Records of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

thumb|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

thumb|upright|[[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.

Prime Ministers who lost their seat before serving

Winston Churchill - Churchill lost his seat of Dundee in the 1922 general election as a National Liberal follower of David Lloyd George. The election was the only time a challenger standing as a prohibitionist was elected as an MP in the UK.

Prime Ministers who lost their seat after serving

Arthur Balfour (Manchester East in 1906) – Served as Prime Minister from 1902 until he resigned in December 1905, with leader of the opposition, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, becoming Prime Minister, and calling an general election one month later in January 1906. Balfour would lose his seat of Manchester East in his party's crushing electoral defeat. Balfour would elected back into Parliament to serve as Leader of the Opposition when Alban Gibbs resigned his seat of the City of London to allow Balfour to stand in the subsequent by-election.

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

{| class="wikitable" style=font-size:95%

! Name

! Entered House

! Tenure as PM

! Became Father

! Left House

! colspan=2|Party

! Constituency

| Henry Campbell-Bannerman||1868||1905–1908||1907||1908 (died)

| ||Stirling Burghs

| David Lloyd George||1890||1916–1922||1929||1945

| ||Caernarvon Boroughs

| Winston Churchill||1900||||1959||1964

| ||

| James Callaghan||1945||1976–1979||1983||1987

| ||Cardiff South and Penarth

| Edward Heath||1950||1970–1974||1992||2001

| ||Old Bexley and Sidcup

Number of living former PMs

thumb|[[Queen Elizabeth II at Downing Street in 1985 with all six living current and former PMs: (left to right) Callaghan, Douglas-Home, Thatcher (then in office), Macmillan, The Queen, Wilson, Heath.]]

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 times when only one former prime minister has been alive at or for each time.

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 first term, from the death of Lloyd George in March 1945 until his election defeat in July 1945, only Stanley Baldwin was still alive. 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 Labour's victory at the 2024 general election, there are currently eight living former prime ministers, which is the record for the number of living former prime ministers at any time. From oldest to youngest:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style=font-size:95%

! Name

! Date of birth

! Tenure

| Sir John Major

| 1990–1997

| Gordon Brown

| 2007–2010

| Sir Tony Blair

| 1997–2007

| Theresa May

| 2016–2019

| Boris Johnson

| 2019–2022

| David Cameron

| 2010–2016

| Liz Truss

| 2022

| Rishi Sunak

| 2022–2024

Sunak is still a serving member of the House of Commons.

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

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 occasions:

{| class="wikitable" style=font-size:95%

! Prime minister

! Former prime ministers

! From

! To

! Duration

| Stanley Baldwin

| Asquith, Lloyd George, Law

| 20 May 1923

| 30 October 1923

| 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

| 9 June 2023

| 8 months 14 days

The fewest former prime ministers still sitting 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.

Died in office

thumb|upright=0.75|[[Spencer Perceval is the only prime minister to be assassinated]]

Seven prime ministers have died in office:

Lord Wilmington – died on 2 July 1743, aged 70
Henry Pelham – died on 6 March 1754, aged 59
Lord Rockingham – died on 1 July 1782, aged 52
William Pitt the Younger – died on 23 January 1806, aged 46; the youngest to die in office
Spencer Perceval – was assassinated by John Bellingham on 11 May 1812, aged 49
George Canning – died on 8 August 1827, aged 57
Lord Palmerston – died on 18 October 1865, aged 80 (two days before his 81st birthday); the oldest to die in office

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.

Assassination and attempts

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. although the veracity of the story has been doubted.

Died while immediate successors were in office

Nine former prime ministers have died while their immediate successors were in office:

The Duke of Portland – died during Spencer Perceval's term
Robert Peel – died during Lord John Russell's first term
Lord Aberdeen – died during Lord Palmerston's second term
Benjamin Disraeli – died during William Ewart Gladstone's second term
William Ewart Gladstone – died during Lord Salisbury's third term
Lord Salisbury – died during Arthur Balfour's term
Henry Campbell-Bannerman – died during H. H. Asquith's term
Bonar Law – died during Stanley Baldwin's first term
Neville Chamberlain – died during Winston Churchill's first term

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.

Armed forces veterans

thumb|Medals awarded to [[Edward Heath during and after his time in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War.]]

The earliest prime minister to be an armed forces veteran was Henry Pelham (1743–1754), 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 (1976–1979), 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 (1782–1783), 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 1828–1830 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 (1937–1940) and Winston Churchill (1940–1945 and 1951–1955) were honorary Air Commodores in the Auxiliary Air Force during their respective terms of office.

Active members of the regular armed forces are disqualified for membership of the House of Commons at least since 1975.

Active service veterans

Jacobite Rising (1715)

Henry Pelham – Dormer's Regiment – fought in the Battle of Preston

Jacobite Rising (1745)

Lord Rockingham – Colonel of volunteers raised against invasion from Scotland

Seven Years' War

Lord Shelburne – Colonel, 20th Foot – Canada, France, Germany

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

The Duke of Wellington – Field Marshal, Army – Flanders, India, Peninsular War, and Waterloo Campaign

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

William Pitt the Younger – Colonel of volunteers (he was serving when he died in office in 1806)
Lord Grenville – Major of yeomanry, Lieutenant-Colonel of volunteers
Henry Addington – Captain of volunteers
Spencer Perceval – Volunteer, London and Westminster Light Horse
Lord Liverpool – Colonel of fencible cavalry, later of militia
Lord Goderich – Major of yeomanry
Robert Peel – Captain of militia
Lord Melbourne – Major of volunteer infantry
Lord Palmerston – Captain of volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel of militia
Lord Russell – Captain of militia

Mahdist War

Winston Churchill – Lieutenant, 4th Queen's Own Hussars, attached 21st Lancers

Second Boer War

Winston Churchill – Lieutenant, South African Light Horse and war correspondent (prisoner of war)

World War I

Winston Churchill – Major, Grenadier Guards, later Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Scots Fusiliers – Western Front
Clement Attlee – Major, South Lancashire Regiment – Gallipoli Campaign, Mesopotamian campaign and Western Front (wounded)
Anthony Eden – Major, Rifle Brigade – Western Front
Harold Macmillan – Captain, Grenadier Guards – Western Front (wounded)

World War II

Edward Heath – Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Artillery – North West Europe
James Callaghan – Lieutenant, Royal Navy – East Indies

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 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:

Lord Bute – one male line grandson (born in his lifetime) died serving aboard ship in the Napoleonic War
Robert Peel – one surviving son died serving in the Indian Rebellion of 1857
William Ewart Gladstone – two male line grandsons (born in his lifetime) were killed in action in the First World War
Lord Salisbury – four male line grandsons (born in his lifetime) were killed in action in the First World War

Decorated

thumb|upright=0.75|[[Winston Churchill received 38 decorations and medals]]

thumb|upright=0.75|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, 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.

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.

Family

Married

thumb|upright=0.75|[[James Callaghan was the longest-married prime minister]]

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, none being their first marriage:

Robert Walpole to Maria Skerrett before 3 March 1738. She died after a miscarriage on 4 June that year, after at least 93 days' marriage, making this the shortest marriage ever held by a prime minister (although she previously cohabited as his mistress).
The Duke of Grafton to Elizabeth Wrottesley on 24 June 1769. She survived him, dying in 1822.
Lord Liverpool to Lady Mary Chester on 24 September 1822. She survived him.
Boris Johnson married Carrie Symonds, his third wife, on 29 May 2021. He divorced both his first wife, Allegra Mostyn-Owen, and his second, Marina Wheeler.

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 20 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.

The 1st Earl of Wilmington
William Pitt the Younger
Arthur Balfour
Edward Heath

Most children

The most prolific prime minister was apparently Lord Grey who in wedlock fathered ten sons and six daughters

Russell and Johnson also have the rare distinction of fathering further children after leaving Downing Street. David Lloyd George possibly had a daughter with his mistress Frances Stevenson after leaving office, but the historical consensus is that it is unlikely that he was her father.

No female prime minister has ever given birth in office.

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:

Lord Chatham (aka "Pitt the Elder") and William Pitt the Younger
George Grenville and William, Lord Grenville

Brothers

The only brothers to hold the office were Henry Pelham (PM 1743–1754) and his older brother and immediate successor Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (PM 1754–1756, 1757–1762).

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.

George Grenville and William Pitt the Younger
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury and Arthur Balfour, who succeeded Salisbury in office after the latter's last term. The phrase "Bob's your uncle" is said to have originated in connection with this set, from ministerial promotions Balfour gained under Salisbury.

Prime ministers who have been specifically noted as speaking languages other than English include:

Winston Churchill, who spoke some French.
Anthony Eden, who spoke Arabic, French, German, Persian and some Turkish.
Edward Heath, who spoke French.
Tony Blair, who speaks French.
Boris Johnson, who as well as Latin and Ancient Greek speaks some French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Rishi Sunak, who speaks some Hindi and Punjabi.

Wealth

Richest

After being appointed prime minister by King Charles III on 25 October 2022, Rishi Sunak became the wealthiest Prime Minister ever, with an estimated combined fortune with his wife of £730 million. He was the first Prime Minister to be richer than the Monarch, with The Guardian estimating that King Charles III's and Queen Camilla's wealth was around £300m-£350m, about half that of the Sunaks'. Sunak was also the first frontline politician in the Sunday Times Rich List, first listed in May 2022 at number 222, alongside his wife.

The Prime Minister with the highest personal fortune was Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, with over £7 million, equivalent to £450 million in 2022.

Poorest

The poorest prime minister was William Pitt the Younger, who was £40,000 (now over £) in debt by 1800.

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. Sunak hence became the second prime minister in history to be found to have broken the law in office.

Female Prime Ministers

thumb|upright=0.75|[[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, 268 days.

Margaret Thatcher – served May 1979 – November 1990, .
Theresa May – served July 2016 – July 2019, .
Liz Truss – served September–October 2022, .

Between Cameron's appointment in 2010 and Sunak's resignation in 2024, male and female Prime Ministers alternated.

Birthplace

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

Lord Shelburne – born in Dublin in 1737
The Duke of Wellington – born at 6 Merrion Street, Dublin, in 1769

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

Bonar Law – born in the colony of New Brunswick in what is now Canada, the first prime minister born outside the British Isles
Boris Johnson – born in New York City in the United States, the first American-born prime minister and the first to be born outside English/British territory

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.

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.

Irish

Most of the Irish prime ministers were of Anglo-Irish background, largely descended from Protestant English settlers rather than the Gaelic Irish. However, James Callaghan's grandfather had an Irish Catholic background.

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"
Keir Starmer – an atheist who chose to take a "solemn affirmation" (rather than an oath) of allegiance to the monarch. He and his Jewish wife and children occasionally attend a liberal synagogue.

Physical characteristics and disability

Height

The tallest prime minister is believed to be Lord Salisbury, who was around in height, 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.

Others became disabled after leaving office, notably:

The Duke of Newcastle – 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"