiership

Reign of King William IV, 1830–1837

Earl of Ripon 13 April 1833 F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich Extinct 22 September 1923

Reign of Queen Victoria, 1837–1901

Earl Russell
Viscount Amberley		 30 July 1861 Lord John Russell Extant
Earl of Beaconsfield
Viscount Hughenden		 21 August 1876 Benjamin Disraeli Extinct 19 April 1881

Reign of King Edward VII, 1901–1910

no peerage creations for Prime Ministers

Reign of King George V, 1910–1936

Earl of Midlothian
Viscount Mentmore
Baron Epsom		 3 July 1911 Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Extant
Earl of Balfour
Viscount Traprain		 5 May 1922 Sir Arthur Balfour Extant Created with a special remainder
Earl of Oxford and Asquith
Viscount Asquith		 9 February 1925 H. H. Asquith Extant

Reign of King Edward VIII, 1936

no peerage creations for Prime Ministers

Reign of King George VI, 1936–1952

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
Viscount Corvedale		 8 June 1937 Sir Stanley Baldwin Extant
Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor
Viscount Gwynedd		 12 February 1945 David Lloyd George Extant

Reign of Queen Elizabeth II, 1952–present

Earl Attlee
Viscount Prestwood		 16 December 1955 Clement Attlee Extant
Earl of Avon
Viscount Eden		 12 July 1961 Sir Anthony Eden Extinct 17 August 1985
Baron Home of the Hirsel 19 December 1974 Sir Alec Douglas-Home Extinct 9 October 1995 Life peerage
Earl of Home before becoming Prime Minister
Baron Wilson of Rievaulx 16 September 1983 Sir Harold Wilson Extinct 24 May 1995 Life peerage
Earl of Stockton
Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden		 24 April 1984 Harold Macmillan Extant
Baron Callaghan of Cardiff 5 November 1987 Sir James Callaghan Extinct 26 March 2005 Life peerage
Baroness Thatcher 26 June 1992 Margaret Thatcher Extinct 8 April 2013 Life peerage

Peerages inherited before, during or after premiership

Irish and Scottish Peers did not have an automatic seat in the House of Lords unlike their English and British counterparts, until the Peerage Act 1963 which granted all Scottish Peers (those without Imperial status) to have an automatic seat in the House of Lords until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and Peers to disclaim their own peerage for the rest of their life, which Alec Douglas-Home did on the 23 October 1963.

Lord Palmerston never sat in the House of Lords, but sat as a Member of Parliament for Tiverton during his two spells as Prime Minister.

NameCourtesy title
(before inheriting main title)		Inherited titleWhen inherited
(before premiership
unless stated)		Sat in the House of Commons
Thomas Pelham(-Holles) 2nd Baron Pelham of Laughton 1712 No
John Stuart Lord Mount Stuart 3rd Earl of Bute[1] 1723 No
Charles Watson-Wentworth Earl of Malton 2nd Marquess of Rockingham 1750 No
William Cavendish Marquess of Hartington
Baron Cavendish of Hardwick by writ of acceleration		 4th Duke of Devonshire 1755 Yes
Augustus FitzRoy Earl of Euston 3rd Duke of Grafton 1757 Yes
William Petty Viscount FitzMaurice 2nd Earl of Shelburne[2] 1761 Yes
William Cavendish-Bentinck Marquess of Titchfield 3rd Duke of Portland 1762 Yes
Frederick North Lord North 2nd Earl of Guilford 1790 (after premiership) Yes
George Hamilton-Gordon Lord Haddo 3rd Earl of Aberdeen[3] 1801 No
Henry John Temple Lord Temple 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1802 Yes
Charles Grey Viscount Howick 2nd Earl Grey 1807 Yes
Robert Jenkinson Baron Hawkesbury by writ of acceleration 2nd Earl of Liverpool 1808 Yes
William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne[4] 1828 Yes
Edward Smith-Stanley Lord Stanley
Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe by writ of acceleration		 14th Earl of Derby 1851 Yes
Archibald Primrose Lord Dalmeny 5th Earl of Rosebery[5] 1868 No
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil Viscount Cranborne 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1868 Yes
Alec Douglas-Home Lord Dunglass 14th Earl of Home[6] 1951 (disclaimed it in 1963) Yes

Prime Ministers never raised to the peerage
Prime Minister Notes Constituency Related peerage
Henry Pelham Died in Office Sussex He was in line to the Barony of Pelham of Laughton which the title was extinct in 1768.
George Grenville Died as an MP Buckingham He and his male line descendants were in line to the Viscounty of Cobham which was extinct in 1889.
William Pitt the Younger Died in Office Cambridge University He was in line to the Earldom of Chatham which the title was extinct in 1835.
Spencer Perceval Died in Office Northampton He and his male line descendants were in line to the Earldom of Egmont which the title was extinct in 2011.
George Canning Died in Office Seaford His widow was created Viscountess Canning in 1828, and his son Charles Canning, 2nd Viscount Canning became Earl Canning in 1859 and the title was extinct in 1862.
Sir Robert Peel, Bt. Died as an MP Tamworth His baronetcy merged with the Earldom of Peel in 1942.
William Ewart Gladstone Died as a commoner He and his male line descendants are in the line of the Gladstone Baronetcy.
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Died as an MP Stirling Burghs
Andrew Bonar Law Died as an MP Glasgow Central His third and last surviving son Richard Law became Baron Coleraine in 1954.
Ramsay MacDonald Died as an MP Combined Scottish Universities
Neville Chamberlain Died as an MP Birmingham Edgbaston
Sir Winston Churchill Died as a commoner He and his male line descendants are in the line of the Dukedom of Marlborough. Twice offered and declined a Dukedom.
Sir Edward Heath Died as a commoner
Sir John Major Currently living as a commoner
Tony Blair Currently living as a commoner
Gordon Brown Currently living as a commoner
David Cameron Currently living as a commoner
Theresa May Currently serving as an MP Maidenhead

See also

Notes
  1. Sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer.
  2. Sat in the House of Lords as Baron Wycombe in the Peerage of Great Britain.
  3. Sat in the House of Lords as Viscount Gordon in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
  4. Sat in the House of Lords as Baron Melbourne in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
  5. Sat in the House of Lords as Baron Rosebery in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
  6. Sat in the House of Lords as Baron Douglas of Douglas in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
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