= British Prime Ministers =

A history of '''British prime ministers'''.

The prime minister is the ''de facto'' head of state of [[UnitedKingdom/Democratization#Constitutional_Monarchy|the United Kingdom]].

The office of 'prime minister' only became an official fixture of British politics in the 20th century. Nonetheless, [[UnitedKingdom/RobertWalpole|Walpole]] is [[EighteenthCenturyBritishPremiers|considered]] the first PM due to his influence over the reigns of [[UnitedKingdom/GeorgeI|George I]] and [[UnitedKingdom/GeorgeII|George II]].

The office of the '''first lord of the Treasury''' is generally recognized as the predecessor to the PM. 10 Downing Street, often considered synonymous with the government and/or the PM, is actually the official residence of the first lord. In 1922, the two offices were permanently fused.

When plotting a history of the first lords, there are exceptional periods where ministers with junior titles were the effective heads of government. For example, the crux of [[UnitedKingdom/ThomasPelhamHolles|Pelman-Holles']] strategy to government management was ''deferring'' to influential ministers for policy.

||'''Effective Heads of Government'''                              ||'''First Lords'''                                      ||'''Term''' ||
||[[UnitedKingdom/RobertWalpole|Robert Walpole]]                   ||(same, hereafter left blank)                           ||1721 - 1742||
||[[UnitedKingdom/HenryPelham|Henry Pelham]]                       ||[[UnitedKingdom/SpencerCompton|Spencer Compton]]       ||1742 - 1743||
||Henry Pelham                                                     ||                                                       ||1743 - 1746||
||[[UnitedKingdom/JohnCarteret|John Carteret]]                     ||[[UnitedKingdom/WilliamPulteney|William Pulteney]]     ||2 days     ||
||Henry Pelham                                                     ||                                                       ||1746 - 1754||
||[[UnitedKingdom/ThomasPelhamHolles|Thomas Pelman-Holles]]        ||                                                       ||1754 - 1756||
||[[UnitedKingdom/WilliamCavendish|William Cavendish]]             ||                                                       ||1756 - 1757||
||[[UnitedKingdom/WilliamPitt|William Pitt]]                       ||Thomas Pelman-Holles                                   ||1757 - 1761||
||[[UnitedKingdom/JohnStuart|John Stuart]]                         ||Thomas Pelman-Holles                                   ||1761 - 1762||
||John Stuart                                                      ||                                                       ||1762 - 1763||
||[[UnitedKingdom/GeorgeGrenville|George Grenville]]               ||                                                       ||1763 - 1765||
||[[UnitedKingdom/CharlesWatsonWentworth|Charles Watson-Wentworth]]||                                                       ||1765 - 1766||
||William Pitt                                                     ||[[UnitedKingdom/AugustusFitzRoy|Augustus FitzRoy]]     ||1766 - 1768||
||Augustus Fitz``Roy                                               ||                                                       ||1766 - 1768||
||[[UnitedKingdom/FrederickNorth|Frederick North]]                 ||                                                       ||1768 - 1782||
||...                                                              ||...                                                    ||...        ||
||[[UnitedKingdom/BenjaminDisraeli|Benjamin Disraeli]]             ||                                                       ||1868       ||
||[[UnitedKingdom/WilliamEwartGladstone|William Ewart Gladstone]]  ||                                                       ||1868 - 1874||
||Benjamin Disraeli                                                ||                                                       ||1874 - 1880||
||William Ewart Gladstone                                          ||                                                       ||1880 - 1885||
||[[UnitedKingdom/RobertGascoyneCecil|Robert Gascoyne-Cecil]]      ||[[UnitedKingdom/StaffordNorthcote|Stafford Northcote]] ||1885 - 1886||
||William Ewart Gladstone                                          ||                                                       ||1886       ||
||Robert Gascoyne-Cecil                                            ||                                                       ||1886 - 1887||
||Robert Gascoyne-Cecil                                            ||[[UnitedKingdom/WilliamHenrySmith|William Henry Smith]]||1887 - 1891||
||Robert Gascoyne-Cecil                                            ||[[UnitedKingdom/ArthurBalfour|Arthur Balfour]]         ||1891 - 1892||
||William Ewart Gladstone                                          ||                                                       ||1892 - 1894||
||[[UnitedKingdom/ArchibaldPrimrose|Archibald Primrose]]           ||                                                       ||1984 - 1895||
||Robert Gascoyne-Cecil                                            ||Arthur Balfour                                         ||1895 - 1902||
||Arthur Balfour                                                   ||...                                                    ||1902 - 1905||
||...                                                              ||...                                                    ||...        ||



||'''Prime Ministers'''                                   ||'''Term''' ||
||[[UnitedKingdom/BonarLaw|Bonar Law]]                    ||1922 - 1923||
||[[UnitedKingdom/StanleyBaldwin|Stanley Baldwin]]        ||1923 - 1924||
||[[UnitedKingdom/RamsayMacDonald|Ramsay MacDonald]]      ||1924       ||
||Stanley Baldwin                                         ||1924 - 1929||
||Ramsay Mac``Donald                                      ||1929 - 1935||
||Stanley Baldwin                                         ||1935 - 1937||
||[[UnitedKingdom/NevilleChamberlain|Neville Chamberlain]]||1937 - 1940||
||[[UnitedKingdom/WinstonChurchill|Winston Churchill]]    ||1940 - 1945||
||[[UnitedKingdom/ClementAttlee|Clement Attlee]]          ||1945 - 1951||
||Winston Churchill                                       ||1951 - 1955||
||...                                                     ||           ||
||[[UnitedKingdom/AlecDouglasHome|Alec Douglas-Home]]     ||1963 - 1964||
||...                                                     ||           ||
||[[UnitedKingdom/TonyBlair|Tony Blair]]                  ||1997 - 2007||
||[[UnitedKingdom/GordonBrown|Gordon Brown]]              ||2007 - 2010||
||[[UnitedKingdom/DavidCameron|David Cameron]]            ||2010 - 2016||
||[[UnitedKingdom/TheresaMay|Theresa May]]                ||2016 - 2019||
||[[UnitedKingdom/BorisJohnson|Boris Johnson]]            ||2019 - 2022||
||[[UnitedKingdom/LizTruss|Liz Truss]]                    ||2022       ||
||[[UnitedKingdom/RishiSunak|Rishi Sunak]]                ||2022 - 2024||
||[[UnitedKingdom/KeirStarmer|Keir Starmer]]              ||2024 -     ||



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