Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture - British prime ministers of the 20th century Latest issue British prime ministers of the 20th century Do you know who presided over the setting up of the National Health Service, or who served the shortest time as leader? Read our timeline of British prime ministers of the 20th century for all the answers. Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Conservative 1895 to 1902 Salisbury was the last peer to serve as PM (this was his third tenure), with the brief exception of Douglas Home (below) who renounced his peerage within a few days of being appointed. Arthur James Balfour Conservative 1902 to 1905 Balfour was the nephew of the Marquess of Salisbury but his cabinet was divided on the issue of free trade and without the support of Edward VII he was forced to resign in December 1905.

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Liberal 1905 to 1908 Following Arthur James Balfour’s resignation, Edward VII invited the leader of the next largest party, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, to form a government. He was the first leader to officially use the title of ‘Prime Minister’. Herbert Henry Asquith Liberal 1908 to 1916 Asquith is the only Prime Minister to have taken office on foreign soil. At the time that he succeeded Campbell-Bannerman, Edward VII was in Biarritz so Asquith travelled there for the official ‘kissing-hands’ ceremony. David Lloyd George in 1916 David Lloyd George Liberal 1916 to 1922 One of the 20th centuries most radical thinkers, Lloyd George was the first and only Welshman to hold the position of prime minister, introducing state pensions and waging a war on poverty. Andrew Bonar Law Conservative 1922 to 1923 Law was prime minister for just 209 days. He retired due to ill health in May 1923 and died of throat cancer six months later.

Stanley Baldwin Conservative 1923 to 1924 Baldwin took over as prime minister after Bonar Law retired but he was soon ousted from his first term, albeit temporarily. James Ramsey MacDonald Labour 1924 to 1924 In 1924 Ramsey MacDonald was asked by King George V to form a government when Stanley Baldwin’s Conservative majority proved ungovernable, and his was the first Labour government. Stanley Baldwin Conservative 1924 to 1929 In his second tenure as prime minister Baldwin extended the right to vote to women over 21. James Ramsey MacDonald Labour 1929 to 1935 In his second minority government in 1929, MacDonald appointed Margaret Bondfield as the first female cabinet minister, but forming a cross-party government proved his downfall. Stanley Baldwin Conservative 1935 to 1937 By taking office as prime minister for the third time Baldwin remarkably served under three monarchs. Neville Chamberlain Conservative 1937 to 1940 Chamberlain famously declared “I believe it is peace for our time” following a meeting in 1938 with Adolf Hitler.

Sir Winston Churchill Conservative 1940 to 1945 Following Chamberlain’s resignation in 1940, Churchill succeeded him as prime minister of an all-party coalition government. Clement Attlee Labour 1945 to 1951 Taking over from Churchill at the end of the war, Attlee is perhaps best remembered for setting up the National Health Service. Winston Churchill gives his infamous V sign on 20 May 1940 Sir Winston Churchill Conservative 1951 to 1955 While serving his second term as prime minister Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his many published works. Sir Anthony Eden Conservative 1955 to 1957 Eden is best remembered for his controversial handling of the Suez Crisis, which led to his resignation. Harold Macmillan Conservative 1957 to 1963 Macmillian took over as leader following Eden’s resignation and led the nation through the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was made Earl of Stockton in 1984 and died in 1986.

Sir Alex Douglas-Home Conservative 1963 to 1964 The aristocratic Douglas-Home took on the trade unions but only served as prime minister for 363 days , the second shortest premiership in the 20th century. Harold Wilson Labour 1964 to 1970 Wilson won his first election in 1964 but he actually visited 10 Downing Street many years before, when he was eight-years-old, so his aspirations began early. Sir Edward Heath Conservative 1970 to 1974 Grammar school educated Heath served in the Second World War, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Harold Wilson Labout 1974 to 1976 Wilson famously rebuffed a schoolboy who threw a stinkbomb at him by saying “with an arm like that he ought to be in the English Cricket XI.” James Callaghan Labour 1976 to 1979 Callaghan is the only prime minster to have also held the three offices of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary. Margaret Thatcher in 1982.

University of Salford Press Office Baroness Margaret Thatcher Conservative 1979 to 1990 A formidable leader or a tyrant? Britain’s first woman prime minister divided opinion like none before her, and she passed away in 2013. Sir John Major Conservative 1990 to 1997 From his humble beginnings as the son of a former music hall star, Major was reportedly inspired to become a politician after watching Harold Macmillan present his only budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Tony Blair Labour 1997 to 2007 Blair was the longest serving Labour prime minister and although he initiated reforms in the House of Commons, he was criticised for his involvement in the Iraq War. Gordon Brown Labour 2007 to 2010 Brown’s appointment caused controversy as he wasn’t actually elected, but he oversaw the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and the devolution of powers in Northern Ireland. BBC - History - British History in depth: Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline On This Day Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline Do you know which prime minister brought 'fallen women' to 10 Downing Street? Or which one fought a duel?

Or who was known as 'the Goat'? Take a political journey through nearly 300 years of high ideals and low cunning, from Gordon Brown to the first man to hold prime ministerial powers, Robert Walpole. Margaret Thatcher Conservative, 1979 - 1990 Britain's first female prime minister came to power with the country descending into industrial and economic chaos. A relatively inexperienced politician, she nonetheless adopted a personal style of indomitable self-confidence and brooked no weakness in herself or her colleagues. Derisively dubbed the 'Iron Lady' by the Soviet press, she wore the moniker with pride. Her government's free-market policies included trade liberalisation, deregulation, sweeping privatisation, breaking the power of the unions, focus on the individual and the creation of an 'enterprise culture'. 'Thatcherism' has had a profound and lasting economic and social impact on Britain, and still sharply divides opinion to this day. The first PM to serve three consecutive terms (including two 'landslide' victories) she was eventually toppled by her own party following the disastrous imposition of a 'poll tax'. Nonetheless, she is generally considered to be one of the best peace time prime ministers of the 20th Century.

James Callaghan Labour, 1976 - 1979 Callaghan inherited the office of prime minister following the surprise resignation of Harold Wilson. With only a tiny parliamentary majority to support him, he faced an increasingly one-sided confrontation with organised labour in the form of rampant strike action. Things came to a head in the so-called 'Winter of Discontent', a phrase from Shakespeare borrowed by Callaghan himself to describe the events leading up to February 1979. Britain was 'strikebound', with public servants staging mass walk outs, leaving food and fuel supplies undelivered, rubbish uncollected and - most notoriously - bodies unburied. Things became so bad in Hull it was dubbed 'the second Stalingrad'. The tabloid press has since been accused of overstating the severity of the situation (and wrongly quoting him as saying 'Crisis? What Crisis?') but it was enough at the time to sound the death knell for Callaghan's government later in the same year.

Harold Wilson Labour, 1974 - 1976 In March 1974, Wilson became prime minister for the third time at the head of a minority government, following the first hung parliament (one where no party holds a majority) for 45 years. Often described as a wily fixer and negotiator, it took all of his skills to hold on to power in the face of economic and industrial turmoil. His party was also sharply divided, with many Labour members of parliament (MPs) bitter about Wilson's manoeuvring against his colleagues. He called another general election in October 1974, thereby ending the shortest parliament since 1681, and was returned to office with a majority of just three seats. He presided over a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), and a collapse in the value of the pound which prompted a humiliating 'rescue operation' by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Exhausted, Wilson resigned saying 'politicians should not go on and on'.

Edward Heath Conservative, 1970 - 1974 Heath succeeded in taking Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC), the precursor to the European Union, despite two previous failed attempts by Britain to gain entry, in 1961 and 1967. But his government was dogged by torrid industrial relations and recurrent economic crises. Things came to a head in January 1974, when industry was put on a 'three-day week' to conserve fuel. Fuel was in dangerously short supply following a combination of domestic industrial action (coal miners on 'work-to-rule') and a quadrupling of prices by Middle Eastern oil exporting nations in the wake of Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War. In March 1974, Heath called a general election on the question of 'who governs Britain?' - the unions, or the elected representatives of the people. To his surprise the result was a hung parliament (one where no party holds a majority) and he was ousted.

Harold Wilson Labour, 1964 - 1970 In 1964, 'Good old Mr Wilson' - an avuncular, pipe-smoking figure - came to power amid much excitement and optimism. He had promised a 'new Britain' forged in 'the white heat of a second industrial revolution'. In reality, his administration never escaped from a cycle of economic crises, vainly battling against further devaluations of the pound. Wilson won a second general election in 1966 (the year England lifted the football World Cup) making him the first Labour PM to serve consecutive terms. In 1967, the government failed in its application for membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) and was also finally forced to devalue sterling. The electorate became disillusioned with Wilson, who lost narrowly to the Conservatives in the 1970 election. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Conservative, 1963 - 1964 In 1963, a change in the law allowed hereditary peers to disclaim (or 'drop') their titles, which in turn meant they were able to become members of parliament (MPs).

The only peer ever to do so and become prime minister was Douglas-Home, formerly the 14th Earl of Home, who assumed the office when Harold Macmillan retired due to ill health. He was the first prime minister in the post-war period not to win his own mandate (be elected or re-elected by popular vote). Harold Macmillan, Conservative, 1957 - 1963 Macmillan came to power at a time when Britain was confronting its loss of world-power status and facing mounting economic troubles. Nonetheless, he successfully associated the Conservatives with a new age of affluence and the burgeoning consumer revolution. But his oft-quoted assurance 'You've never had it so good' actually finishes 'What is beginning to worry some of us is, is it too good to be true?'. His government is principally remembered for the so-called 'Profumo Affair', a sex scandal that erupted in 1963 and contributed to the Conservatives' defeat at the general election the following year. Secretary of State for War John Profumo had been having an affair with a showgirl who was also seeing the Soviet naval attaché to London - a serious transgression at the height of the Cold War.

After lying to the House of Commons, Profumo admitted the truth in June 1963 and resigned in disgrace. Macmillan resigned due to ill health in October the same year. Sir Anthony Eden, Conservative, 1955 - 1957 When Sir Winston Churchill retired due to ill health, Eden took over as prime minister. Many years before, Churchill had anointed Eden as his successor, but later acknowledged he had made 'a great mistake'. His opinion was born out as the new PM blundered into the Suez Crisis. Following Egypt's decision to nationalise the Suez canal, Britain (the principal shareholder), France and Israel invaded in October 1956 to near-universal condemnation and the threat of nuclear strikes by the Soviet Union. Within a week, Britain was forced into an embarrassing climb-down. Humiliated and in ill-health, Eden left the country for a holiday at the Jamaican home of James Bond author, Ian Fleming. He returned in mid-December to the sarcastic newspaper headline: 'Prime Minister Visits Britain'. He resigned on 9 January 1957.

Sir Winston Churchill, Conservative, 1951 - 1955 Churchill's desire to return to power, despite his assured place in history, had much to do with his belligerent refusal to accept that the British public had rejected him in 1945. Now the electorate was seeking to put behind it the hardships and privations of the post-war years under Clement Atlee and return to a more traditional idea of society - so-called 'housing and red meat' issues. Churchill tried - and failed - to recreate the dynamism of his wartime administration, and he struggled to adjust to the political realities of the Cold War, preferring direct action and personal diplomacy to proxy wars and cabinet consensus. His refusal to retire, despite suffering a stroke, caused mounting frustrations among his colleagues. At the age of 80, he finally conceded to his failing health and stepped down, although he continued to serve as an MP. Clement Attlee, Labour, 1945 - 1951 World War Two had sharply exposed the imbalances in Britain's social, economic and political structures. For a population that had sacrificed so much, a return to the pre-war status quo was simply not an option.

In 1942, a report by Sir William Beveridge, chairman of a Ministry of Health committee, had advocated a system of national insurance, comprehensive welfare for all and strategies to maintain full employment. The 'Beveridge Report' formed the basis of Labour pledges in the 1945 election and resulted in a landslide victory. Attlee's government successfully harnessed the wartime sense of unity to create the National Health Service, a national insurance scheme, a huge programme of nationalisation (including the Bank of England and most heavy industries) and a massive building programme. He also made Britain a nuclear-armed power. These sweeping reforms resulted in a parliamentary consensus on key social and economic policies that would last until 1979. But by 1951, a row over plans to charge for spectacles and false teeth had split the cabinet. Party disunity and a struggling economy contributed to Attlee - cruelly dubbed by Churchill 'a modest man with much to be modest about' - losing the next election.

Winston Churchill, Conservative, 1940 - 1945 By the time Churchill was asked to lead the coalition government in 1940, he had already enjoyed colourful and controversial careers as a journalist, soldier and politician. He had twice 'crossed the floor' of the House of Commons, the first time defecting from Conservative to Liberal and serving as First Lord of the Admiralty during the early years of World War One. Demoted in the wake of the slaughter at Gallipoli, he preferred to resign and take up a commission fighting on the Western Front. Despite standing against the Conservatives in a 1924 by-election, Churchill was welcomed back into the party that same year and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for five years under Stanley Baldwin. But personal disagreements and his vehement anti-Fascism would lead to nearly a decade in the political wilderness. Following Neville Chamberlain's resignation in 1940, Churchill finally realised his 'destiny' and accepted the office of prime minister. Promising nothing more than 'blood, toil, tears and sweat', he almost single-handedly restored Britain's desire to fight on in adversity.

Despite Churchill's enormous personal popularity, by 1945 the electorate no longer wanted a war leader and the Conservatives lost by a landslide. Neville Chamberlain, Conservative, 1937 - 1940 Rarely has the hyperbole of politicians been as resoundingly exposed as when Neville Chamberlain returned from his 1938 negotiations with Adolf Hitler, brandishing his famous 'piece of paper' and declaring the agreement it represented to be 'peace for our time'. Within a year, Germany had invaded Poland and Britain was plunged into World War Two. With his policy of 'appeasement' towards Hitler utterly bankrupted, Chamberlain resigned in 1940. He was replaced by Winston Churchill. When the issue of honours was discussed, he stated that he wanted to die 'plain Mr Chamberlain, like my father'. His father, Joseph Chamberlain, was the politician who split the Conservatives in 1903 by pushing for tariffs on imported goods. It was this very issue that convinced Churchill to defect to the Liberals, with whom he first achieved high office. Chamberlain died six months after resigning.

Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1935 - 1937 When Baldwin returned to power in 1935, the financial crisis sparked by the Wall Street Crash six years before appeared to be over. It was to be swiftly replaced by a constitutional crisis brought about by Edward VIII's desire to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Baldwin advised Edward that Mrs Simpson would not be accepted as Queen by the public, and that the king could not condone divorce as head of the Church of England. The king proposed a 'morganatic' marriage, whereby Mrs Simpson would become his consort, but not Queen. The government rejected the idea and threatened to resign if the king forced the issue. The story then broke in the press, to general disapproval by the public. Rather than break the engagement, Edward abdicated on 11 December 1936. Credited with saving the monarchy, Baldwin is also condemned for failing to begin re-arming when it became clear that Nazi Germany was building up its armed forces.

Ramsay MacDonald, Labour, 1929 - 1935 MacDonald began his second term at the head of a minority government (one that does not have an outright majority) and with the economy in deep crisis. Britain was still in the grip of the Great Depression and unemployment soon soared to two million. With fewer people able to pay tax, revenues had fallen as demand for unemployment benefits had soared. Unable to meet the deficit, by 1931 it was being proposed that benefits and salaries should be cut. Labour ministers rejected the plan as running counter to their core beliefs. MacDonald went to the king, George V, to proffer his resignation. George suggested MacDonald to try and form a 'national government' or coalition of all the parties. (This is the last recorded direct political intervention by a British monarch.) The National Government was formed, with MacDonald as prime minister, but Stanley Baldwin, leader of the Conservative Party, the de facto 'power behind the throne'. MacDonald is still considered by many in the Labour Party as their worst political traitor.

Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1924 - 1929 In May 1926, the Trades Union Congress called for a general walkout in support of a coal miners' protest against threatened wage cuts. It was the first and, to date, only general strike in British history. The strike affected key industries, such as gas, electricity and the railways, but ended after just nine days due to lack of public backing and well-organised emergency measures by Baldwin's government. Far from succeeding in its aims, the General Strike actually led to a decline in trade union membership and the miners ended up accepting longer hours and less pay. It also gave impetus to the 1927 Trade Disputes Act, which curtailed workers' ability to take industrial action. Baldwin's government also extended the vote to women over 21 and passed the Pensions Act, but eventually fell as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the Depression that followed. Ramsay MacDonald, Labour, 1924 In 1924, MacDonald briefly became the first Labour prime minister, ending two centuries of Conservative - Liberal domination of British politics.

It was the first party to gain power with the express purpose of representing the voice of the 'working class'. An MP since 1906, MacDonald was respected as a thinker, but criticised by many within his own party as insufficiently radical (despite appointing the first female cabinet minister, Margaret Bondfield, in 1929). His opposition to World War One had made him deeply unpopular and he continually suffered a torrid time at the hands of the press. The publication by two newspapers of the 'Zinoviev letter' did much to damage his chances in the run up to the 1924 election. The letter (which he had seen but decided to keep secret) purported to be from Soviet intelligence and urged British communists to commit acts of sedition. He lost by a wide margin. The letter is now widely accepted to be a fraud. Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1923 During his very brief first term as prime minister, Stanley Baldwin bumped into an old school friend on a train.

Asked what he was doing these days, Baldwin replied: 'I am the prime minister.' Having come to power following Andrew Bonar Law's resignation, he called an election in the hope of gaining his own mandate (election by popular vote), but lost. Andrew Bonar Law, Conservative, 1922 - 1923 Branded the 'unknown prime minister' by his bitter political rival HH Asquith, Canadian-born Bonar Law is principally remembered for a single speech he made in 1922. The Conservatives had been part of a coalition under the Liberal prime minister, David Lloyd George, since 1916. Many were considering joining Lloyd George permanently, but Bonar Law's speech changed their minds. Instead, the Conservatives withdrew from the coalition and Lloyd George was forced to resign. The king, George V, asked Bonar Law to form a new government. Reluctantly he accepted, despite still grieving two sons killed in World War One and - as it turned out - dying of throat cancer. He held office for 209 days before resigning due to ill health.

He died six months later and was buried at Westminster Abbey, upon which Asquith commented: 'It is fitting that we should have buried the Unknown Prime Minister by the side of the Unknown Warrior.' David Lloyd George, Liberal, 1916 - 1922 Lloyd George guided Britain to victory in World War One and presided over the legislation that gave women the vote in 1918, but he is remembered as much for his private life as his public achievements. Nicknamed the 'Welsh Wizard', he was also less kindly known as 'The Goat' - a reference to his countless affairs. (Scandalously, he lived with his mistress and illegitimate daughter in London while his wife and other children lived in Wales.) The first 'working class' prime minister, Lloyd George had risen to prominence by solving the shortage of munitions on the Western Front. It was his desire to get to grips with the requirements of 'total war' that led to his split with then Liberal Prime Minister HH Asquith. It also brought him closer to the Conservatives, with whom he formed a new coalition government when Asquith resigned. That coalition would disintegrate six years later in the midst of a scandal.

Serious allegations were made that peerages had been sold for as much as £40,000. (One list even included John Drughorn, who had been convicted for trading with the enemy in 1915.) Lloyd George resigned in October 1922. HH Asquith, Liberal, 1908 - 1916 Asquith's government had shown great longevity, but disintegrated in the face of the unequalled disasters of the Somme and Gallipoli. With World War One going badly, fellow Liberal David Lloyd George had seized his chance and ousted Asquith. But in the preceding eight years, the two politicians had together overseen one of the greatest constitutional upheavals of the 20th Century and ushered in some of the predecessors of the Welfare State. Old Age Pensions were introduced and Unemployment Exchanges (job centres) were set up by then Liberal minister Winston Churchill. But when Lloyd George attempted to introduce a budget with land and income taxes disadvantageous to the 'propertied' classes, it was thrown out by the House of Lords.

Lloyd George branded the Lords 'Mr Balfour's poodle' (a reference to Conservative leader AJ Balfour's supposed control over the peers). The stand-off resulted in two general elections during 1910, the second of which the Liberals won with a 'peers against the people' campaign slogan. The budget was passed and, in 1911, the Parliament Act became law. The Act stated that the Lords could only veto a Commons bill twice, and instituted five-yearly general elections. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal, 1905 - 1908 Arthur James Balfour, Conservative, 1902 - 1905 The nephew of the Marquess of Salisbury, Balfour had none of his uncle's political skills despite a long period of mentoring. He was instead something of a philosopher, publishing several weighty books, including 'A Defence of Philosophic Doubt', 'The Foundations of Belief', and 'Theism and Humanism'. Following a cabinet split Balfour resigned, gambling that the Liberals would be unable to form a government and that he would be returned to power. He was wrong.

Marquess of Salisbury, 1895 - 1902, Conservative Salisbury came to power for the third and final time when the weak Liberal government of the Earl of Rosebery fell. The political climate was one of rising resentment among the lower and middle classes, who demanded better conditions, social reforms and proper political representation. Bitterly divided, the Liberals would nonetheless experience a revival as they sought reforms of the squalid, disease-ridden British 'concentration camps' used in the Boer War. But it was the founding of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) on 27 February 1900 that signalled a quiet, yet highly significant sea-change in British politics. This coalition of socialist groups would win two seats in the 1900 general election and 29 seats in 1906. Later that same year, the LRC changed its name to the Labour Party. Despite failing health, Salisbury agreed to stay on to help Edward VII manage the transition following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. He resigned in favour of his nephew, AJ Balfour, in the first months of the new King's reign.

(Notably, he was the last serving prime minister to sit in the Lords.) Earl of Rosebery, Liberal, 1894 - 1895 Rosebury reluctantly became prime minister on the insistence of Queen Victoria, despite still mourning the loss of his wife. Desperate to have a minister she actually liked, Victoria had taken the unusual step of not consulting the outgoing PM, William Gladstone, about his successor. Rosebery, who always loved horseracing more than the 'evil smelling bog' of politics, was gratefully allowed to resign a year later. Notably, he is the only prime minister to have produced not one, but three Derby winners, in 1894, 1895 and 1905. (Despite his aversion to politics, Rosebery was no stranger to scandal. The Prince of Wales had reputedly once intervened to prevent him from being horsewhipped by the Marquess of Queensbury, with whose son Rosebery was believed to be having an affair.

Queensbury's other son was Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde's lover.) William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1892 - 1894 Gladstone's fourth term as prime minister was completely overshadowed by his insistence on introducing a third bill on the subject of 'Home Rule' for Ireland. The Conservative-dominated House of Lords threw the bill out and generally obstructed Liberal attempts to pass legislation. With his cabinet split and his health failing, the 'Grand Old Man' stepped down for the last time. The public was, in any case, exhausted with Home Rule and instead wanted reforms to working conditions and electoral practices. (Meanwhile, out on the political fringe, the Independent Labour Party had been set up under Keir Hardie to represent the working class and 'secure the collective ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange'. Leading figures in the party included George Bernard Shaw and Ramsay MacDonald.) Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative, 1886 - 1892 William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1886 Gladstone came to power for the third time with 'Home Rule' (devolution) for Ireland still the dominant issue.

A bitter election battle had seen the Conservative government fall after Irish Nationalist members of parliament sided with the Liberals to defeat them. Instead, the Liberals formed a government in coalition with the Irish Nationalists and Gladstone tried to push through his second attempt at a Home Rule bill. The bill split the Liberals and Gladstone resigned. He lost the general election when the 'Liberal Unionists' - those who wanted Ireland to be ruled from Westminster - broke away from Gladstone's Liberals to fight the next election as a separate party. Most Liberal Unionists were of the 'Whig' or propertied faction of the party, which meant that when they went, they took most of the money with them. Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative, 1885 - 1886 William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1880 - 1885 Having failed to force Gladstone to serve under Lord Hartington, Queen Victoria reluctantly accepted 'that half-mad firebrand' as prime minister for the second time. He had only lately returned to politics from retirement after his so-called 'Midlothian Campaign', in which he spoke to large crowds - a practice considered by polite Victorian society to be 'undignified'.

His campaign did much to discredit Disraeli's government and had clearly struck a chord with a public eager for social and electoral reform. The Ballot Act in 1872 had instituted secret ballots for local and general elections. Now came the Corrupt Practices Act, which set maximum election expenses, and the Reform and Redistribution Act, which effectively extended voting qualifications to another six million men. There were other burning issues. The United States had just overtaken Britain as the world's largest industrialised economy, and 'Home Rule' (devolution) for Ireland continued to dominate. In seeking support for Home Rule, James Parnell's Irish Nationalists sided with the Conservatives to defeat a Liberal budget measure. Gladstone resigned and was replaced by the 'caretaker government' of the Marquess of Salisbury. Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative, 1874 - 1880 After a brief taste of power in 1868, it had taken Disraeli six years to become prime minister again. He wasted no time in bringing about the social reforms he had envisaged in the 1840s as a member of the radical Young England group.

His Acts included measures to provide suitable housing and sewerage, to protect the quality of food, to improve workers rights (including the Climbing Boys Act which banned the use of juveniles as chimney sweeps) and to implement basic standards of education. In 1876, Disraeli was made the Earl of Beaconsfield, but continued to run the government from the Lords. He persuaded Queen Victoria to take the title 'Empress of India' in 1877 and scored a diplomatic success in limiting Russian influence in the Balkans at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. He retired in 1880, hoping to spend his remaining years adding more novels to his already impressive bibliography, but died just one year later. William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1868 - 1874 Upon taking office for the first time Gladstone declared it his 'mission' to 'pacify Ireland' - a prize that was always to elude him. Nonetheless, Gladstone was to become the dominant Liberal politician of the late 19th Century, serving as prime minister four times despite earning Queen Victoria's antipathy early in his career.

(She famously complained that 'he always addresses me as if I were a public meeting'.) He had started his career as an ultra-conservative Tory, but would end it as a dedicated political reformer who did much to establish the Liberal Party's association with issues of freedom and justice. But Gladstone also had his idiosyncrasies. He made a regular habit of going to brothels and often brought prostitutes back to 10 Downing Street. In an era when politicians' private lives were very private, his embarrassed colleagues nonetheless felt it necessary to explain his behaviour as 'rescue work' to save 'fallen women'. Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative, 1868 On being asked to become prime minister following the resignation of the Earl of Derby, Disraeli announced: 'I have reached the top of the greasy pole'. He immediately struck up an excellent rapport with Queen Victoria, who approved of his imperialist ambitions and his belief that Britain should be the most powerful nation in the world. Unhappily for the Queen, Disraeli's first term ended almost immediately with an election victory for the Liberals.

Despite serving as an MP since 1837 and twice being Chancellor of the Exchequer, Disraeli's journey to the top was not without scandal. In 1835, he was forced to apologise in court after being accused of bribing voters in Maidstone. He also accrued enormous debts in his twenties through speculation on the stock exchange. Disraeli suffered a nervous breakdown as a result, but eventually paid off his creditors by marrying a rich widow, Mary Anne Wyndam Lewis, in 1839. Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1866 - 1868 The introduction of the 1867 Reform Act made Derby's third term as prime minister a major step in the true democratisation of Britain. The Act extended the vote to all adult male householders (and lodgers paying £10 rental or more, resident for a year or more) living in a borough constituency. Simply put, it created more than 1.5 million new voters. Versions of the Reform Act had been under serious discussion since 1860, but had always foundered on Conservative fears.

Many considered it a 'revolutionary' move that would create a majority of 'working class' voters for the first time. In proposing the Reform Act, Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Leader of the House of Commons, had warned his colleagues that they would be labelled the 'anti-reform' party if they continued to resist. The legislation was passed, and also received the backing of the Liberals under their new leader, William Gladstone. Earl Russell, Whig, 1865 - 1866 Viscount Palmerston, Liberal, 1859 - 1865 Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1858 - 1859 The property qualification - the requirement that a man must own property in order to stand as a member of parliament - was finally abolished during Derby's second term as prime minister. It meant that members of parliament (MPs) were no longer drawn exclusively from the 'propertied' classes and could realistically be 'working class'. This fulfilled one of the six conditions set out by the Chartists - supporters of the Third Chartist Petition, written in 1838.

It demanded universal male suffrage (votes for all adult men), secret ballots (rather than traditional open ballots), annual parliamentary elections, equal electoral districts (some had less than 500 voters, while others had many thousands), the abolition of a property qualification for MPs, and payment for MPs (which would allow non-independently wealthy men to sit in parliament). Viscount Palmerston, Liberal , 1855 - 1858 Earl of Aberdeen, Tory, 1852 - 1855 It was something of a cruel irony that Aberdeen came to be blamed for blundering into the dreadful Crimean War. As plain George Hamilton Gordon he had made a successful career as a diplomat and had done much to normalise Britain's relationships with its powerful neighbours. Vivid reports from the front by WH Russel of the Times have since led to the Crimean being styled the first 'media war'. His reports publicised the squalor and disease that were claiming more soldiers' lives than the fighting, and inspired Florence Nightingale to volunteer and take the first 38 nurses out to treat the wounded. In 1855, Aberdeen conceded to his critics and resigned.

Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1852 Earl Russell, Whig, 1846 - 1851 Confronted by the Irish Potato Famine, declining trade and rising unemployment, Russell still managed to push through trade liberalisation measures and limits on women's working hours. A dedicated reformer, he nonetheless presided over the rejection of the Third Chartist Petition. Set out 1838, it demanded universal male suffrage (votes for all adult men), secret ballots (rather than traditional open ballots), annual parliamentary elections, equal electoral districts (some had less than 500 voters, while others had many thousands), the abolition of a property qualification for members of parliament (MPs), and payment for MPs (which would allow non-independently wealthy men to sit in parliament). Already rejected once by parliament in 1839, the petition had gathered 5 million signatures by 1848. Presented to parliament a second time, it was again rejected. The Chartist movement slowly petered out, even as revolutions blazed across Europe, but many of its aims were eventually realised.

Sir Robert Peel, Tory, 1841 - 1846 Peel's second term as prime minister was nothing short of tumultuous. Economic depression, rising deficits, Chartist agitation, famine in Ireland and Anti-Corn League protests crowded in. A raft of legislation was created to stabilise the economy and improve working conditions. The Factory Act regulated work hours (and banned children under eight from the workplace), the Railway Act provided for cheap, regular train services, the Bank Charter Act capped the number of notes the Bank of England could issue and the Mines Act prevented women and children from working underground. But a failed harvest in 1845 provided Peel with his greatest challenge. There was an increasing clamour for repeal of the Corn Laws, which forbade the import of cheap grain from overseas. Powerful vested interests in the Tory Party opposed such a move, but in the end Peel confronted them and called for repeal. After nearly six months of debate, and with the Tories split in two, the Corn Laws were finally repealed. Defeated on a separate issue, Peel resigned the same day, but was cheered by crowds as he left the Commons.

(The 'Peelite' faction of the Tories is widely recognised as the foundation of the modern Conservative.) Viscount Melbourne, Whig, 1835 - 1841 Sir Robert Peel, Tory, 1834 - 1835 Invited by William IV to form a new government, Peel immediately called a general election to strengthen his party. Campaigning on his so-called 'Tamworth Manifesto', Peel promised a respectful approach to traditional politics, combined with measured, controlled reform. He thereby signalled a significant shift from staunch, reactionary 'Tory' to progressive 'Conservative' politics. Crucially, he pledged to accept the 1832 Reform Act, which had recently increased the number of people eligible to vote. Peel won the election, but only narrowly. He resigned the following year after several parliamentary defeats. (Peel is probably best remembered for creating the Metropolitan Police in 1829 while Home Secretary in the Duke of Wellington's first government.

The nickname 'bobbies' for policemen is derived from his first name.) Duke of Wellington, Tory, 1834 Viscount Melbourne, Whig, 1834 In a bid to repress trade unions, Melbourne's government introduced legislation against 'illegal oaths'. As a result, the Grand National Consolidated Trades' Union failed. In March of the same year, six labourers were transported to Australia for seven years for attempting to provide a fund for workers in need. They became known as the 'Tolpuddle Martyrs'. Melbourne himself was notoriously laid back. When first asked to become prime minister he declared it 'a damned bore'. Having accepted, he would often refuse to allow his cabinet colleagues to leave the room, insisting 'I'm damned if I know what we agreed on. We must all say the same thing.' Earl Grey, Whig, 1830 - 1834 In June 1832, the Reform Act finally passed into law after 15 torrid months of debate. It extended the vote to just 7% of the adult male population, based on a series of lowered property qualifications.

Introduced in March 1831, the bill scraped through the Commons by a single vote, but was thrown out at the committee stage (when the bill is debated in detail - sometimes called the 'second reading'). Parliament was dissolved and the general election was fought on the single issue of the Reform Act - an unprecedented event in British political history. The Whigs won the election and passed the bill, but the House of Lords (with a majority of Tories) threw it out, sparking riots and civil disobedience across the country. With the spectre of France's bloody revolution clearly in mind, William IV eventually agreed to create 50 Whig peers to redress the balance in the Lords if the bill was rejected again. The Lords conceded and the Act was finally passed into law. After all his efforts, Earl Grey is principally remembered for giving his name to a fragrant blend of tea. Duke of Wellington, Tory, 1828 - 1830 Wellington's first term in office was dominated by the thorny subject of Catholic emancipation. Catholics were permitted to vote, but were not allowed to sit as members of parliament (MPs) and had restrictions on the property they could own.

Initially, the 'Iron Duke' was staunchly in favour of the status quo, but soon came to realise that emancipation might be the only way to end conflict arising from the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland in 1801. He became such an advocate that he even fought a duel with the 10th Earl of Winchilsea over the issue. The Earl had accused him of plotting the downfall of the 'Protestant constitution', but then backed down and apologised. They still had to go through the ritual of the duel at Battersea Fields, with both men deliberately firing high and wide. Wellington eventually drove the legislation through, opening the way for Catholic MPs. Viscount Goderich, Tory, 1827 - 1828 George Canning, Tory, 1827 Canning finally became prime minister after a long career in politics, only to die of pneumonia 119 days later. He had famously fought a duel in 1809 with his bitterest political rival, Lord Castlereagh, and was shot in the thigh. Castlereagh committed suicide with a penknife in 1822, after becoming depressed about his falling popularity.

Earl of Liverpool, Tory, 1812 - 1827 Liverpool is the second longest serving prime minister in British history (after Robert Walpole), winning four general elections and clinging on to power despite a massive stroke that incapacitated him for his last two years in office. Liverpool became PM at a time when Britain was emerging from the Napoleonic Wars and the first rumblings of 'working class' unrest were just beginning to be felt. Staunchly undemocratic in his outlook, Liverpool suppressed efforts to give the wider populace a voice. He was unrepentant when, in 1819, troops fired on a pro-reform mass meeting at St Peter's Fields in Manchester, killing eleven - the so-called 'Peterloo Massacre'. Trade unions were legalised by the 1825 Combination Act, but were so narrowly defined that members were forced to bargain over wages and conditions amid a minefield of heavy penalties for transgressions. (Liverpool's one concession to popular sentiment was in the trial of Queen Caroline on trumped up adultery charges. The legal victimisation of George IV's estranged wife, who was tried in parliament in 1820, brought her mass sympathy.

Mindful not to provoke the mob in the wake of Peterloo, the charges were eventually dropped.) Spencer Perceval, Tory, 1809 - 1812 Perceval bears a dubious distinction as the only British prime minister to be assassinated. As chancellor of the exchequer he moved in to 10 Downing Street in 1807, before rising to the office of prime minister two years later. His 12 young children - some born while he was in office - also lived in the PM's crowded residence. Against expectations, he had skilfully kept his government afloat for three years despite a severe economic downturn and continuing war with Napoleon. He was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons on 11 May 1812 by a merchant called John Bellingham who was seeking government compensation for his business debts. Perceval's body lay in 10 Downing Street for five days before burial. Bellingham gave himself up immediately. Tried for murder, he was found guilty and hanged a week later.

Duke of Portland, Tory, 1807 - 1809 Lord Grenville, Whig, 1806 - 1807 William Pitt 'the Younger', Tory, 1804 - 1806 Faced by a fresh invasion threat from Napoleon, George III once again turned to Pitt. A shadow of his former self due to failing health and suspected alcoholism, Pitt nonetheless accepted. He made alliances with Napoleon's continental rivals - Russia, Austria and Sweden - then, in 1805, Admiral Lord Nelson shattered French invasion hopes at the Battle of Trafalgar. Pitt did not have long to savour victory before Napoleon defeated both Russia and Austria to stand astride the whole of Europe. Heartsick, utterly exhausted, penniless and unmarried, Pitt died on 23 January 1806 at the age of 46. Henry Addington, Tory, 1801 - 1804 Addington secured the Peace of Amiens with France in 1802, but would see Britain plunge into war with Napoleon again just two years later. He also passed the first Factory Act into law.

The Act was the earliest attempt to reform working conditions in factories. It set a maximum 12 hour working day for children and addressed issues like proper ventilation, basic education and sleeping conditions. (Notably, his government also awarded Edward Jenner £10,000 to continue his pioneering work on a vaccine for smallpox.) But he was generally poorly regarded, prompting the satirical rhyme 'Pitt is to Addington, as London is to Paddington' - a reference to his distinguished predecessor as prime minister, William Pitt. William Pitt 'the Younger', Tory, 1783-1801 Pitt 'the Younger' was the youngest prime minister in British history, taking office at the tender age of just 24. But his youth did not seem to disadvantage him as he threw himself into the manifold problems of government, holding on to the top office for 17 years - fifteen years longer than his father, Pitt 'the Elder'. His first priority was to reduce the National Debt, which had doubled with the loss of the American colonies in 1783.

George III's mental illness then threw up the spectre of a constitutional crisis, with the transfer of sovereignty to the erratic Prince of Wales only narrowly averted by the king's recovery. Further threats to the monarchy emanated from across the Channel, with the bloody French Revolution of 1789 and subsequent war with France in 1793. War increased taxes and caused food shortages, damaging Pitt's popularity to the extent that he employed bodyguards out of fear for his safety. In a bid to resolve at least one intractable conflict, he pushed through the Act of Union with Ireland in 1800, but the related Emancipation of Catholics Bill was rejected by the king a year later. Having lost George III's confidence, Pitt was left with no option but to resign. Duke of Portland, Tory, 1783 Earl Shelburne, Whig, 1782 - 1783 Marquess of Rockingham, Whig, 1782 Lord North, Tory, 1770 - 1782 North is chiefly somewhat unfairly remembered as the prime minister who lost the American colonies.

Groomed by George III to lead his parliamentary supporters, North was fiercely loyal to his king, whose policy it had been to 'punish' the American colonials. The American War of Independence, reluctantly entered into by both sides, had been prosecuted at the king's behest in retaliation for their refusal to pay more towards their own defence. As hostilities progressed, North's blundering and indecision worsened an already difficult situation, and by 1782 it was clear that the outcome was likely to be a disaster. He begged George III to be allowed to resign, but the king refused to release him until the war was over. North has since become the yardstick for prime ministerial mediocrity, with later PMs being criticised as 'the worst since Lord North'. Duke of Grafton, Whig, 1768 - 1770 An unremarkable prime minister, Grafton had a quite remarkable appetite for extra-marital affairs and openly kept several mistresses. He scandalised polite society in 1764 by leaving his wife and going to live with his mistress, Anne Parsons, also known as 'Mrs Houghton'.

(Horace Walpole referred to her derisively as 'everybody's Mrs Houghton'.) Popular opinion had disapproved of Grafton's behaviour, until his wife did something even more shocking. She eloped with the Earl of Upper Ossory and had a child by him. Grafton divorced her in 1769, then abandoned Mrs Houghton and married Elizabeth Wrottesley, with whom he had 13 children. The Mrs Houghton ended up marrying the king's brother. This unsuitable union gave impetus to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which decreed that the monarch had to give permission for all royal weddings. Earl of Chatham, Pitt 'The Elder', Whig, 1766 - 1768 Pitt 'the Elder' is widely credited as the man who built the British Empire, although much of this was done in the role of secretary of state under the governments of the Duke of Newcastle. He chose his fights carefully, conducting military campaigns where conditions were best suited to British merchants.

Pitt added India, West Africa, the West Indies and the American colonies to Britain's overseas possessions, and was persistently belligerent towards colonial rivals like France and Spain. His relentless imperialism kept the merchants happy but infuriated men like Newcastle who counted the financial cost of his wars. Pitt was a superb public speaker and a master of the devastating put-down, but his career was dogged with recurrent mental illness and gout. Ironically, it was during his term as prime minister that he was at his least effective, often struggling to build support. He collapsed in the House of Lords in October 1768 and died four days later. (Pitt was the MP for a 'burgage borough' - an empty piece of land with no-one living on it. His constituency, Old Sarum, was a mound in Wiltshire. On polling day, seven voters met in a tent to cast their votes.) Marquess of Rockingham, Whig, 1765 - 1766 George Grenville, Whig, 1763 - 1765 Grenville is one of the few prime ministers to have been sacked by the monarch.

He was fired after a row with George III over who should rule in his place if his mental health continued to deteriorate. Earl of Bute, Tory, 1762 - 1763 Bute was one of Britain's more unpopular prime ministers. Things came to a head when he failed to lower the taxes he had raised to fight France in the American colonies. Rioting erupted, his effigies were burnt and the windows in his house were smashed. Bute was generally disliked by colleagues and public, and was lampooned for his 'fine pair of legs', of which he was reputed to be extremely proud. His close relationship with the Prince of Wales's widow, the Dowager Princess Augusta, was also the subject of much scurrilous gossip. The nickname 'Sir Pertinax MacSycophant' was a contemptuous reference to the Roman Emperor Publius Helvius Pertinax, who was murdered three months after his meteoric assent by his own bodyguard. Unable to muster support in parliament, Bute resigned in 1763.

Duke of Newcastle, Whig, 1757 - 1762 Newcastle healed his rift with Pitt 'the Elder' by inviting him to serve in his government as secretary of state. Effectively a power-sharing coalition of two powerful men, the relationship gave birth to the British Empire. Their government eventually fell as a result of the new king, George III's hostility to Pitt, who had sought to restrict the influence of the monarch in political matters. Duke of Devonshire, Whig, 1756-1757 Duke of Newcastle, Whig, 1754 - 1756 Newcastle became PM after his brother, Henry Pelham, died in office. It is the only instance of two brothers serving as prime minister. Newcastle enraged Pitt 'the Elder' by refusing to promote him in the new government, then compounded the insult by sacking him.

Henry Pelham, Whig, 1743 - 1754 Earl of Wilmington, Whig, 1742 - 1743 Sir Robert Walpole, Whig, 1721 - 1742 Walpole is widely acknowledged as the first prime minister, although he never actually held the title. He was also the longest serving, lasting 21 years. But Walpole's first stint in government, as secretary of war, had ended inauspiciously with a six month spell in the Tower of London for receiving an illegal payment. Undeterred, he rose to power again on the back of a collapsed financial scheme in which many prominent individuals had invested. Walpole had the foresight (or luck) to get out early, and as a result was credited with great financial acumen. George I invited him to become chancellor and gave him the powers that came to be associated with the office of prime minister. His owed his longevity in office (and the incredible wealth he accumulated) to a combination of great personal charm, enduring popularity, sharp practice and startling sycophancy. The accession of George II saw him temporarily eclipsed, but he worked hard to win over the new monarch.

He was rewarded with both the new King's trust and 10 Downing Street, which remains the official residence of the prime minister to this day. Walpole was eventually brought down by an election loss at Chippenham and died just three years later. British Prime Ministers through the ages | Pictures | Pics | Daily Express British Prime Ministers through the ages Wed, May 27, 2015 Photo: 1 / 53 With a General Election coming up in May, we look back at some of the famous occupants of Number 10 through the ages Pause slideshow Winston Churchill Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) was and is a British icon. After a long career in journalism and politics he became Britain's talismanic war leader in 1940, where his stirring rhetoric and leadership would help the nation to overcome the Nazis. Defeated at the 1945 election, he returned to office in 1951. In 2002 he was named The Greatest Briton of all time by the public in a nation-wide survey [Getty Images] David Cameron was the Prime Minister from May 2010 to July 2016.

[Getty Images] Gordon Brown (1951-) served as Chancellor throughout his rival Tony Blair's period as Prime Minister and succeeded him in 2007. Less greagrious than his predesscesor, he struggled with personal image problems, and had to deal with two of the great political crises of the 21st century to date, the MP's expenses scandal, and the 2008 crash [Getty Images] Tony Blair (1953-) returned Labour to power after 18 years in opposition with a historic landslide in 1997. His government increased the budget of the Health and Education services, introduced a Minimum Wage and passed the Human Rights Act, but controversially led the UK into lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and introduced various surveillance and counter-terror measures that proved highly unpopular [Getty Images] John Major (1943-) was the surprise successor to Thatcher in 1990, and won an unexpected victory in the 1992 General Election. His government privatised rail, water and gas utilities and oversaw British integration into the new European Union in 1992.

Despite a strong economy, a string of government scandals and discontent with the Tories saw Labour win a resounding victory in 1997 [Getty Images] Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) was the first woman to occupy 10 Downing Street, and a forthright political personality. Her government took on tough battles in the Falklands abroad and against the Trade Unions at home, and by the second half of the 1980's had restored Britain to prosperity and stability. Some of her policies proved less succesful however, such as expanded police powers and the resented Poll Tax in 1989, and she was betrayed by her own ministers in 1990 and forced to step down [Getty Images] James Callaghan (1912 - 2005) succeeded Harold Wilson as Labour Prime Minister in 1976. At a time of economic 'stag-flation' and massive trade union disruption, it was hoped that his working class background might lead to a workable compromise.

Instead, the crisis worsened, the country was forced into a humiliating IMF loan, and Callaghan was voted out in 1979 [Getty Images] Harold Wilson (1916 - 1995) was a popular Labour Prime Minister noted for his reforms to higher education and decriminalization of homosexuality and abortion in 1967. He struggled to achieve mcuh in his second term in the 1970s when faced with a flatlining economy and widespread unrest, and resigned in 1976 [Getty Images] Edward Heath (1916 - 2005) struggled throughout his term of office to deal with a struggling economy, trade union unrest and his Conservative party's inability to win a majority. He led Britain into the EEC in 1973 and was ousted from office for the second time a year later. A lifelong bachelor, he owned several yachts all called 'Morning Cloud' [Getty Images] Alec Douglas-Home (1903 - 1995) replaced Harold MacMillan as PM and leader of the Tories in 1963.

His premiership was the second shortest of the 20th century [Getty Images] Harold Macmillan (1894 - 1986), was an old-fashioned upper-class Conservative who took over from the disgraced Eden in 1957. He oversaw a period of unprecedented prosperity and hugely expanded social housing infrastructure. His 1961 'Winds of Change' speech marked the symbolic end of British colonialism in Africa [Getty Images] Anthony Eden (1897 - 1977), was well-known for his good looks and easy-going manner. He became PM after Churchill in 1955 but was forced to resign in 1957 over the Suez Crisis in Egypt, an incident which gave him serious mental health problems [Getty Images] Clement Attlee (1883 - 1967), was one of the most influential British statesmen of the 20th century.

Leading Labour to a surprise landslide in 1945, his government would found the National Health Service and comprehensive education system, significantly expand social security and housing provision, and bring several key industries into public ownership, shaping Britain for decades to come [Getty Images] Neville Chamberlain (1869 - 1940), oversaw a return to economic stability after the chaos of the Depression and did everything in his power to prevent a second destructive European war. Despite his 1938 declaration of 'peace in our time', he was of course unsuccesful in this, and was replaced by the more aggressive Churchill as wartime leader [Getty Images] Stanley Baldwin (1867 - 1947) was a pre-eminent inter-war statesman who depsite his wealthy upper-class background attempted to shift the basis of Conservative support to people on lower and average incomes. He formed three seperate governments, and helped oversee recovery from the Depression in the 1930's [Getty Images] Ramsay MacDonald (1866 - 1937), was the first Labour Prime Minister, forming two minority governments.

Born into poverty in the Highlands, he managed to reform the housing and education systems but was ill-coped to deal with the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash and was forced to cede power to a national coalition, and then to the Tories [Getty Images] Andrew Bonar Law (1858-1923) was a Scottish Unionist who served briefly as Conservative Prime Minister in 1922-3 before ill health forced him to retire. Born in Canada (then part of the Empire), he was the only PM ever to be born outside of the British Isles [Getty Images] David Lloyd George (1863 - 1945) was a fiery orator and radical Liberal statesman who oversaw Allied victory in the First World War. He formed a coalition government after the Armistice to pursue economic recovery and expand social security, but was ousted in 1922.

He was the last Liberal Prime Minsiter and saw his party lose masses of its support to Labour [Getty Images] Herbert Asquith (1852 - 1928) won a Liberal landslide in 1908 and enacted several social and political reforms, introducing the first social security legislation and reducing the power of the House of Lords. He was Prime Minister at the start of the First World War [Getty Images] Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836 - 1908) was strangely enough, the first Prime Minister to be officially referred to as Prime Minsiter (up until then it had been a widely used but unofficial title). In office he signed a treaty with Russia that would underpin the Triple Entente alliance in the First World War, and transferred autonomy to South Africa [Getty Images] Arthur Balfour (1848 - 1930) was heir to one of the largest fortunes in Britain.

He led Britain during the Second Boer War and faced severe unrest in Ireland throughout his time in office [Getty Images] Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (1830 - 1903), Marquis of Salisbury was the last unelected Prime Minister of the UK, drawn from the House of Lords rather than the Commons. He served in three non-consecutive terms between 1885-1902, making him one of the dominant personalities of late Victorian politics [Getty Images] Archibald Primrose (1847-1929), Earl of Rosebery spent much of his fourteen months in power fighting his own Liberal party, who were wary of his plans to hugely increase the size of the Royal Navy [Getty Images] William Ewart Gladstone (1809 - 1898), was a titan of Victorian politics, known for his thunderous speeches. He served four terms as PM, making him electorally the most succesful British politician of all time.

Among his many achievements in office were reforms to the army and civil service, giving women the right to own property, liberalizing international trade and giving greater autonomy to Ireland [Getty Images] Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881) Witty and charming, he was also a succesful novelist and a favourite of Queen Victoria, who enjoyed his company far more than that of his rather more pompous rival Gladstone [Getty Images] Edward Stanley (1799 - 1869), Earl of Derby served in three seperate terms as PM and is considered by many as a founding figure of the modern Conservative party.

His most notable acts were transferring control of the Indian colonies to the Crown and Parliament in 1858, and enabling Jewish Britons to stand as MPs for the first time [Getty Images] John Russell (1792 - 1878), led a minority Conservative government which reformed the Poor Laws and Grammar Schools, but was undone by a vote of no confidence after widespread Chartist Unrest and a controversial Militia Bill [Getty Images ] Henry Palmerston, (1784 - 1865) was known as 'Gunboat Palmerston' for his aggressive approach to foreign affairs. He led Britain in both the Crimean War with Russia and the Second Opium War against Imperial China. [Getty Images] George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen (1784 - 1860) was an early advocate of free trade and led Britain into the Crimean War. He was forced to resign however, over the government's poor treatment of British soldiers in the war [Getty Images] Robert Peel ( 1788 - 1850) reformed the Tory party, renaming them the Conservatives. His government repealed the corn laws, a landmark moment in the development of Britain's industrial economy.

He is also widely credited with creating the first offical police force, who were known for years as 'Peelers' after him [Getty Images] William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779 - 1848) served as mentor and as a surrogate father-figure to the young Queen Victoria, who adored him for his good looks and charm. She was distraught when he was dismissed by William IV in 1834 [Getty Images] Charles Grey (1764 - 1845), 2nd Earl Grey became a popular hero in 1832 with the passage of the Great Reform Act, which reformed the voting system and abolished much of the corruption that had characterized British politics for decades. The popular 'Earl Grey' tea blend was named in his honour in the 1830's [Getty Images] Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769 -1852), was a heroic general of the Napoloeonic Wars who went on to serve as Tory Prime Minister from 1828-30.

He was less succesful as a statesman than he had been as a military commander, and became very unpopular for his efforts to block reform. His nickname 'The Iron Duke' was not a reflection of his phlegmatic tactics but rather came after he fixed iron bars to the windows of his house to protect himself from protestors [Getty Images] Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich (1782 - 1859) replaced Canning as Premier and did not bear the burden of office well. He is said to have cried with happiness when he was dismissed by King George IV, who disliked him immensely [Getty Images] George Canning (1770 - 1827) was a seasoned statesman who had served in most senior government posts, but lasted only four months in office before dying of pneumonia. His was the shortest tenure of any British PM to date [Getty Images] Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool (1770 - 1825) oversaw victory in the Napoleonic Wars and negotiations at the Congress of Vienna.

He returned Britain to the Gold Standard to increase trade value but Chartist unrest made him unpopular, and he was nearly assassinated in 1820 [Getty Images] Spencer Perceval (1762-1812) remains the only British Prime Minsiter to ever be assassinted.

He was shot in the House of Commons by a merchant called John Bellingham, who believed that the government owed him compensation for imprisonment in Russia [Getty Images] William Cavendish, Duke of Portland (1768 - 1854) had the distinction of holding every title of British nobility (Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron) and served as Prime Minister for a term in the 18th century and then another in the 19th [Getty Images] William Grenville (1759 - 1834), formed the famous 'Government of all-talents'- a coalition of noted Whigs and Tories, and is perhaps best known for abolishing the slave trade in 1807 [Getty Images] William Pitt 'the Younger' (1759 - 1806) was Britain's youngest ever Prime Minister, coming to office at the age of just 24. Youth did not prevent him from leading Britain in the Napoleonic Wars though, and he was so committed to his work that he died of exhaustion in 1806.

His last words were 'My country, O how I leave my country!' [Getty Images] Henry Addington (1757 - 1844) attempted to negotiate peace with Napoleon to stave off the threat of invasion in 1802 [Getty Images] William Petty (1737–1805) Earl of Shelburne was the First Irish-born Prime Minister. His year-long Whig ministry succesfully negotiated treaties with France, Spain, and the newly created United States [Getty] Charles Wentworth (1730 - 1782), The Marquis of Rockingham served twice as Premier in the 1760's and the 1780's respectively. He repealed the controversial Stamp Act, one of the causes of the American Revolution, and was the first PM to formally acknowledge the independent United States of America [Getty Images] Lord Frederick North, (1732-1792) was notoriously fat and often dozed through parliamentary sessions. His refusal to meet the demands of Britain's North American colonies led to the American Revolution.

[Getty Images] Augustus Fitzroy (1735 - 1811) Duke of Grafton, was a Whig Prime Minsiter in 18 of the most crucial months leading up to the American Revolution [Getty Images] William Pitt, (1708 - 1778) or 'Pitt the Elder', was an esteemed mid-18th century statesman best known for his successful conduct of the Seven Years' War, which saw Britain gain new colonies in America, India and the Carribbean [Getty Images] George Grenville (1712-1770) attempted to reduce taxes at home by increasing them in the colonies, notably through the infamous Stamp Act of 1765. This policy helped fund expanded imperial activity but also led ultimately to the American Revolution [National Trust] William Cavendish, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire (1698 - 1755) was the first of several members of his aristocratic family to serve as Prime Minister.

His most famous action was ordering the execution of the disgraced Admiral Byng, which caused public outcry and his dismissal by George II [Getty Images] Thomas Pelham-Holles (1693 - 1768), Duke of Newcastle served as Prime Minister from 1754 to 1756 and again from 1757 to 1762, in a coalition ministry with William Pitt the Elder which oversaw much of the conduct of the Seven Years' War with France and Austria [Getty Images] John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713 - 1792) was Britain's first Scottish Prime Minister and proved highly unpopular with the English public. He was rumoured to have had an affair with the Queen-Consort and lasted less than a year in office before retiring to take up botany [Getty Images] Henry Pelham (1695 - 1754) succeeded Walpole and Compton and proved durable, lasting eleven years in office.

He saw British entry into the War of the Austrian Succession, defeated the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745-6, and reformed the Navy and the Institution of Marriage before dying in office [Getty Images] Spencer Compton (c. 1673 - 1743), served for little over a year after many years in the Walpole government. His primary legislative efforts were aimed at increasing taxes on gin and whiskey to reduce disorder among the working poor [Getty Images] Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745) essentially established the office of Prime Minister, serving as head of government for a (probably) never-to-be beaten record of 21 years from 1721-42. Known as 'The Fat Squire from Norfolk' he was notoriosuly corrupt, governing largely through patronage and fraud [Getty Images] Also in this Gallery

Question: Whose was the shortest British premiership of the twentieth century?
Answer: ANDREW BONAR LAW