Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - RationalWiki Prime Minister of the United Kingdom From RationalWiki v - t - e The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the Head of Government of the United Kingdom . By an unwritten rule, the Prime Minister must be a Member of the House of Commons (the lower house of Parliament). The last Prime Minister from outside the Commons, Lord Salisbury, left the office in 1902. [1] Spencer Perceval remains the only Prime Minister to ever be assassinated, after an angry rich man from Liverpool lost the plot. Contents [ edit ] Appointment The Prime Minister is not directly elected. Instead, the public vote for a single Member of Parliament, a representative from their constituency. There are 650 MPs in total. If one political party has a majority in the Commons, then the leader of that party will be appointed Prime Minister. Otherwise, party leaders will attempt to form a coalition or lead a minority government. Whoever has the support of the most Members of Parliament will generally be the Prime Minister. Note that the monarch's role is purely constitutional , they cannot simply pick their favourite.

[ edit ] Evolution of the role The position was not yet created, but historians accept Robert Walpole as the first Prime Minister, as he held the role of First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. He spent over twenty years in this role, although was not a Prime Minister in the modern sense, as he was chosen by the monarch, not Parliament. The existence of the role was denied by many, and only received official acknowledgement in 1905, as a member of the order of precedence, making Henry Campbell-Bannerman the first "official" PM. Legal recognition was only given by the Ministers of the Crown Act 1937, before then the "Prime Minister" was simply the most powerful member of the Cabinet, generally the Party Leader of the party with the most seats. [ edit ] Early Prime Ministers Early UK politics was one huge episode of Blackadder. After the mighty Robert Walpole set things going with a twenty-year stint up to 1742, there followed a succession of lords this and dukes of that. Only a few stand out from the pack: Lord North was PM from 1770 to 1782.

He presided over the American Revolution, a slow-burning resentment which he stoked to roaring flames with his punitive taxes and laws. After defeat at Yorktown (and struggling to control a week-long series of religious riots in London), he became the first PM to lose a parliamentary motion of no confidence. But he managed to keep the Falkland Islands British. Yay. William Pitt the younger took the job aged 24, fought off Napoleon and brought Ireland into political union with Britain, creating the United Kingdom . The Duke of Wellington, spent his 22 months as Prime Minister getting the first major electoral reform and Catholic emancipation laws through Parliament, despite blaming anything that went wrong in the country on liberals. Robert Peel introduced Income tax and an early industrial safety law, and restricted female and child labour in factories. All rather surprising for a conservative - his batting for that side included creating the country's first police force and making the aristocratic, land-owning Tory party into the modern, business-friendly Conservative Party we all know and love . Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative) and W.E.

Gladstone (Liberal) alternated Prime Ministerial duties from 1868 to 1885, and presided over a series of progressive laws that greatly improved life for most people in the UK; a majority of men became eligible to vote, women could own property, and trade unions were legalised. They are also the only nineteenth-century politicians that most twenty-first century people can name, if you don't count royals. [ edit ] Prime Ministers 1900 to 1945 [ edit ] Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895 - 1902) Gascoyne-Cecil ( Conservative ), later 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, presided over the installation of Workmen's Compensation; the world's shortest war - the Anglo-Zanzibar War; and the Second South African War. Of interest to the Portuguese , this is the guy who kicked the the world's oldest military alliance in the 'nads, almost destroying it, with that infamous (for the Portuguese) 1890 ultimatum .

[ edit ] Arthur Balfour (1902 - 1905) Another ( Conservative ). His cabinet was split over free trade . He was an advocate of eugenics . [2] [ edit ] Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1905 - 1908) With the status of 'Prime Minister' being debated and controversial for centuries, Campbell-Bannerman was the first Prime Minister acknowledged in official publications. [ edit ] Herbert Henry Asquith (1908 - 1916) Asquith ( Liberal ) endured a turbulent time, with the rise of the Suffragettes , Home Rule, the outbreak of WW1 and the Easter Rising. Asquith had a huge role in the development of the House of Commons and 10 Downing Street as the major powers of Parliament with the passage of the Parliament Act 1911. [ edit ] David Lloyd George (1916 - 1922) To date the only Welsh Prime Minister, as well as being the only Prime Minister whose mother tongue was not English . Led Britain throughout the latter half of World War One by means of a Liberal-led coalition government and continued for four years afterwards.

Was the last Liberal Prime Minister. [ edit ] Andrew Bonar Law (1922-1923) Tory politician Bonar Law was the shortest serving Prime Minister of last century, serving only seven months in office, as well as being the only Prime Minister born outside of the British Isles in New Brunswick - today part of Canada , but at the time of Bonar Law's birth, a British colony. His brief and underwhelming tenure led to his being nicknamed "the unknown Prime Minister." He was also accused of treason while Leader of the Opposition, after declaring the Conservative Party's unconditional support for Ulster unionist militias at a time it was believed they were planning to rebel against the government. [ edit ] Stanley Baldwin (1923-4, 1924-9, 1935-7) Taking over the reins from Bonar Law, Baldwin become one of the most important figures of inter-war Britain, leading the tories for fourteen years, including crushing the 1926 General Strike .

His creation of a nationalised Electricy Board let to a quadrupling of electricity use in the country, along with lower costs, but his championing of disarmament (naively believing Hitler to be a reasonable man) led to the UK being insufficiently prepared for the war that everyone knew would come. The end came with the abdication crisis , which he was unable and unwilling to resolve. [ edit ] Ramsay McDonald (1924, 1929-35) The first Labour PM remains a divisive figure on the left, but his failures were not mainly his fault. A few months in 1924 were sufficient to prove that a socialist government would not embroil the country in bloody revolution, and his nationalisation of the BBC brought about the rise of the one of the most widely respected broadcasting organisations in the world. However, he was later overshadowed by Baldwin over the Depression, and the party split over his joining forces with the conservatives. (heavy sigh) Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

[ edit ] Post World War Two Prime Ministers [ edit ] Winston Churchill (1940-45) A cigar-chomping, top hat-wearing millionaire toff who was rubbish as Chancellor, and whose idea to invade Turkey was one of WWI's biggest blunders, Winston Churchill was an unlikely hero. However, his popular touch and ability to think outside the box were always assets, and thus he was launched, into the hot seat to manage the UK's gravest ever crisis , a job he mostly did well at (Italy's failure to collapse instantly being a major fly in the ointment). However, once peace came, he was as surprised as everyone else to find himself unceremoniously removed from power by an electorate underwhelmed by the prospect of Tory "business as usual." Voters always vote for the future. [ edit ] Clement Attlee (1945 - 1951) Clement Attlee ( Labour ) was an agnostic , and a man who nationalised the utilities and oversaw the creation of the British National Health Service by Health Minister Nye Bevan.

As the first Labour Party Prime Minister with enough of a majority to do anything radical, he was a hero of socialists and consistently ranks highly in rankings of Prime Ministers. Was hugely influential in Indian Independence and developing Britain's own nuclear deterrent . [ edit ] Winston Churchill again (1951 - 1955) Churchill was returned to the office of Prime Minister in '51, but didn't make a great peace time leader. Most of this second term was spent dealing with foreign affairs, one of which led to the joint UK-US coup of Mossadegh in Iran in the early 1950s. He also broke the BBC's monopoly on television by launching ITV, paid for by advertising. [ edit ] Anthony Eden (1955 - 1957) Eden (Conservative) built an early reputation as a politician by opposing appeasement in the 1930s and as Foreign Secretary during World War Two, but pretty much nothing of note happened under him except the Suez Crisis , which led to his resignation (although he was also seriously ill).

[3] [ edit ] Harold Macmillan (1957 - 1963) Under the half-American Macmillan (Conservative) the UK tried to join the European Community, splitting the Conservative Party, but was vetoed by France . Famous for the first campaign soundbite anyone can remember - "You've never had it so good." An advocate of decolonization, he told South Africa to take note that "The wind of change is blowing through this continent." [ edit ] Alec Douglas-Home (1963 - 1964) After Macmillan resigned over health problems, there was some trouble over who would succeed him. It became clear that the Earl of Home was the only one who could command the support of the whole Conservative party, and so was appointed Prime Minister, despite being a member of the House of Lords . He disavowed his peerage, becoming Sir Alec Douglas-Home. A by-election was coming up, and he stood for the Conservatives. He was a Prime Minister, though not in either house of Parliament for 2 weeks, quite exceptional for the 20th century.

Though not much happened while he was in office, he was notable as the only Prime Minister to sit two would-be kidnappers down, give them a beer , and talk them out of it. Ballsy. [4] [ edit ] Edward Heath (1970 - 1974) Under Heath (Conservative), Britain joined the European Community , violence in Northern Ireland got pretty bad, and the economy went a bit rotten, allegedly due to the Trade Unions . When he lost leadership of the Conservative party, he publicly sulked and whined about "that woman" and how everything she did was wrong. [ edit ] Harold Wilson (1974 - 1976) During his second time in office, Wilson gave sweeping Health and Safety rights to workers and managed to stop some of the Trade Union troubles by inviting their leaders for beer and sandwiches at Number 10. [ edit ] James Callaghan (1976 - 1979) Oh god, an atheist ! Economy was getting messy as Callaghan (Labour) entered the office, since trade unions were demanding massive pay rises. When they weren't getting them, they were bringing the country to a halt, and the rises were given.

Economy couldn't handle it. Nice man, but didn't have the balls [ edit ] Margaret Thatcher (1979 - 1990) Mrs. Thatcher (Conservative) was elected on a manifesto of bringing the Trade Unions under control (after they ended up spending most of the 1970s on strike and causing countless problems), but then the witch went power-crazy. She sold everything the government owned , crushed the rights of Trade Unionists, led the nation to glorious victory over the Argentinian junta in the Falklands War, hated British involvement in the European Community but signed the Single European Act anyway, and then went crazy and introduced the Poll Tax despite even her closest aides' warnings. The aides turned out to be right, and she finally had to leave the office after 11 years. [ edit ] John Major (1990 - 1997) After Thatcher, all the Government owned was the railways, so Major (Conservative) sold them too. He also set up a hotline about traffic cones. In 1995 he resigned and challenged himself for the party leadership; unbelievably he won.

[5] Two years later, he put the same question to the nation, and wasn't so lucky. He was famous for his greyness, though his parents were circus folk and his half-brother Terry Major-Ball was a genial minor celebrity and author. [ edit ] Tony Blair (1997 - 2007) Blair ( New Labour ) brought about peace in Northern Ireland, introduced a national minimum wage, gave independence to the Bank of England (much like the US Federal Reserve ), made gay rights in the UK happen (including civil partnerships), devolved power to Scotland and Wales - then ruined it all by going to war in Iraq , and going on a crazy authoritarian spree of giving powers to the executive and trying to make us all carry identity cards. He also basically sold peerages. [ edit ] Gordon Brown (2007 - 2010) As Gordon Brown (Labour) entered office, the civil service made a series of major errors and the financial crisis began. For a terrible television performer, this seemed fatal. Then he made some flip-flops over the 10p tax rate, and the Expenses Scandal occurred. He absolutely had to go, in the eyes of the public.

Perhaps he would've been a beloved Prime Minister if things out of his control hadn't happened so badly. On the other hand, he had been in charge of the economy for the previous ten years. [ edit ] David Cameron (2010 - 2016) David Cameron (Conservative) came from nowhere in 2005 and ran on a platform of absolutely no policies other than ending Inheritance tax and saying, "Hey, I'm not Tony Blair." Being a much better media performer than Gordon Brown, especially in the first year the UK had televised debates made a big difference. Aligning himself with massively cutting government spending and hating the jobless, he won the most seats, but didn't receive a majority and had to accept a coalition with the Liberal Democrats . While his cuts do seem to be targeted on solving the deficit crisis, many feel his cuts are ideological in nature and will leave Britain as a much smaller-government nation. His government has refused to single out spending on science and research to be protected from cuts. [6] As of 2015, the Tories won a majority government, allowing Cameron to push for an even more radically anti-working class agenda.

[7] His campaign promise was to host a referendum on whether or not the UK will stay or leave the EU, which he scheduled for a vote on June 2016. He preferred remain, but allowed members of his party to campaign for Brexit alongside Nigel Farage . Brexit won, forcing Cameron to resign in disgrace, forever remembered as the bloke who may have broken the union. Though, to be fair it's probably better than being remembered as "that PM that fucked a pig". [ edit ] Theresa May (2016 - ongoing) Theresa May (Conservative), the former Home Secretary, took control of the party after Cameron made the ill-advised vote on Brexit. While she supported Remain, she insisted that Brexit was final, and that the UK would leave the EU in accordance to what the people voted. Many are wondering if May will be the last Prime Minister because of the post-Brexit fallout with Scotland and Northern Ireland .

Chancellors of the Exchequer Chancellors of the Exchequer According to the Dictionary of Dates, (the Exchequer is) "an ancient institution, consisting of officers with financial and judical functions: the chancellor of the exchequer, the financial officer, formerly sat in the court of exchequer above the barons. The first chancellor was Eustace de Fauconbridge, bishop of London, in the reign of Henry III. about 1221. Sir Robert Walpole was the last chancellor of the exchequer who acted judically (in 1735). The legal function of the chancellor was abolished by the Judicature Act, Aug. 1873". The Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for the budget of a government, which makes him the first scape-goat whenever so little money and so much time is left in a year. Many Prime Ministers acted as chancellors as well, while in more recent times this policy has changed (maybe to enable the Prime Minister to nominate another chancellor rather than to retire himself when the government runs out of money...).

In this chapter, I have listed the Chancellors of the Exchequer since the restoration (of King Charles II), 1660 - plus one earlier entry. Some Chancellors appear in the "Prime Minister"-sections already. They are just named here, but I didn´t give any further description or scanned signature here. If you haven´t done already, please follow the link and have a look for them in the "Prime Minister"-section. This list gives the dates in office according to the Haydn´s Book of Dignities 1894. In a few cases, I have found slightly different dates, but these were not taken into consideration. On the right, you can see the "budget box", or "Gladstone box", in which the budget speech is delivered to the House of Commons on "Budget Day". First used by W.E. Gladstone, all subsequent Chancellors (except James Callaghan, and now Gordon Brown) have used this box. The Chancellor of the Exchequer lives in #11 Downing Street, next to his Prime Minister (except Gordon Brown, who has moved into #10, as Tony Blair and his family preferred the larger site at #11) .

( The remark "Lord Chancellor Justice" is given when - after the decease of the current Chancellor of the Exchequer - this person just fills the office temporarily before a new chancellor is found.) Sir Walter Mildmay (c1520-89, on the left), one of the most important advisers of Queen Elizabeth I. He held several posts under her father, King Henry VIII, already, and even after that under King Edward VI and Queen Mary, but his influence rose under Queen Elizabeth. Knighted in 1547 already, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1566 and remained in this position until he died. Sir Robert Long (-1673), chancellor 1660-61. Surprisingly, no year of birth can be found in reference books for this early post-restoration Chancellor (who was loyal to the monarchy during the civil-war), but he was a member of parliament in 1625 already, so I assume he was born around 1600 or slightly earlier. Lord Anthony Ashley (1621-83, later the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury), chancellor 1661-72.

He was one of the most important politicians in the mid-17th century, but was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1681 and died in exile in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Sir John Duncombe (?), chancellor 1672-79. Laurence Hyde (1641-1711, later the Earl of Rochester), chancellor 1679. Please look for a closer description for him in the section Prime Ministers... before Walpole . Sir John Ernle (1620-97), chancellor 1679-89. Lord Delamer (Henry Booth, 1652-94, later the Earl of Warrington), chancellor 1689-90. Richard Hampden (1631-95), chancellor 1690-94. He was the son of Henry Hampden, a famous statesman during the reign of King Charles I. Lord Sidney Godolphin (1645-1712, later the 1st Earl of Godolphin), chancellor 1694-95. Please look for a closer description for him in the section Prime Ministers...

before Walpole . Charles Montague (1661-1715, later the 1st Earl of Halifax), chancellor 1695-99. Please look fo r a closer description for him in the section Prime Ministers... before Walpole . John Smith (1655-1723), chancellor 1699-1701 and 1708-10. This Whig-politician sat in parliament 1678-1723, quite a long time even in those days. Henry Boyle (-1725, later Lord Carleton), chancellor 1701-08. Sir Robert Harley (1661-1724, later the Earl of Oxford), chancellor 1710-11. Please look for a closer description for him in the section Prime Ministers... before Walpole . Robert Benson (1676-1731, later Lord Bingley), chancellor 1711-13. Sir William Wyndham (1687-1740), chancellor 1713-14.

Sir Richard Onslow (1654-1717, later Lord Onslow), chancellor 1714-15. He was also speaker of the House of Commons, like his great-great-grandfather before him. Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745, later the 1st Earl of Orford), chancellor 1715-17, and 1721-42 (when he was Prime Minister as well). James Stanhope (1673-1721, later the Earl Stanhope), chancellor 1717-18. Please look for a closer description for him in the section Prime Ministers... before Walpole . John Aislabie (1670-1742), chancellor 1718-21. Sir John Pratt (1657-1725), chancellor 1721 (lord chancellor justice). Samuel Sandys (1695-1770, later Lord Sandys), chancellor 1742-43.

Henry Pelham (1696-1754), chancellor 1743-54 (when he was Prime Minister as well). Sir William Lee (1688-1754), chancellor 1754 (lord chancellor justice). Henry Bilson Legge (1708-1764), chancellor 1754-55, 1756-57, and 1757-61. Sir George Lyttelton (1709-1773, later Lord Lyttelton), chancellor 1755-56. Lord William Mansfield (?), chancellor 1757 and 1767 (lord chancellor justice). The Viscount Barrington (William Wildman Barrington, 1717-1793), chancellor 1761-62. Sir Francis Dashwood (1708-1781, later Lord Le Despencer), chancellor 1762-63. George Grenville (1712-70), chancellor 1763-65 (when he was Prime Minister as well).

William Dowdeswell (1721-75), chancellor 1765-66. Charles Townshend (1725-67), chancellor 1766-67. Lord North (Frederick North, 1732-92), chancellor 1767-82 ( Prime Minister as well since 1770). Lord John Cavendish (1732-96), chancellor 1782 and 1783. William Pitt, the Younger (1759-1806), chancellor 1782, and 1783-1801, 1804-06 (when he was Prime Minister as well). Henry Addington (1757-1844, later the Viscount Sidmouth), chancellor 1801-04 (when he was Prime Minister as well). Lord Ellenborough (Edward Law, 1750-1818), chancellor 1806 (lord chancellor justice).

He served for a few weeks only after Pitt died in January 1806, until the new Prime Minister, the Duke of Portland, appointed a new chancellor of the exchequer in February. Lord Henry Petty (1780-1863, later the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne), chancellor 1806-07. From a family with great political influence, his father was Prime Minister, his grandson became foreign secretary. Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), chancellor 1807-12 ( Prime Minister as well since 1809). Nicholas Vansittart (1766-1851, later Lord Bexley), chancellor 1812-23. A long political career, he held important offices in governments of the Younger Pitt to the Earl of Liverpool. The signature on the left is dated January 1823, a few days after he resigned as chancellor, and a few days before he was created Lord Bexley.

Frederick John Robinson (1782-1859, later the Viscount Goderich and the Earl of Ripon), chancellor 1823-27 ( Prime Minister 1827-28). George Canning (1770-1827), chancellor 1827 (when he was Prime Minister as well). John Charles Herries (1778-1855), chancellor 1827-28. Henry Goulburn (1784-1856), chancellor 1828-30, and 1841-46. The Viscount Althorpe (John Charles Spencer, 1782-1845 , later the Earl Spencer), chancellor 1830-34. Lord Denman (Thomas Denman, 1779-1854), chancellor 1834 (lord chancellor justice). Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), chancellor 1834-35 (when he was Prime Minister as well).

Thomas Spring Rice (1790-1866, later Lord Monteagle), chancellor 1835-39. Sir Francis Thornhill Baring (1796-1866, later Lord Northbrook), chancellor 1839-41. A grandson of the founder of the financial house "Baring Brothers & Co". Sir Charles Wood (1800-85, later the 1st Viscount Halifax), chancellor 1846-52. Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881, later the Earl of Beaconsfield), chancellor 1852, 1858-59, and 1866-68 ( Prime Minister 1868, and 1874-80).

William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), chancellor 1852-55, 1859-66, 1873-74, and 1880-82 ( Prime Minister 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, and 1892-94). Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863, right), chancellor 1855-58. He later served as home secretary (1859-61) and secretary for war (1861-63). George Ward Hunt (1825-77, left), chancellor 1868. Robert Lowe (1811-92, the 1st Viscount Sherbrooke since 1880, right), chancellor 1868-73. He then served as home secretary (1873-74). Sir Stafford Henry Northcote (1818-87, later the Earl of Iddesleigh), chancellor 1874-80.

Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (1827-96), chancellor 1882-85. He started as an inspector of schools in Melbourne, and began his political career in Australia as well. Sir Michael Edward Hicks-Beach (1837-1916, later the 1st Earl of Aldwyn), chancellor 1885-86, and 1895-1902. Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (1827-1904), chancellor 1886, and 1892-95; Home secretary under Gladstone 1880-85 already, he served him as Chancellor until 1894, then his successor Rosebery. Harcourt established the tax for total estates of deceased persons in 1894. Lord Churchill (Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill, 1849-95), chancellor 1886. He was Winston S. Churchill´s father.

George Joachim Goschen (1831-1907, later the 1st Viscount Goschen), chancellor 1887-92. The grandson of a German publisher, he was one of the most significant figures in political and public life. Charles Thomson Ritchie (1838-1906, later Lord Ritchie), chancellor 1902-03. Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937), chancellor 1903-05, and 1919-21. He came from a political important family: His father Joseph was Secretary for the Colonies (1895-1903), his brother Neville became Prime Minister (1938-40). Austen Chamberlain was honoured with the Peace Nobel-Price in 1925. Herbert Asquith (1852-1928, later the 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith), chancellor 1905-08 ( Prime Minister 1908-16).

David Lloyd George (1863-1945, later the 1st Earl of Lloyd-George), chancellor 1908-15 ( Prime Minister 1916-22). Reginald McKenna (1863-1943, right), chancellor 1915-16. Andrew Bonar Law (1858-1923), chancellor 1916-19 ( Prime Minister 1922-23). Sir Robert Stevenson Horne (1871-1940, left, later the 1st Viscount Horne), chancellor 1921-22. Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947, later the 1st Earl Baldwin), chancellor 1922-23 ( Prime Minister 1923-24, 1924-29, and 1935-37).

Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940), chancellor 1923-24, and 1931-37 ( Prime Minister 1937-40). Philip Snowden (1864-1937, later the Viscount Snowden), chancellor 1924, and 1929-31. Winston Churchill (1874-1965), chancellor 1924-29 ( Prime Minister 1940-45, and 1951-55). Sir John Simon (1873-1954, later the 1st Viscount Simon), chancellor 1937-40. Sir Kingsley Wood (1881-1943), chancellor 1940-43. Sir John Anderson (1882-1958, later 1st Viscount Waverley, on the left, below, as 'Lord Privy Seal' shortly before he became home-secretary), chancellor 1943-45.

He was home-secretary 1939-40, during which the 2nd World War broke out; he initiated the development of a kind of air-raid-shelter named the 'Anderson Shelter', a small sheet metal cylinder made of prefabricated pieces that could be assembled in a garden. Hugh Dalton (1887-1962, later Lord Dalton), chancellor 1945-47. Sir Stafford Cripps (1889-1952), chancellor 1947-50. Hugh Gaitskell (1906-63), chancellor 1950-51. He was leader of the Labour Party 1955-63. R.A. Butler (1902-82, later Lord Butler of Saffron Walden), chancellor 1951-55. He was one of the few politicians who held the important offices of chancellor, foreign- and home-secretary, under Churchill, Macmillan and Home. He was in charge of the government during PM Eden´s illness.

Harold Macmillan (1894-1986, later the 1st Earl of Stockton), chancellor 1955-57 ( Prime Minister 1957-63). Peter Thorneycroft (1909-94, later Lord Thorneycroft), chancellor 1957-58. Derek Heathcoat Amory (1899-1981, later the 1st Viscount Amory), chancellor 1958-60. Selwyn Lloyd (1904-78, later Lord Selwyn-Lloyd), chancellor 1960-62 (see signed photo on the right; click on it to see a more detailed scan of the signature). Reginald Maudling (1917-79, left), chancellor 1962-64. In 1965, he was narrowly defeated by Edward Heath in the first Conservative leadership election, was home-secretary under Heath 1970-72..

James Callaghan (*1912), chancellor 1964-67 ( Prime Minister 1976-79). Roy Jenkins (1920-2003, later Lord Jenkins, on the left), chancellor 1967-70. Iain Macleod (1913-70), chancellor 1970; he was chancellor already in the shadow-cabinet of Edward Heath 1965-70, but died after five weeks in the actual office. Anthony Barber (*1920, later Lord Barber), chancellor 1970-74. Denis Healey (*1918, later Lord Healey, on the left), chancellor 1974-79. Sir Geoffrey Howe (*1926, later Lord Howe, on the right), chancellor 1979-83. Nigel Lawson (*1932, later Lord Lawson of Blaby, on the right), chancellor 1983-89. John Major (*1943), chancellor 1989-90 ( Prime Minister 1990-97).

Norman Lamont (*1942), chancellor 1990-93. Kenneth Clarke (*1940, on the right, below), chancellor 1993-97. Gordon Brown (*1951), chancellor 1997-2007 ( Prime Minister 2007-). Alistair Darling (*1953, on the left, from a Christmas card), chancellor 2007-. BBC - History - Neville Chamberlain z Neville Chamberlain © Chamberlain was British prime minister between 1937 and 1940, and is closely associated with the policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany. Arthur Neville Chamberlain was born on 18 March 1869 in Birmingham into a political family. His father, Joseph, was an influential politician of the late 19th century and Neville's older half-brother Austen held many Conservative cabinet positions in the early 20th century and won the Nobel Peace Prize. Chamberlain was educated in Birmingham. After a successful career in business, in 1915 he was appointed lord mayor of Birmingham.

In 1916, Lloyd George appointed him director-general of the department of national service, but disagreements between them led Chamberlain to resign. In 1918, Chamberlain was elected Conservative member of parliament for Ladywood in Birmingham and was rapidly promoted. He served as both chancellor of the exchequer (1923 - 1924) and minister of health (1923, 1924 -1929, 1931). In 1937, he succeeded Stanley Baldwin as prime minister. Like many in Britain who had lived through World War One, Chamberlain was determined to avert another war. His policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler culminated in the Munich Agreement in which Britain and France accepted that the Czech region of the Sudetenland should be ceded to Germany. Chamberlain left Munich believing that by appeasing Hitler he had assured 'peace for our time'. However, in March 1939 Hitler annexed the rest of the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia, with Slovakia becoming a puppet state of Germany. Five months later in September 1939 Hitler's forces invaded Poland.

Chamberlain responded with a British declaration of war on Germany. In May 1940, after the disastrous Norwegian campaign, Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became prime minister. Chamberlain served in Churchill's cabinet as lord president of the council. He died a few weeks after he left office, on 9 November 1940. New UK Prime Minister Theresa May appoints Philip Hammond as Chancellor - LidTime.com New UK Prime Minister Theresa May appoints Philip Hammond as Chancellor Alex Crown July 14, 2016 Johnson’s role in Britain’s negotiations over its future relationship with the European Union is likely to be limited because May is expected to create a new ministerial post focused exclusively on Brexit issues. “And I know, because we’re Great Britain, that we will rise to the challenge”. Advertisement She has already spoken to French President Francois Hollande. He said: “We’ve today had warm words from our new prime minister about the need to stand up for more than a ‘privileged few”. Later in the evening Mrs May made key ally Philip Hammond Chancellor of the Exchequer as George Osborne quit the government. He replaces George Osborne, whose determination to balance Britain’s books made him synonymous with austerity.

While Theresa may be happy with her decision, there’s one celebrity who certainly isn’t a fan of the former Mayor of London. After leaving the London mayoralty in May he spearheaded the “Leave” campaign. The man appointed to take charge is David Davis, who becomes Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. By awarding such a senior job to Johnson, she also showed a conciliatory side. Last November local officials called off a visit to Palestine on safety grounds after Johnson, then-London mayor, told an audience in Tel Aviv that a trade boycott of Israeli goods was “completely crazy” and supported by “corduroy, jacketed, snaggletoothed, Lefty academics in the UK”. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron attacked the appointment of Mr Johnson, pointing out that during the referendum campaign he compared the ambitions of the European Union with Hitler’s and “insulted” USA president Barack Obama by referring to his “part-Kenyan” ancestry. His warnings about Brexit’s consequences on the economy led many “Leave” campaigners to accuse him of scaremongering.

No sooner had Theresa May stepped into Downing Street than she had managed to unite the global community in bewilderment by her appointment of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. Defense Secretary Michael Fallon kept his post, while Amber Rudd was appointed to May’s old job of home secretary. May is Queen Elizabeth’s 13th prime minister in a line that started with Winston Churchill. “That will be the mission of the government I lead and together we will build a better Britain”. The UK’s second female prime minister promised to give people who were “just managing” and “working around the clock” more control over their lives. Advertisement In a tweet later on Wednesday, Pushkov also noted that Hammond, unlike the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Italy, broke off most ties with Russian Federation after its involvement in the Ukraine crisis. Brexit! When do we want it? Posted In: Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister during World War II Sir Winston Churchill Prime Minister, 1940-1945 and 1951-1955 Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, on November 30, 1874, the son of a Conservative politician and an American woman.

After being educated at Harrow he went to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He joined the Fourth Hussars in 1895 and saw action on the Indian north-west frontier and in the Sudan where he took part in the Battle of Omdurman (1898). While in the army, Churchill supplied military reports for the Daily Telegraph and wrote books such as The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899). After leaving the army in 1899, he worked as a war correspondent for the Morning Post. While reporting the Boer War in South Africa he was taken prisoner by the Boers, but made headlines when he escaped. He wrote about his experiences in the book London to Ladysmith Via Pretoria (1900). In 1900, Churchill was elected as the Conservative MP for Oldham. In 1904, dissatisfied with the party's position on social reform, he decided to join the Liberal Party. In 1906 he won North West Manchester and immediately became a member of the new Liberal government as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies.

When Herbert Asquith replaced Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Prime Minister in 1908, he elevated Churchill to President of the Board of Trade. While in this position Churchill carried through important social legislation, including the establishment of employment exchanges. On September 12, 1908, Churchill married Clementine Ogilvy Spencer. In 1909, he published a book on his political philosophy, Liberalism and the Social Problem. Following the 1910 General Election, Churchill became Home Secretary. While in this position he introduced several reforms to the prison system. He was severely criticized, however, for using troops to maintain order during a Welsh miners' strike. Churchill became First Lord of the Admiralty in October 1911, where he helped modernize the navy. One of the first people to grasp the military potential of aircraft, he established the Royal Naval Air Service in 1912. He also established an Air Department at the Admiralty so as to make full use of the new technology. He was, in fact, so enthusiastic that he even took flying lessons. Upon outbreak of World War I in 1914, Churchill joined the War Department.

Blamed for the failure of the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915, he was moved to the post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Churchill subsequently rejoined the British Army and commanded a battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front. When David Lloyd George replaced Herbert Asquith as Prime Minister, he brought Churchill back into the government as Minister of Munitions, where he was in charge of the production of tanks, airplanes, guns and shells. After the war Churchill served as Minister of War and Air (1919-1920) and Colonial Secretary (1921-1922). Divisions in the Liberal Party led to Churchill being defeated in the 1922 General Election. After rejoining the Conservative Party, Churchill was elected to represent Epping in the 1924 General Election. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin subsequently appointed Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in 1925 Churchill returned Britain to the gold standard.

During the General Strike of 1926, Churchill wrote that "either the country will break the General Strike, or the General Strike will break the country." With the defeat of the Conservative government in 1929, Churchill lost office. He spent the next few years concentrating on his writing, including the publication of the History of the English Speaking Peoples. After Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party gained power in Germany in 1933, Churchill became a leading advocate of rearmament and a staunch critic of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy. In 1939 he argued that Britain and France should form a military alliance with the Soviet Union against Germany. Soon after outbreak of World War II Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, and on April 4, 1940, he became chairman of the Military Coordinating Committee. Later that month the German Army invaded and occupied Norway. On May 8, the Labour Party demanded a debate on the Norwegian campaign; the debate turned into a vote of censure, which resulted in 30 Conservatives voting against Chamberlain and 60 others abstaining. Chamberlain stepped down on May 10, and King George VI appointed Churchill as Prime Minister.

Churchill formed a coalition government and placed leaders of the Labour Party -- including Clement Attlee , Ernest Bevin, Herbert Morrison, Stafford Cripps and Hugh Dalton -- in key positions. He also brought in Anthony Eden -- a long-time opponent of Chamberlain -- as his Secretary of State for War. Later that year Eden replaced Lord Halifax as Foreign Secretary. Churchill developed a strong personal relationship with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt , which in turn led to the Lend Lease Agreement of March 1941 that allowed Britain to order war goods from the United States on credit. Although he provided strong leadership, the war continued to go badly for Britain and after a series of military defeats Churchill had to face a motion of no confidence in Parliament; he maintained the support of most members of the House of Commons, however, and won by 475 votes to 25. Although he was frequently criticized for meddling in military matters, Churchill inspired the British people to greater effort by making public broadcasts on significant occasions. A brilliant orator, he was a source of strength to people experiencing the terrible sufferings of the Blitz.

His relationships with Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin also helped Britain during the war, and the "Big Three" met frequently to develop a united strategy against the Axis Powers. Despite the successes of his wartime policies, Churchill was unable to convince the British people of his committment to social reform. In the 1945 General Election, Churchill's attempt to compare a future Labour government with Nazi Germany backfired and Clement Attlee won a landslide victory. In March 1946, Churchill made his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Fulton, Missouri. He suffered the first of several strokes in August 1946, but this information was kept from the general public and he continued to lead the Conservative Party. He returned to power after the 1951 General Election, but declining health finally forced him to retire from politics in 1955. He was knighted in 1953. Recipient of the 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature , Churchill was the author of several works on history.

In addition to those mentioned above, these works include: The World Crisis (4 volumes, 1923-1929); My Early Life (1930); Marlborough (4 volume, 1933-1938); and, The Second World War (6 volumes, 1948-1953). Sir Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965. The Churchill Centre

Question: Which future Prime Minister was appointed UK chancellor of the exchequer in 1924?
Answer: Winston CHURCHILL