About Museum of the Prime Minister
The Museum of the Prime Minister is dedicated to the history, influence, interpretation and legacy of the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. It will collect and conserve items related to those who have served as Prime Minister. It will promote the understanding of British history and the values of leadership, good government and democracy.
About us
The Museum of the Prime Minister was founded by Dr. Robert D. Kilgour and Sir Anthony Seldon in 2023. The aim of the project is the creation of a new museum about the Prime Minister, the most important democratic office in the United Kingdom.
There is no part of Britain untouched by the decisions of the Prime Minister. Downing Street, historically, has been the most powerful street in the history of the planet. However, at the time of writing, there is no permanent museum dedicated to this historic office.
The Museum of the Prime Minister will allow visitors to explore the achievements, failures, and decisions of Prime Ministers past and present. The museum will also tell the story of Downing Street itself allowing tourists the opportunity to visit a place that, thus far they could only glimpse through the railings.
The Museum of the Prime Minister will collect and bring to life items related to Prime Minsters that have no real place in current museum collections and that currently languish in storerooms.
The Museum of the Prime Minister is, at the present time, an aspirational project. In time, we hope to acquire the facilities for both permanent and temporary museum exhibitions.
Support us
Image credit: Winston Churchill (The Roaring Lion), Yousaf Karsch, 30 December 1941. Library and Archives Canada (Accession number MIKAN 3915740)/CC by 2.0
Meet the team
Sir Anthony Seldon
Founder and Creator
Sir Anthony Seldon is a widely-respected authority on all matters relating to Number 10 and Britain’s prime ministers.
His first book on a prime minister, Churchill’s Indian Summer, was published forty years ago. He has since written or edited more than 40 books, including definitive insider accounts of six of the last prime ministers.
Sir Anthony was the honorary historian of Number 10 Downing Street, chair of the National Archives Trust, and has interviewed virtually all senior figures who have worked in Number 10 in the last fifty years.
His most recent books are – The Path of Peace: Walking the Western Front Way (2022) and Johnson at 10: The Inside Story (2023).
Dr. Robert D. Kilgour
Co-Founder and Chairman
Robert is a Scottish entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.
Robert is founder and chair of Renaissance Care which operates 18 care homes throughout Scotland with 1,400 staff and he also sits on several boards across a range of fields including corporate finance and technology.
In 2017, Robert founded and currently chairs SBUK, a group of 500 Scottish businesses campaigning for Scotland to remain part of the UK.
In June 2023, he received an honorary doctorate from Stirling University for his ‘outstanding contribution to entrepreneurship and philanthropy’ and he also recently founded the Social Care Foundation to promote and encourage reform of social care.
Jonathan Meakin
Researcher and Project Historian
Jonathan was educated at Royal Holloway, University of London and at the University of St Andrews. He is a professional researcher and has worked on many publications including The Cabinet Office, 1916-2016 and The Impossible Office: A History of the British Prime Minister. He has also worked as a researcher on political and historical topics. He has worked at historical sites in Britain and as a volunteer in the United States.
Supporting our mission
The RT Hon Sir John Major KG CH
“Britain is a nation which thrives upon her history, and yet – unlike many other countries – there is no Museum dedicated to the Office of Prime Minister. That is now to be rectified.
There are many truths – and as many myths – about the 57 Prime Ministers who, thus far, have presided over our national evolution. I believe this Museum will bring to life the context of their Premierships, their hopes and fears, successes and setbacks. It will also explain why that title has become the longest surviving template for the role of Head of Government across most of the Western World. I wish it every possible success.”
Dr Robert D. Kilgour
Co-founder and chairman of MoPM
“The office of prime minister is a legacy that Britain has given to the world. And yet there is no museum dedicated to this great office, nor to the collection of people who have served in it. But it does not have to be like this. So many other countries in the world have established museums and exhibitions to celebrate their former leaders. Our report considers their example and will, I hope, encourage debate about establishing a museum of the prime minister here in the United Kingdom.”
Sir Anthony Seldon
Founder and creator of MoPM
“There is no part of Britain, and not many parts of the world, untouched by the decisions of the prime minister. Downing Street has been the most powerful street in history and it is time for a museum dedicated to the prime minister and No 10. It will be a centre that educates, informs, researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of the most long-standing leaders office in the democratic world.”
Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt
“The office of Prime Minister is central to how a government operates and it has evolved rapidly particularly in the last few decades. No examination of political events can be complete without serious focus on this office. I very much welcome this project which will help us examine and celebrate our history.”
Rt. Hon. Lord Deben
“I was so pleased to read your proposal for an exhibition to present the history of the office of Prime Minister. Britain is so bad at celebrating its history – particularly its political inheritance. We take it for granted and therefore don’t understand it. It would be so good for all of us – Parliamentarians. commentators, and the public – simply to review the 300 years of this seminal office. We should all support your concept.”
The Marquess of Salisbury K.G.
K. C. V. O.
“Edmund Burke observed that we owe as much to the past as to the future. The office of Prime Minister, with all its burdens, is, in the form that we know it in this country, a peculiarly British invention. Most Prime Ministers have influenced the nation. Many have transformed it. A museum dedicated to the office and to its holders will, by reminding us of our past, educate us as to our future.”
