Timeline of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

This is a graphical timeline 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.

18th century
William Pitt the YoungerWilliam Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of PortlandWilliam Petty, 2nd Earl of ShelburneFrederick North, Lord NorthAugustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of GraftonWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of ChathamCharles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of RockinghamGeorge GrenvilleJohn Stuart, 3rd Earl of ButeWilliam Cavendish, 4th Duke of DevonshireThomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of NewcastleHenry PelhamSpencer Compton, 1st Earl of WilmingtonRobert Walpole

19th century
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of RoseberyRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of SalisburyWilliam Ewart GladstoneBenjamin DisraeliHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of AberdeenEdward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of DerbyJohn Russell, 1st Earl RussellRobert PeelWilliam Lamb, 2nd Viscount MelbourneCharles Grey, 2nd Earl GreyArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonF. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount GoderichGeorge CanningRobert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of LiverpoolSpencer PercevalWilliam Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of PortlandWilliam Grenville, 1st Baron GrenvilleHenry Addington, 1st Viscount SidmouthWilliam Pitt the Younger

20th and 21st centuries
Boris JohnsonTheresa MayDavid CameronGordon BrownTony BlairJohn MajorMargaret ThatcherJames CallaghanEdward HeathHarold WilsonAlec Douglas-HomeHarold MacmillanAnthony EdenClement AttleeWinston ChurchillNeville ChamberlainRamsay MacDonaldStanley BaldwinAndrew Bonar LawDavid Lloyd GeorgeHenry Campbell-BannermanArthur Balfour

Combined timeline
Boris JohnsonTheresa MayDavid CameronGordon BrownTony BlairJohn MajorMargaret ThatcherJames CallaghanEdward HeathHarold WilsonAlec Douglas-HomeHarold MacmillanAnthony EdenClement AttleeWinston ChurchillNeville ChamberlainRamsay MacDonaldStanley BaldwinAndrew Bonar LawDavid Lloyd GeorgeHenry Campbell-BannermanArthur BalfourArchibald Primrose, 5th Earl of RoseberyRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of SalisburyWilliam Ewart GladstoneBenjamin DisraeliHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of AberdeenEdward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of DerbyJohn Russell, 1st Earl RussellRobert PeelWilliam Lamb, 2nd Viscount MelbourneCharles Grey, 2nd Earl GreyArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonF. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount GoderichGeorge CanningRobert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of LiverpoolSpencer PercevalWilliam Grenville, 1st Baron GrenvilleHenry Addington, 1st Viscount SidmouthWilliam Pitt the YoungerWilliam Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of PortlandWilliam Petty, 2nd Earl of ShelburneFrederick North, Lord NorthAugustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of GraftonWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of ChathamCharles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of RockinghamGeorge GrenvilleJohn Stuart, 3rd Earl of ButeWilliam Cavendish, 4th Duke of DevonshireThomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of NewcastleHenry PelhamSpencer Compton, 1st Earl of WilmingtonRobert Walpole

Career-based timeline

This timeline shows most of the early life, the political career and death of each Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846. The first Prime Minister was Robert Walpole in the early 18th century (Dickinson 1973).

Unlike countries where the leader is elected directly to the highest political office of a separate executive, the Prime Minister must first establish a political career in the UK Parliament and typically serves many years in the House of Commons before becoming Prime Minister, and in some cases for many years afterwards.

Since the Marquess of Salisbury in 1895, all time in parliamentary service before being Prime Minister has been in the House of Commons, apart from Sir Alec Douglas-Home's period as a member of the Government while in the House of Lords (1951–63; though he was previously the elected member for Lanark, 1931-1945). After becoming Prime Minister, Douglas-Home returned to the Commons by winning a by-election on the recess death of MP Gilmour Leburn.

Key
  • Each dark coloured bar denotes the time spent as Prime Minister
  • A light colour denotes time spent in Parliament before or after serving as Prime Minister
  • A grey colour bar denotes the time the Prime Minister spent outside the House of Commons or the entire Parliament, either before or after their political career

Notable moments

Timeline
Boris JohnsonTheresa MayDavid CameronGordon BrownTony BlairJohn MajorMargaret ThatcherJames CallaghanEdward HeathHarold WilsonAlec Douglas-HomeHarold MacmillanAnthony EdenClement AttleeWinston ChurchillNeville ChamberlainStanley BaldwinRamsay MacDonaldBonar LawDavid Lloyd GeorgeH. H. AsquithHenry Campbell-BannermanArthur BalfourArchibald Primrose, 5th Earl of RoseberyRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of SalisburyWilliam Ewart GladstoneBenjamin DisraeliEdward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of DerbyHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonJohn Russell, 1st Earl Russell

References
  • Dickinson, Harry T. (1973), Walpole and the Whig Supremacy, London: English Universities Press, ISBN 0-340-11515-7

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