Lineage
List of British Prime Ministers in Order
Explore all British prime ministers in chronological order, from Sir Robert Walpole in 1721 to the present day.
This timeline shows every premiership, including repeat terms, with party affiliation, key dates, and concise summaries. Switch between a visual timeline and a structured party view to understand how leadership in Britain has evolved over time.
Whig
14 prime ministers · 17 premierships
Spencer Compton
1742–1743The Earl of Wilmington succeeded Walpole, but his short premiership was limited by ill health and stronger figures around him.View profile →
Henry Pelham
1743–1754Pelham presided over a relatively stable period, managing war finance and preserving a broad governing coalition.View profile →
Thomas Pelham Holles, Duke of Newcastle
1754–1756 · 1757–1762Newcastle inherited office in a period of mounting imperial rivalry, but his first ministry struggled as global war loomed.View profile →
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire
1756–1757Devonshire headed a brief wartime ministry that depended heavily on the energy and popularity of William Pitt the Elder.View profile →
George Grenville
1763–1765Grenville tightened imperial administration after war, including new taxation in America that sharpened colonial anger.View profile →
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
1765–1766 · 1782Rockingham repealed the Stamp Act but struggled to build a durable ministry in a fragmented political system.View profile →
William Pitt the Elder
1766–1768William Pitt the Elder entered office with immense prestige, but illness and division weakened his ministry.View profile →
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
1768–1770Grafton presided over growing unrest in Britain’s American colonies and persistent instability in parliament.View profile →
William Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne
1782–1783Shelburne negotiated the peace that recognised American independence, though his government lacked broad support.View profile →
Lord Grenville
1806–1807Grenville led the Ministry of All the Talents, remembered especially for abolishing the British slave trade.View profile →
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
1830–1834Grey’s government passed the Great Reform Act of 1832, a major turning point in British political history.View profile →
William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne
1834 · 1835–1841Melbourne’s first ministry was brief, though he soon returned as a major political influence in the early Victorian age.View profile →
Lord John Russell
1846–1852Russell’s ministry confronted the Irish Famine, European revolution, and the growing pressures of reform politics.View profile →Tory
10 prime ministers · 12 premierships
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
1762–1763Bute was closely associated with George III and made peace with France, but his ministry quickly became unpopular.View profile →
Lord North
1770–1782North led Britain through most of the American War of Independence and fell after defeat reshaped imperial politics.View profile →
William Pitt the Younger
1783–1801 · 1804–1806Pitt reshaped finance and executive government, and led Britain into the upheavals of the French Revolutionary era.View profile →
Henry Addington
1801–1804Addington governed during a brief peace in the Napoleonic era, but his ministry was overshadowed by renewed war.View profile →
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
1807–1809Portland’s second ministry was marked by wartime strain and internal conflict between leading ministers.View profile →
Spencer Perceval
1809–1812Perceval led Britain through the Napoleonic Wars until he was assassinated in the House of Commons lobby.View profile →
Lord Liverpool
1812–1827Liverpool oversaw victory over Napoleon and then the difficult politics of postwar unrest, reform pressure, and recovery.View profile →
George Canning
1827Canning’s short premiership revealed the fragmentation of old Tory unity, but his death cut short any broader realignment.View profile →
Frederick Robinson, Viscount Goderich
1827–1828Goderich proved unable to hold together a coherent ministry and resigned after only a few months.View profile →
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
1828–1830 · 1834The hero of Waterloo passed Catholic Emancipation but struggled with rising pressure for political reform.View profile →Whig Coalition
1 prime minister · 1 premiership
Conservative
20 prime ministers · 28 premierships
Sir Robert Peel
1834–1835 · 1841–1846Peel’s first ministry was short, but it helped define the modern Conservative Party and its political outlook.View profile →
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
1852 · 1858–1859 · 1866–1868Derby’s first government was brief, but he remained central to Conservative politics across a turbulent generation.View profile →
Benjamin Disraeli
1868 · 1874–1880Disraeli’s first spell was brief, but he soon emerged as one of the defining Conservative leaders of the century.View profile →
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
1885–1886 · 1886–1892 · 1895–1902Salisbury’s first government began a long Conservative ascendancy in late Victorian politics.View profile →
Arthur Balfour
1902–1905Balfour inherited office from Salisbury but saw his party weakened by education, tariff, and imperial controversies.View profile →
Bonar Law
1922–1923Bonar Law ended the wartime coalition era, but ill health meant his premiership lasted only a short time.View profile →
Stanley Baldwin
1923–1924 · 1924–1929 · 1935–1937Baldwin’s first ministry fell after seeking a tariff mandate, opening the way for Labour’s first government.View profile →
Neville Chamberlain
1937–1940Chamberlain is inseparable from appeasement, though his fall came in the first desperate phase of the Second World War.View profile →
Sir Winston Churchill
1951–1955Churchill returned in old age, symbolising continuity and prestige in the early Cold War era.View profile →
Sir Anthony Eden
1955–1957Eden’s reputation was badly damaged by the Suez Crisis, which exposed the limits of Britain’s postwar power.View profile →
Harold Macmillan
1957–1963Macmillan projected calm prosperity at home while steering Britain through decolonisation and strategic change abroad.View profile →
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
1963–1964Douglas-Home renounced his peerage to sit in the Commons, but could not stop Conservative decline.View profile →
Sir Edward Heath
1970–1974Heath took Britain into the European Economic Community but was weakened by industrial conflict and economic crisis.View profile →
Margaret Thatcher
1979–1990Thatcher transformed the economy, the state, and the tone of British politics more radically than any postwar prime minister.View profile →
Sir John Major
1990–1997Major combined unexpected electoral success with deep party division over Europe and the strains of a long Conservative era.View profile →
David Cameron
2010–2016Cameron governed first in coalition and then alone, but his legacy was transformed by the Brexit referendum.View profile →
Theresa May
2016–2019May tried to deliver Brexit while managing a divided parliament, but could not secure support for her withdrawal deal.View profile →
Boris Johnson
2019–2022Johnson won a large majority, completed Brexit, and led through the pandemic before scandal drove him from office.View profile →
Liz Truss
2022Truss’s premiership collapsed with extraordinary speed after market turmoil followed her government’s mini-budget.View profile →
Rishi Sunak
2022–2024Sunak sought to restore stability after Truss, but the Conservatives suffered a heavy defeat at the 2024 general election.View profile →Peelite Coalition
1 prime minister · 1 premiership
Liberal
6 prime ministers · 10 premierships
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
1855–1858 · 1859–1865Palmerston embodied energetic national confidence, combining liberal politics with a forceful foreign policy image.View profile →Lord John Russell
1865–1866Russell’s second premiership fell over reform, showing how rapidly the old political order was changing.View profile →
William Ewart Gladstone
1868–1874 · 1880–1885 · 1886 · 1892–1894Gladstone’s first ministry pursued major reform in Ireland, education, the army, and the civil service.View profile →
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
1894–1895Rosebery struggled to unite Liberal priorities and lacked Gladstone’s authority inside party and parliament.View profile →
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
1905–1908Campbell-Bannerman led the Liberals to a landslide and opened a reforming Edwardian era in British politics.View profile →
H. H. Asquith
1908–1916Asquith governed through constitutional conflict, social reform, and the first traumatic years of the First World War.View profile →Liberal Coalition
1 prime minister · 1 premiership
Labour
8 prime ministers · 10 premierships
Ramsay MacDonald
1924 · 1929–1931MacDonald became Britain’s first Labour prime minister, marking a profound shift in party politics.View profile →
Clement Attlee
1945–1951Attlee’s government built the postwar welfare state, founded the NHS, and oversaw reconstruction and decolonisation.View profile →
Harold Wilson
1964–1970 · 1974–1976Wilson presented Labour as the party of modernisation, technology, and social change in the 1960s.View profile →
James Callaghan
1976–1979Callaghan struggled through austerity and unrest, ending with the Winter of Discontent and Labour’s defeat.View profile →
Sir Tony Blair
1997–2007Blair led New Labour to three election victories, pairing domestic reform with the divisive Iraq War.View profile →
Gordon Brown
2007–2010Brown’s premiership was dominated by the global financial crisis and the politics of recession and recovery.View profile →
Sir Keir Starmer
2024–2026Starmer entered Downing Street after Labour’s 2024 victory, but resigned in 2026 after a rapid loss of authority.View profile →
Andy Burnham
2026–presentBurnham succeeded Starmer after returning from the Greater Manchester mayoralty to Parliament and Labour leadership.View profile →National Labour
1 prime minister · 1 premiership
Conservative Coalition
1 prime minister · 1 premiership
Key facts about British prime ministers
- First prime minister: Sir Robert Walpole (1721–1742)
- Current prime minister: Andy Burnham (2026–present)
- Longest-serving: Sir Robert Walpole (over 20 years)
- Total premierships listed: 82
How the role of prime minister developed
The role of prime minister was not formally defined at first. Sir Robert Walpole is generally considered the first holder of the office, though the position evolved gradually from senior ministers advising the monarch.
Over time, power shifted from the Crown to Parliament, and the prime minister became the central figure in British government. The rise of organised political parties, electoral reform in the nineteenth century, and the expansion of democracy all reshaped the office into its modern form.
This page lists every premiership in order, including multiple terms served by the same individual, to give a complete picture of political leadership in Britain.
Frequently asked questions
Who was the first British prime minister?
Robert Walpole is generally treated as the first British prime minister. He took office in 1721 and set the pattern for the role as it developed in the eighteenth century.
Who is the current British prime minister?
Andy Burnham became prime minister on 20 July 2026, succeeding Sir Keir Starmer after Labour’s leadership transition.
Why do some prime ministers appear more than once?
Several prime ministers returned to office after losing power, resigning, or heading a new ministry later on. This page lists each separate premiership in chronological order.
Which party has produced the most prime ministers?
Historically, Whig, Tory, Conservative, and Liberal traditions have dominated, with Labour emerging in the twentieth century as a major governing party.
Who served the longest as prime minister?
Sir Robert Walpole is usually counted as the longest-serving British prime minister, with a tenure of more than twenty years.
