The Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

Explore resources and biographies for Britain’s past and present Prime Ministers.

William Ewart Gladstone - Prime Ministers of the United kingdom

William Ewart Gladstone

A history in office

On this page you can find biographies for all 58 past and present Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. Learn about their individual achievements, failures, decisions and key moments during their premiership.

The Prime Ministers are listed by century, beginning in the present day and going back to the office’s origins during the 1700s. Filter by party, duration of premiership, or simply search by name.

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21st Century

Keir Starmer 2018

Keir Starmer

Labour

Keir Starmer became the 58th Prime Minister on 5 July 2024. He is the MP for Holborn and St Pancras and was first elected in 2015.

Keir Starmer became the 58th Prime Minister on 5 July 2024. He is the MP for Holborn and St Pancras and was first elected in 2015.

Keir Starmer became the 58th Prime Minister on 5 July 2024. He is the MP for Holborn and…

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Jul 2024 – Present

Rishi Sunak, 24 November 2022

Rishi Sunak

Conservative

Oct 2022 – Jul 2024

Official portrait of Liz Truss

Liz Truss

Conservative

Sep 2022 – Nov 2022

Boris Johnson, 14 August 2019, Cabinet Office

Boris Johnson

Conservative

Jul 2019 – Sep 2022

Theresa May, 1 August 2016

Theresa May

Conservative

Jul 2016 – Jul 2019

David Cameron, 3 August 2010

David Cameron

Conservative

May 2010 – Jul 2016

Official Portrait of Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

Labour

Jun 2007 – May 2010

20th Century

Tony Blair 19 March 2010

Tony Blair

Labour

May 1997 – Jun 2007

John Major Prime Minister of Great Britain, circa 1994

John Major

Conservative

Nov 1990 – May 1997

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Conservative

May 1979 – Nov 1990

James Callaghan in 1975

James Callaghan

Labour

Apr 1976 – May 1979

Sir Edward Heath, Bassano Ltd, 2 September 1959

Edward Heath

Conservative

Jun 1970 – Mar 1974

Harold Wilson, Walter Bird, 25 May 1962

Harold Wilson

Labour

Oct 1964 – Jun 1970

Mar 1974 – Apr 1976

A portrait of Sir Alec Douglas-Home the new UK Prime Minister

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Conservative

Oct 1963 – Oct 1964

Harold MacMillan, 1st Earl of Stockton

Harold Macmillan

Conservative

Jan 1957 – Oct 1963

Portrait of Prime Minister Anthony Eden

Sir Anthony Eden

Conservative

Apr 1955 – Jan 1957

Clement Attlee, George Harcourt, 1946

Clement Attlee

Labour

Jul 1945 – Oct 1951

Winston Churchill (The Roaring Lion), Yousaf Karsch, 30 December 1941

Sir Winston Churchill

Conservative

May 1940 – Jul 1945

Oct 1951 – Apr 1955

Neville Chamberlain by Bassano Ltd

Neville Chamberlain

Conservative

May 1937 – May 1940

J. Ramsay MacDonald

Ramsay MacDonald

Labour

Jan 1924 – Nov 1924

Jun 1929 – Jun 1935

Stanley Baldwin, Walter Stoneman, 1920

Stanley Baldwin

Conservative

May 1923 – Jan 1924

Nov 1924 – Jun 1929

Jun 1935 – May 1937

Andrew Bonar Law, Walter Stoneman,1923

Andrew Bonar Law

Conservative

Oct 1922 – May 1923

David Lloyd George, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1919

David Lloyd George

Liberal

Dec 1916 – Oct 1922

H.H. Asquith, former Prime Minister of the UK

Herbert Henry Asquith

Liberal

Apr 1908 – Dec 1916

Henry Campbell-Bannerman in 1902

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Liberal

Dec 1905 – Apr 1908

Arthur James Balfour - 1st Earl of Balfour

Arthur James Balfour

Conservative

Jul 1902 – Dec 1905

19th Century

The Earl of Rosebery, President of the Society of Comparative Legislation

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Liberal

Mar 1894 – Jun 1895

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Conservative

Jun 1885 – Jan 1886

Jul 1886 – Aug 1892

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

Liberal

Dec 1868 – Feb 1874

Apr 1880 – Jun 1885

Feb 1886 – Jul 1886

Aug 1892 – Mar 1894

Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield by Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt oil on canvas, 1881

Benjamin Disraeli

Conservative

Feb 1868 – Dec 1868

Feb 1874 – Apr 1880

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Liberal

Feb 1855 – Feb 1858

Jun 1859 – Oct 1865

George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen

Peelite

Dec 1852 – Jan 1855

Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby

Conservative

Feb 1852 – Dec 1852

Feb 1858 – Jun 1859

Jun 1866 – Feb 1868

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

Liberal

Jun 1846 – Feb 1852

Oct 1865 – Jun 1866

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt

Sir Robert Peel

Conservative

Dec 1834 – Apr 1835

Aug 1841 – Jun 1846

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

Whig

Jul 1834 – Nov 1834

Apr 1835 – Aug 1841

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, after Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1899

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey

Whig

Nov 1830 – Jul 1834

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Thomas Lawrence, between 1815 and 1816

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Tory

Jan 1828 – Nov 1830

Nov 1834 – Dec 1834

Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, Sir Thomas Lawrence, circa 1824

F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich

Tory

Aug 1827 – Jan 1828

George Canning, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and completed by Richard Evans, circa 1903

George Canning

Tory

Apr 1827 – Aug 1827

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Sir George Hayter, 1823

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

Tory

Jun 1812 – Apr 1827

Spencer Perceval, George Francis Joseph, 1812

Spencer Perceval

Tory

Oct 1809 – May 1812

William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, John Hopper, circa 1800

William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville

Whig

Feb 1806 – Mar 1807

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Sir William Beechey, 1803

Henry Addington

Tory

Mar 1801 – May 1804

Portrait of the Right Honourable William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806)

William Pitt the Younger

Tory / Whig

Dec 1783 – Mar 1801

May 1804 – Jan 1806

18th Century

William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland

Tory / Whig

Apr 1783 – Dec 1783

Mar 1807 – Oct 1809

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Jean-Laurent Mosnier, 1791

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne

Tory

Jul 1782 – Mar 1783

Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guildford (1752-1756), Prime Minister

Frederick North, Lord North

Tory

Jan 1770 – Mar 1782

Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Pompeo Batoni, 1762

Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton

Whig

Oct 1768 – Jan 1770

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, studio of William Hoare, circa 175

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

Whig

Jul 1766 – Oct 1768

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham after Sir Joshua Reynolds, circa 1768

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham

Whig

Jul 1765 – Jul 1766

Mar 1782 – Jul 1782

George Grenville, William Hoare, 1764

George Grenville

Whig

Apr 1763 – Jul 1765

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1773

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute

Tory

May 1762 – Apr 1763

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, KG, after Thomas Hudson

William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire

Whig

Nov 1756 – Jun 1757

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle

Whig

Mar 1754 – Nov 1756

Jun 1757 – May 1762

Henry Pelham, William Hoare, 1751

Henry Pelham

Whig

Aug 1743 – Mar 1754

Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt, circa 1710

Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington

Whig

Feb 1742 – Jul 1743

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, 1740.

Sir Robert Walpole

Whig

Apr 1721 – Feb 1742

The names of British Prime Ministers are woven into the fabric of our history

And yet, there is no museum dedicated to this great office nor to the collection of people who have served in it. One of humanity’s greatest stories – of history, freedom, democracy, power, and politics – goes completely untold. Our former leaders fade away and the remnants of their careers are simply scattered to the winds. 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.

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