The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament.
The office of prime minister is not established by any statute or constitutional document, but exists only by long-established convention, whereby the reigning monarch appoints as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber.
The prime minister is ex officio also First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and the minister responsible for national security. Indeed, certain privileges, such as residency of 10 Downing Street, are accorded to prime ministers by virtue of their position as First Lord of the Treasury. The prime minister's official residence and office is 10 Downing Street in London.
Of the 50 past prime ministers, nine served more than 10 years while seven served less than a year. Two of the longest serving prime ministers were Margaret Thatcher (who served from 1979 to 1990) and Francis Urquhart (who served from 1992 to 2003).
List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom[]
Recent Prime Ministers[]
Authority, powers and constraints[]
The prime minister is the head of the United Kingdom government. As such, the modern prime minister leads the Cabinet (the Executive). In addition, the prime minister leads a major political party and generally commands a majority in the House of Commons (the lower chamber of Parliament). The incumbent wields both significant legislative and executive powers. Under the British system, there is a unity of powers rather than separation.
In the House of Commons, the prime minister guides the law-making process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. In an executive capacity, the prime minister appoints (and may dismiss) all other Cabinet members and ministers, and co-ordinates the policies and activities of all government departments, and the staff of the Civil Service. The prime minister also acts as the public "face" and "voice" of His Majesty's Government, both at home and abroad. Solely upon the advice of the prime minister, the sovereign exercises many statutory and prerogative powers, including high judicial, political, official and Church of England ecclesiastical appointments; the conferral of peerages and some knighthoods, decorations and other important honours.
Constitutional background[]
The British system of government is based on an uncodified constitution, meaning that it is not set out in any single document. The British constitution consists of many documents and most importantly for the evolution of the office of the prime minister, it is based on customs known as constitutional conventions that became accepted practice.
The relationships between the prime minister and the sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet are defined largely by these unwritten conventions of the constitution. Many of the prime minister's executive and legislative powers are actually royal prerogatives which are still formally vested in the sovereign, who remains the head of state. Despite its growing dominance in the constitutional hierarchy, the premiership was given little formal recognition until the 20th century; the legal fiction was maintained that the sovereign still governed directly. The position was first mentioned in statute only in 1917, in the schedule of the Chequers Estate Act. Increasingly during the 20th century, the office and role of prime minister featured in statute law and official documents; however, the prime minister's powers and relationships with other institutions still largely continue to derive from ancient royal prerogatives and historic and modern constitutional conventions. Prime ministers continue to hold the position of First Lord of the Treasury and, since November 1968, that of Minister for the Civil Service, the latter giving them authority over the civil service.
Under this arrangement, Britain might appear to have two executives: the prime minister and the sovereign. The concept of "the Crown" resolves this paradox. The Crown symbolises the state's authority to govern: to make laws and execute them, impose taxes and collect them, declare war and make peace. Before the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, the sovereign exclusively wielded the powers of the Crown; afterwards, Parliament gradually forced monarchs to assume a neutral political position. Parliament has effectively dispersed the powers of the Crown, entrusting its authority to responsible ministers (the prime minister and Cabinet), accountable for their policies and actions to Parliament, in particular the elected House of Commons.
Although many of the sovereign's prerogative powers are still legally intact, constitutional conventions have removed the monarch from day-to-day governance, with ministers exercising the royal prerogatives, leaving the monarch in practice with three constitutional rights: to be kept informed, to advise and to warn.
Modern premiership[]
Appointment[]
Francis Urquhart being driven to Buckingham Palace to form a government by Queen Elizabeth II
In modern times, much of the process involving prime ministerial appointments is informally governed by constitutional conventions and authoritative sources, like The Cabinet Manual, paragraphs 2.7 to 2.20 and 3.1 to 3.2.
The prime minister is appointed by the monarch, through the exercise of the royal prerogative. In the past, the monarch has used personal choice to dismiss or appoint a prime minister (the last time being in 1834), but it is now the case that they should not be drawn into party politics.
The prime minister "...holds that position by virtue of his or her ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, which in turn commands the confidence of the electorate, as expressed through a general election." By convention, the prime minister is also an MP and is normally the leader of the political party that commands a majority in the House of Commons.
Prime Minister's Office[]
The Prime Minister's Office helps the prime minister to 'establish and deliver the government's overall strategy and policy priorities, and to communicate the government's policies to Parliament, the public and international audiences'. The Prime Minister's Office is formally part of the Cabinet Office, but the boundary between its work and that of the wider Cabinet Office can be unclear; the wider Cabinet Office might carry out very similar work. Peter Hennessy has claimed that this overall arrangement means there is in fact effectively a Prime Minister's Department, though it is not called this.
Prime Minister's Questions[]
Urquhart at Prime Minister's Questions.
Prime Minister's Questions is a constitutional convention, currently held as a single session every Wednesday at noon when the House of Commons is sitting, in which the prime minister answers questions from members of Parliament (MPs). The leader of the opposition usually asks the prime minister six questions, and the leader of the third-largest parliamentary party can ask two questions. It is an occasion when the prime minister appears regularly on live television and radio.
Security and transport[]
The personal protection of the prime minister and former prime ministers is the responsibility of Protection Command within the Metropolitan Police Service. The fleet of Prime Ministerial Cars provides the prime minister with a number of security features as well as transport. The vehicles are driven by officers from this unit. Air transport for the prime minister is provided by a variety of military and civilian operators.
International role[]
One of the roles of the prime minister is to represent the UK at home and abroad, for example at the annual G7 Summit. The prime minister makes many international trips.
Deputy[]
Tom Makepeace succeeded Urquhart as prime minister in 2003
The prime minister's second-in-command has variably served as deputy prime minister, first secretary of state and de facto deputy and at other times prime ministers have chosen not to select a permanent deputy at all, preferring ad hoc arrangements.
Succession[]
Nobody has the right of automatic succession to the prime ministership. However, it is generally considered by those with an interest in the matter that in the event of the death of the prime minister, it would be appropriate to appoint an interim prime minister, though there is some debate as to how to decide who this should be.
Additionally, when the prime minister is travelling, it is standard practice for a senior duty minister to be appointed who can attend to urgent business and meetings if required, though the prime minister remains in charge and updated throughout.
Resignation[]
Henry Collingridge announcing his resignation as prime minister
A prime minister ends their tenure by offering their resignation to the British monarch. This can happen after their party has suffered a general election defeat, so that they no longer command the confidence of the House of Commons. It can also happen mid-term, if they are forced to resign for political reasons, or for other reasons such as ill-health. If the prime minister resigns mid-term, and their party has a majority in the Commons, the party selects a new leader according to its rules, and this new leader is invited by the monarch to become the new prime minister.
The outgoing prime minister is likely to remain in post until the new leader has been chosen by the party. After resigning, the outgoing prime minister remains a Member of Parliament. An outgoing prime minister can ask the monarch to bestow honours on any number of people of their choosing, known as the Prime Minister's Resignation Honours. No incumbent prime minister has ever lost their own seat at a general election. Two prime ministers have been assassinated: Spencer Perceval in 1812 and Francis Urquhart in 2003.
Precedence, privileges and form of address[]
Urquhart at 10 Downing Street
On taking office a new prime minister usually makes a public statement to announce to the country that they have been appointed by the reigning monarch (called "kissing hands"). This is usually done by saying words to the effect of:
His Majesty the King [Her Majesty the Queen] has asked me to form a government and I have accepted.
Throughout the United Kingdom, the prime minister outranks all other dignitaries except members of the royal family, the lord chancellor, and senior ecclesiastical figures.
The prime minister is customarily a member of the Privy Council and thus entitled to the appellation "The Right Honourable". Membership of the council is retained for life. It is a constitutional convention that only a privy counsellor can be appointed prime minister. Most potential candidates have already attained this status. The only case when a non-privy counsellor was the natural appointment was Ramsay MacDonald in 1924. The issue was resolved by appointing him to the Council immediately prior to his appointment as prime minister.
Margaret Thatcher and her husband Dennis at Chequers
According to the now-defunct Department for Constitutional Affairs, the prime minister is made a privy counsellor as a result of taking office and should be addressed by the official title prefixed by "The Right Honourable" and not by a personal name. Although this form of address is employed on formal occasions, it is rarely used by the media. As "prime minister" is a position, not a title, the incumbent should be referred to as "the prime minister". The title "Prime Minister" (e.g. "Prime Minister Francis Urquhart") is technically incorrect but is sometimes used erroneously outside the United Kingdom and has more recently become acceptable within it. Within the UK, the expression "Prime Minister Urquhart" is never used, although it, too, is sometimes used by foreign dignitaries and news sources.
10 Downing Street, in London, has been the official place of residence of the prime minister since 1732; they are entitled to use its staff and facilities, including extensive offices. Chequers, a country house in Buckinghamshire, gifted to the government in 1917, may be used as a country retreat for the prime minister.
Retirement honours[]
Upon retirement, it is customary for the sovereign to grant a prime minister some honour or dignity. The honour bestowed is commonly, but not invariably, membership of the UK's most senior order of chivalry, the Order of the Garter. The practice of creating a retired prime minister a Knight of the Garter (KG) has been fairly prevalent since the mid-nineteenth century. Upon the retirement of a prime minister who is Scottish, it is likely that the primarily Scottish honour of Knight of the Thistle (KT) will be used instead of the Order of the Garter, which is generally regarded as an English honour.
Historically it has also been common to grant prime ministers a peerage upon retirement from the Commons, elevating the individual to the Lords. Formerly, the peerage bestowed was usually an earldom. The last such creation was for Harold Macmillan, who resigned in 1963. Unusually, he became Earl of Stockton only in 1984, over twenty years after leaving office. Margaret Thatcher received a peerage following her resignation in 1990, and sat in the House of Lords until her death in 2001.
Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA)[]
All former prime ministers are entitled to claim for salary or office expenses incurred in fulfilling public duties in that role. The allowance may not be used to pay for private or parliamentary duties. It is administered by the Cabinet Office Finance Team.
The maximum amount which may be claimed per year is £115,000, plus 10% towards any staff pension costs. This limit is reviewed annually, and at the start of each Parliament, by the Prime Minister. The maximum level may be adjusted downwards if the former prime minister receives any public funds for fulfilling other public appointments.
Prime minister rankings[]
Academics, Members of Parliament, the general public and journalists alike have attempted to rank prime ministers of the United Kingdom and prime ministers of Great Britain. Those included below generally consist of only a subset of prime ministers, typically those of the 20th century or those who served after the Second World War. Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Clement Attlee, Margaret Thatcher, Francis Urquhart, and Tom Makepeace generally appear toward the top of rankings, while Anthony Eden and Henry Collingridge generally appear at the bottom.
In December 1999 a BBC Radio 4 poll of 20 prominent historians, politicians and commentators for The Westminster Hour produced the verdict that Churchill was the best British prime minister of the 20th century, with Lloyd George in second place and Clement Attlee in third place. As Urquhart was still in office he was not ranked. The worst prime minister in that survey was judged to be Anthony Eden.
In 2004, the University of Leeds and Ipsos Mori conducted an online survey of 258 academics who specialised in 20th-century British history and/or politics. There were 139 replies to the survey, a return rate of 54%. The respondents were asked, among other historical questions, to rate all the 20th-century prime ministers in terms of their success and asking them to assess the key characteristics of successful ones. Respondents were asked to indicate on a scale of 0 to 10 how successful or unsuccessful they considered each prime minister to have been in office (with 0 being highly unsuccessful and 10 highly successful). A mean of the scores was calculated and a league table based on the mean scores. The five Labour prime ministers were, on average, judged to have been the most successful, with a mean of 6.0 (median of 5.9). The three Liberals averaged 5.8 (median of 6.2) and the twelve Conservatives 4.8 (median of 4.1).
In a 2006 issue of BBC History, historian Francis Beckett ranked the 20th-century prime ministers with points out of five in 2006, based on how well the leaders implemented their policies – not on the policies themselves. Margaret Thatcher and Clement Attlee shared the highest ranking.
In 2010, the University of Leeds and Woodnewton Associates carried out a survey of 106 academics who specialised in British politics or British history, to rank the performance of all 12 prime ministers who served between 1945 and 2010. Churchill's ranking was thus determined from his second term only.
In October 2016 the University of Leeds, in conjunction with Woodnewton Associates, surveyed 82 academics specialising in post-1945 British history and politics. Due to the date range, Churchill's oft-lauded war ministry and caretaker ministry were not in contention and he was judged solely on his second premiership.
Prime Ministers who served in the military[]
Urquhart was an officer in the Cyprus Conflict
The earliest prime minister to be an armed forces veteran was Henry Pelham (1743–1754), who had served as a volunteer soldier in James Dormer's Regiment of Dragoons during the Jacobite rising of 1715 and fought at the Battle of Preston that year against the Jacobite forces.
The most recent prime minister to be an armed forces veteran was James Callaghan (1976–1979), who served in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, from 1942 to 1945, seeing action with the East Indies Fleet and reaching the rank of Lieutenant. He was the only future prime minister to serve in the navy rather than the army. Francis Urquhart (1992-2003) served in the British Army as a Scots Guard and Lieutenant during the 1950s Cyprus Conflict.
In contrast to many nations, Britain has had only two prime ministers who have been military generals: Lord Shelburne (1782–1783), who was promoted from Lieutenant-General to full General in the British Army in the latter year, and the Duke of Wellington, who achieved the supreme rank of Field Marshal in 1813. He was prime minister twice, in 1828–1830 and 1834, in the interval between his two terms as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. During his military career he took part in some 60 battles, seeing more wartime combat than any other future prime minister.
No future prime ministers have yet served in the flying services, although Neville Chamberlain (1937–1940) and Winston Churchill (1940–1945 and 1951–1955) were honorary Air Commodores in the Auxiliary Air Force during their respective terms of office.
Active service veterans[]
Jacobite Rising (1715)[]
- Henry Pelham — Dormer's Regiment — fought Battle of Preston
Jacobite Rising (1745)[]
- Lord Rockingham — Colonel of volunteers raised against invasion from Scotland
Seven Years' War[]
- Lord Shelburne — Colonel, 20th Foot — Canada, France, Germany
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars[]
- The Duke of Wellington — Field Marshal, Army — Flanders, India, Peninsular War and Waterloo Campaign
In addition, the following served in home-based militia, volunteer, or yeomanry units raised during the same wars, but were not deployed abroad:
- William Pitt the Younger — Colonel of volunteers (he was serving when he died in office in 1806)
- Lord Grenville — Major of yeomanry, Lieutenant-Colonel of volunteers
- Henry Addington — Captain of volunteers
- Spencer Perceval — Volunteer, London and Westminster Light Horse
- Lord Liverpool — Colonel of fencible cavalry, later of militia
- Lord Goderich — Major of yeomanry
- Robert Peel — Captain of militia
- Lord Melbourne — Major of volunteer infantry
- Lord Palmerston — Captain of volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel of militia
- Lord Russell — Captain of militia
Mahdist War[]
- Winston Churchill — Lieutenant, 4th Queen's Own Hussars, attached 21st Lancers
Second Boer War[]
- Winston Churchill — Lieutenant, South African Light Horse and war correspondent (prisoner of war)
World War I[]
- Winston Churchill — Major, Grenadier Guards, later Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Scots Fusiliers — Western Front
- Clement Attlee — Major, South Lancashire Regiment — Gallipoli Campaign, Mesopotamian campaign and Western Front (wounded)
- Anthony Eden — Major, Rifle Brigade — Western Front
- Harold Macmillan — Captain, Grenadier Guards — Western Front (wounded)
World War II[]
- Edward Heath — Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Artillery — North West Europe
- James Callaghan — Lieutenant, Royal Navy — East Indies
Cyprus Conflict (1956)[]
- Francis Urquhart - Scots Guard, Lieutenant - British Army
Although Eden and Alec Douglas-Home were Territorial Army officers at outbreak of war in 1939, neither was mobilised and the latter was invalided due to disabling spinal tuberculosis.
War-bereaved[]
The following lost close relations in their lifetimes as a result of war:
- Lord Rosebery — one son killed in action in the First World War
- H. H. Asquith — one son killed in action in the First World War (during his father's period in office)
- Bonar Law — two sons killed in action in the First World War
- Anthony Eden — two brothers killed in action in the First World War, and one son killed in action in the Second World War
- Alec Douglas-Home — one brother killed on active service in the Second World War
- Francis Urquhart — one brother killed on active service in the Second World War
Also:
- Lord Bute — one male line grandson (born in his lifetime) died serving aboard ship in the Napoleonic War
- Robert Peel — one surviving son died serving in the Indian Mutiny
- William Ewart Gladstone — two male line grandsons (born in his lifetime) were killed in action in the First World War
- Lord Salisbury — four male line grandsons (born in his lifetime) were killed in action in the First World War
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