List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the principal minister of the crown of His Majesty's Government, and the head of the British Cabinet. There is no specific date for when the office of prime minister first appeared, as the role was not created but rather evolved over time through a merger of duties. The term was regularly, if informally, used by Robert Walpole by the 1730s. It was used in the House of Commons as early as 1805, and it was certainly in parliamentary use by the 1880s, but did not become the official title until 1905, when Henry Campbell-Bannerman was prime minister. Historians generally consider Robert Walpole, who led the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain for over twenty years from 1721, to be the first prime minister. Walpole is also the longest-serving British prime minister by this definition. The first prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was William Pitt the Younger at its creation on 1 January 1801. The first to use the title in an official act was Benjamin Disraeli who signed the 1878 Treaty of Berlin as "Prime Minister of Her Britannic Majesty". In 1905, the post of prime minister was officially given recognition in the order of precedence, with the incumbent Henry Campbell-Bannerman the first officially referred to as "prime minister". The first prime minister of the current United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland upon its creation in 1922 (when 26 Irish counties seceded and created the Irish Free State) was Andrew Bonar Law, although the country was not renamed officially until 1927, when Stanley Baldwin was the serving prime minister. The current prime minister is Keir Starmer, who assumed the office on 5 July 2024.

Tables

List of prime ministers of Great Britain or the United Kingdom since 1721 · Since 1721 › Prime ministers

Portrait	Prime ministerOffice(lifespan)	Term of office			Mandate	Ministerial offices held as prime minister	Party	Government	MonarchReign
		Start	End	Duration
	Robert WalpoleMP for King's Lynn (to 1742) 1st Earl of Orford (from 1742) (1676–1745)	3 April 1721	11 February 1742	20 years, 315 days	1722	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Whig	Walpole–Townshend	George Ir. 1714–1727
					1727				George IIr. 1727–1760
					1734			Walpole
					1741
	Spencer Compton1st Earl of Wilmington (1673–1743)	16 February 1742	2 July 1743	1 year, 137 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury		Carteret
	Henry PelhamMP for Sussex (1694–1754)	27 August 1743	6 March 1754	10 years, 192 days	—	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons		Broad Bottom I
					1747			Broad Bottom II
	Thomas Pelham-Holles1st Duke of Newcastle (1693–1768)	16 March 1754	11 November 1756	2 years, 241 days	1754	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords		Newcastle I
	William Cavendish4th Duke of Devonshire (1720–1764)	16 November 1756	29 June 1757	226 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords Lord Treasurer of Ireland		Pitt–Devonshire
								1757 Caretaker
	Thomas Pelham-Holles1st Duke of Newcastle (1693–1768)	29 June 1757	26 May 1762	4 years, 332 days	1761	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords		Pitt–Newcastle
								Bute–Newcastle(Tory–Whig)	George IIIr. 1760–1820
	John Stuart3rd Earl of Bute (1713–1792)	26 May 1762	8 April 1763	318 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Tory	Bute
	George GrenvilleMP for Buckingham (1712–1770)	16 April 1763	10 July 1765	2 years, 86 days	—	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Whig(Grenvillite)	Grenville(mainly Whig)
	Charles Watson-Wentworth2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730–1782)	13 July 1765	30 July 1766	1 year, 18 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Whig(Rockinghamite)	Rockingham I
	William Pitt the ElderMP for Bath (to 1766) 1st Earl of Chatham (from 1766) (1708–1778)	30 July 1766	14 October 1768	2 years, 77 days	1768	Lord Privy Seal	Whig(Chathamite)	Chatham
	Augustus FitzRoy3rd Duke of Grafton (1735–1811)	14 October 1768	28 January 1770	1 year, 107 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords		Grafton
	Frederick NorthLord North MP for Banbury (1732–1792)	28 January 1770	27 March 1782	12 years, 59 days	1774	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Tory(Northite)	North
					1780
	Charles Watson-Wentworth2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730–1782)	27 March 1782	1 July 1782	97 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury	Whig(Rockinghamite)	Rockingham II
	William Petty2nd Earl of Shelburne (1737–1805)	4 July 1782	26 March 1783	266 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Whig(Chathamite)	Shelburne
	William Cavendish-Bentinck3rd Duke of Portland (1738–1809)	2 April 1783	18 December 1783	261 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Whig	Fox–North
	William Pitt the YoungerMP for Appleby, later Cambridge University (1759–1806)	19 December 1783	14 March 1801	17 years, 86 days	1784	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Tory(Pittite)	Pitt I
					1790
					1796
	Henry AddingtonMP for Devizes (1757–1844)	17 March 1801	10 May 1804	3 years, 55 days	1801	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Tory(Addingtonian)	Addington
					1802
	William Pitt the YoungerMP for Cambridge University (1759–1806)	10 May 1804	23 January 1806	1 year, 259 days	—	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Tory(Pittite)	Pitt II
	William Grenville1st Baron Grenville (1759–1834)	11 February 1806	25 March 1807	1 year, 43 days	1806	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Whig	All the Talents(Whig–Tory)
	William Cavendish-Bentinck3rd Duke of Portland (1738–1809)	31 March 1807	4 October 1809	2 years, 188 days	1807	First Lord of the Treasury	Tory(Pittite)	Portland II
	Spencer PercevalMP for Northampton (1762–1812)	4 October 1809	11 May 1812	2 years, 221 days	—	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Chancellor of the Exchequer Commissioner of the Treasury for Ireland (1810–1812) First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons		Perceval
	Robert Jenkinson2nd Earl of Liverpool (1770–1828)	8 June 1812	9 April 1827	14 years, 306 days	1812	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords		Liverpool
					1818				George IVr. 1820–1830
					1820
					1826
	George CanningMP for Seaford (1770–1827)	12 April 1827	8 August 1827	119 days	—	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Tory(Canningite)	Canning(Canningite–Whig)
	Frederick John Robinson1st Viscount Goderich (1782–1859)	31 August 1827	8 January 1828	131 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Tory(Canningite)	Goderich
	Arthur Wellesley1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852)	22 January 1828	16 November 1830	2 years, 299 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Tory	Wellington–Peel
					(1830)				William IVr. 1830–1837
	Charles Grey2nd Earl Grey (1764–1845)	22 November 1830	9 July 1834	3 years, 230 days	1831	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Whig	Grey
					1832
	William Lamb2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848)	16 July 1834	14 November 1834	122 days	—	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords		Melbourne I
	Arthur Wellesley1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852)	17 November 1834	9 December 1834	23 days	(—)	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords Sec. of State for Foreign Affairs Sec. of State for the Home Dept Sec. of State for War & Colonies	Tory	Wellington Caretaker
	Robert PeelBaronet MP for Tamworth (1788–1850)	10 December 1834	8 April 1835	120 days	(—)	Chancellor of the Exchequer First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	Peel I
	William Lamb2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848)	18 April 1835	30 August 1841	6 years, 135 days	1835	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Whig	Melbourne II
					1837				Victoriar. 1837–1901
	Robert PeelBaronet MP for Tamworth (1788–1850)	30 August 1841	29 June 1846	4 years, 304 days	1841	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	Peel II
	Lord John RussellMP for City of London (1792–1878)	30 June 1846	21 February 1852	5 years, 237 days	(1847)	First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Whig	Russell I

List of disputed prime ministers of the United Kingdom since 1721 · Disputed prime ministers

George IIr. 1727–1760

Portrait

Prime ministerOffice(lifespan)

William Pulteney 1st Earl of Bath (1684–1764)

Term of office

10 February 1746

Term of office

12 February 1746

Term of office

3 days

Mandate

–

Ministerial offices held as prime minister

First Lord of the Treasury

Party

Whig

Government

Short-lived

MonarchReign

George IIr. 1727–1760

Portrait	Prime ministerOffice(lifespan)	Term of office			Mandate	Ministerial offices held as prime minister	Party	Government	MonarchReign
		Start	End	Duration
	William Pulteney 1st Earl of Bath (1684–1764)	10 February 1746	12 February 1746	3 days	–	First Lord of the Treasury	Whig	Short-lived	George IIr. 1727–1760
	James Waldegrave 2nd Earl Waldegrave (1715–1763)	8 June 1757	12 June 1757	5 days	–	First Lord of the Treasury		Waldegrave

References

Legend for the Mandate column: 1722 a year indicates a general election won by the government or that led to the formati
Walpole was made a peer five days before his resignation as Prime Minister (6 February) and thus relinquished his seat i
Died in office
Resigned on 10 February 1746, reappointed by George II on 12 February 1746.
As a peer of Scotland, Lord Bute sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer.
Pitt served as a Member of Parliament for the first five days of his premiership (30 July – 4 August 1766). He relinquis
Lord North was the heir to an earldom and himself a commoner while using the courtesy title.
Pitt was returned an MP for a different constituency in the 1784 British general election.
As a peer of Ireland, Lord Palmerston sat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament for an English constituency
Disraeli was elevated to the House of Lords in 1876, two years into his second premiership. Consequently, he relinquishe
Douglas-Home disclaimed his peerage as the Earl of Home on 23 October 1963, 4 days after his appointment as Prime Minist
Hennessy 2001, pp. 39–40.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-28601
Castlereagh 1805.
Eardley-Wilmot 1885; Macfarlane 1885.
Clarke 1999, p. 266; Hennessy 2001, pp. 39–40.
BBC News 1998.
Burt 1874, p. 106; Castlereagh 1805.
Bogdanor 1997.
Marriott 1923, p. 83.