In-depth Articles
Power, drama, consequence… Step back in time and explore some of the momentous events of Prime Ministerial history within our in-depth articles.
On this page, you can learn more about the fall of Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, in 1742, and, perhaps the most important decision ever taken by a British Cabinet, the decision to go to war with Germany in August 1914.
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford.
The man who lost America – part 2
Frederick North, better known by his courtesy title Lord North, was one of George III’s most able and effective Prime Ministers. He held office for over a…
The man who lost America
Frederick North, better known by his courtesy title Lord North, was one of George III’s most able and effective Prime Ministers. He held office for over a…
Prime Ministers’ Cats over the years
Churchill: The Tradition of Jock at Chartwell Author, Peter Cardwell ‘Political Animals: The secret life of the political pets of Westminster and Washington’, Biteback Publishing, 2025 4th…
Larry, King of Downing Street
The idea of getting a cat had already been mooted, despite concerns that it wasn’t fair or indeed possible to get the taxpayer to pay for one….
Chancellors, whips, and Wellington: Numbers 11, 12 and…. 14 Downing Street?
In 1682, George Downing decided to build some houses on a lease of land he had been gifted for his loyalty to the Stuart dynasty. He built…
The Cabinet Crisis, May 1940
Over three days, in May 1940, against a backdrop of military disaster, the Cabinet asks whether it is time to end the war. In his war memoirs,…
The Fall of Margaret Thatcher
On 12 November, in a speech at London’s Guildhall, she stated that she was ‘still at the crease’ and determined to go on: ‘There will be no…
The Pre-Prime Ministers: The Chief Ministers
Thomas Cromwell, 1485-1540 Oliver Cromwell, 1599-1658 There are several reasons why these figures could not be considered Prime Ministers, though many of them took on functions that…
The fall of Robert Walpole
For nearly twenty years Robert Walpole was the central figure of British politics. But, from 1737 onwards, a series of events broke his grip on power. In…
The Decision to Go to War, 1914
The declaration of war in 1914 was one of the most historic decisions ever made by a British government. Ultimately, it ended a way of governing Britain,…
