The portrayals of fictional prime ministers of the United Kingdom have been either completely fictional figures, or composite figures based on real-life people, or real-life figures who have never been prime minister other than in fiction.
Real people on this list are marked:
| Prime Minister | Work | Medium | Year(s) | Actor | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 North 62 East | Film | 2009 | |||||
| Mr Stink | TV film | 2012 | David Walliams is the author of the original novel. Could have been named after David Cameron. | ||||
| Love Actually | Film | 2003 | |||||
| Little Britain | Television | 2005 | The Chancellor of the Exchequer and successor to Michael Stevens. He is based on Gordon Brown. | ||||
| A Very British Coup | Novel | 1982 | Harry Perkins' predecessor as prime minister, Andrews was the head of a Conservative-SDP Government of National Unity which suffered a landslide defeat to Labour in the 1989 general election. Thereafter, Andrews served as the Leader of the Opposition. | ||||
| --> | A Very British Coup | Television | 1988 | Andrews led a Conservative majority government to a landslide defeat in the 1991 general election following a banking sector crisis brought about by revelations of misconduct uncovered by Labour leader Harry Perkins. Andrews thereafter served as Leader of the Opposition. He was mentioned as representing the Surrey East constituency, and likely succeeded Margaret Thatcher (who was mentioned by Perkins as a former prime minister). | |||
| Yes Minister | Television | 1980–1984 | The unnamed and unseen prime minister throughout the original series, he is mentioned by name only in companion books for the series. (His name would appear to be a portmanteau of three real prime ministers: Herbert H. Asquith, Clement Attlee and Arthur Wellesley.) Attwell appointed Jim Hacker as minister for administrative affairs upon becoming prime minister in "Open Government", principally as an act of revenge against Hacker for managing his rival's leadership campaign. In "Party Games", he unexpectedly retired after his home secretary and deputy was forced to resign following a spectacular drink-driving incident; Hacker surmised that Attwell held on to the premiership only to deny it to his then likely successor. Spending his retirement writing his memoirs, Attwell's sudden death in the Yes, Prime Minister episode "A Diplomatic Incident" saw his state funeral serve as an unofficial summit, during which Hacker discussed the terms of joint British-French management of the Channel Tunnel with the French president. | ||||
| The New Statesman | Television | 1992 | In the final episode "The Irresistible Rise of Alan B'Stard", a special general election is called over British membership of the European Economic Community. Alan B'Stard, as leader of the Eurosceptic New Patriotic Party, became an extra-parliamentary prime minister, having not contested a seat and having threatened to use his party's mandate to become a dictatorial Lord Protector (after his deputy leader Paddy O'Rourke suggested that he rather than B'Stard would become prime minister as a result). | ||||
| Short film | 1999 | After accidentally constructing a working time machine designed by Leonardo da Vinci so that his master Lord Blackadder could win £30,000 in a New Year's prank-cum-bet, Baldrick became the puppet prime minister to Edmund III of the United Kingdom after they used the time machine to manipulate history for their benefit. | |||||
| The Queen and I | Novel | 1992 | The leader of the People's Republican Party, Barker won the 1992 election through subliminal messaging organised by the television technicians' union. Upon becoming prime minister, Barker abolished the monarchy and forced the Royal Family to live on the Hellebore Close council estate. However, due to fulfilling expensive campaign promises, such as raising pensions and renewing schools, Barker announced that Britain was to become part of Japan (with himself as Governor General) in exchange for the suspension of debt repayments, with Prince Edward having to marry the Emperor's daughter as part of the agreement. At the novel's conclusion, the story is revealed to have been a nightmare, with the Conservatives under John Major winning re-election (as in real-life). | ||||
| Dominion | Novel | 2012 | [1] | ||||
| The Adventure of the Second Stain | Short story | 1904 | Collected in The Return of Sherlock Holmes | ||||
| --> | The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Film | 1922 | Episode: "The Second Stain" | |||
| --> | Sherlock Holmes | Television | 1951 | Episode: "The Second Stain" | |||
| --> | Sherlock Holmes | Television | 1968 | Episode: "The Second Stain" | |||
| --> | The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Television | 1986 | Episode: "The Second Stain" | |||
| First Among Equals | Novel | 1984 | The unidentified prime minister who led Labour to a narrow general election victory in 1989 following a short-lived, ineffective Conservative minority government during Margaret Thatcher's third tenure as prime minister. Due to drastic cardiac surgery, he was forced to stand down as Labour leader in 1991 in favour of his deputy and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Raymond Gould; however, he continued to serve as prime minister until that year's general election. His departure from office coincided with the abdication of Elizabeth II. Lord Broadstairs is his post-prime-ministerial title. | ||||
| The Difference Engine | Novel | 1990 | A member of the Industrial Radical Party, which was formed following Charles Babbage's successful development of a working Analytical Engine and the early arrival of the Information Revolution, Brunel succeeded Lord Byron following his death in 1855 amidst rioting during the Great Stink. | ||||
| The Difference Engine | Novel | 1990 | A member of the Industrial Radical Party, which was formed following Charles Babbage's successful development of a working Analytical Engine and the early arrival of the Information Revolution. Lord Byron became prime minister in 1831 following the Duke of Wellington's unsuccessful coup d'etat to keep the Tory government in power and subsequent assassination. Byron died in office in 1855 amidst rioting during the Great Stink. | ||||
| Anno Domini 2000, or, Woman's Destiny | Novel | 1889 | Imperial prime minister of a federated British Empire, succeeding Mrs Hardinge. | [2] | |||
| Black Mirror | Television | 2011 | Episode: "The National Anthem". | ||||
| Whoops Apocalypse | Film | 1986 | |||||
| Bleak Expectations | Radio | 2012 | In the Series 5 finale "A Loved-Up Life Potentially Totally Annihilated", he refused to assist Pip Bin in foiling Mr Benevolent's plan to destroy the universe, even after the disappearance of several towns (as none were in constituencies controlled by his party). Considering re-election to be his first priority, he agreed to help only after learning that saving the universe would be a "huge vote winner", albeit deploying an ineffective one-man British Isles Defence Force. He dies after an enraged Pip throws him into Benevolent's Universe Destroying Device (one of many bizarre and violent deaths suffered by members of the Clampvulture family). Clampvulture's unfulfilled campaign promises included votes for horses and free jam. | ||||
| London Has Fallen | Film | 2016 | |||||
| House of Cards | Television | 1990 | Succeeding Margaret Thatcher as Conservative leader and prime minister, Collingridge leads his party to victory at the next general election albeit with a reduced majority. Citing the 'Night of the Long Knives' as precedent, Collingridge decides not to reshuffle his Cabinet. Being passed over for a promotion to the Home Office as a result, Government Chief Whip Francis Urquhart plots to replace him as prime minister out of revenge by fabricating a scandal involving Collridge's alcoholic brother and insider trading. In an ironic twist, Collingridge offers to support Urquhart's leadership bid. | ||||
| Red Election | Television | 2021 | [3] | ||||
| Phineas Redux | Novel | 1873 | [4] [5] | ||||
| Television | 2014 | Composite of David Cameron and Boris Johnson | |||||
| The Thick of It | Television | 2007-2009 | Formerly the transport secretary and chancellor of the Exchequer, he became prime minister after his predecessor's legacy programme is leaked. He would go on to lose the 2010 general election. A parody of Gordon Brown, Davis is unseen throughout the series. | ||||
| Secret State | Television | 2012 | Formerly the deputy prime minister to Charles Flyte, he succeeded Flyte after his death in a plane crash. After discovering a plot to engineer a war against Iran, he calls a vote of no confidence against his own government. | [6] | |||
| Gloriana, or the Revolution of 1900 | Novel | 1890 | Character is a pseudonym of Gloria De Lara | [7] [8] | |||
| Roadkill | Television | 2020 | |||||
| King Charles III | Film | 2017 | A constitutional crisis ensues over the King's refusal to grant royal assent to a statutory press regulation bill which could allow the government to censor the news and prevent the uncovering of genuine abuses of power. | ||||
| Noughts + Crosses | Television | 2020 | In an alternate timeline where Europe was colonised by several African nations, Opal Falomi is the prime minister of Albion, a self-governing colony of the Aprican Empire where racial segregation between Crosses and Noughts is rigidly enforced. | ||||
| Endymion | Novel | 1880 | [9] | ||||
| The Politician's Husband | Television | 2013 | Formerly the Minister of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, she became prime minister following her husband Aiden Hoynes's abortive leadership bid. With their marriage undermined by political scheming, public scandal, and unfounded suspicions that she was cheating on him with Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and leadership rival Bruce Babbish, they decide to remain married for political purposes, with Hoynes serving as Gardner's deputy prime minister. | ||||
| First Among Equals | Novel | 1984 | In the UK edition of the novel, following the extremely close 1991 general election, Charles III informs Conservative leader Simon Kerslake that he intends to make Labour leader Raymond Gould his first prime minister. Gould had to enter into a coalition agreement with the SDP, which included holding a referendum on proportional representation. | ||||
| The West Wing | Television | 2005 | Pamela Salem | Maureen Graty was the prime minister of the United Kingdom in 2005-2006. She deployed UK troops towards President Josiah Bartlet's Middle East peacekeeping plan in 2005 under the command of British General Whitehead. President Bartlet commented that "when she mulls, it’s trouble". | |||
| Television | 2009 | ||||||
| Phineas Redux | Novel | 1873 | |||||
| Doctor Who | Television | 2024 | |||||
| Yes, Prime Minister | Television | 1986–1988 | Previously the minister for administrative affairs and party chairman, Hacker became prime minister in "Party Games" after the surprise retirement of his predecessor. Hacker positioned himself as a moderate candidate after learning that the foreign secretary and chancellor of the Exchequer (the likely successors following the home secretary's resignation due to drink-driving) both posed serious security risks. In companion books written as published diary entries, Hacker ceased being prime minister after leading his party to defeat at the next general election. | ||||
| --> | Yes, Prime Minister | Television | 2013 | Depicted as the leader of a coalition government during the Eurozone crisis, the series revolves around his efforts to secure a multi-trillion dollar interest-free loan from Kumranistan as a solution. | |||
| Novel | 2011 | [10] | |||||
| --> | Dominion | Novel | 2012 | ||||
| --> | Novel | 2015 | |||||
| Anno Domini 2000, or, Woman's Destiny | Novel | 1889 | Imperial prime minister of a federated British Empire. | [11] | |||
| Doomsday | Film | 2008 | [12] | ||||
| Film | 1970 | The leader of the Conservatives, Hutchinson follows the advice of advisor-turned-MP Michael Rimmer which he gives in pursuit of his own ulterior ambitions. Hutchinson is murdered by Rimmer by being pushed off an oil rig, who then succeeds him as prime minister. | [13] | ||||
| Comics | 1983–present | Character in Marvel Universe | |||||
| Doctor Who | Television | 2005 | Episode: "The Christmas Invasion". Whilst in the two-part story "Aliens of London" / "World War Three", the Doctor states that she would serve as a successful three-term prime minister with her premiership being regarded as a golden age, having met her as a backbench MP, he manages to instigate a vote of no confidence against her as revenge for her ordering the destruction of the retreating Sycorax ship. | ||||
| First Among Equals | Novel | 1984 | In the US edition of the novel, following the extremely close 1991 general election, Charles III informs Labour leader Raymond Gould that he intends to make Conservative leader Simon Kerslake his first prime minister. Kerslake's character is likely analogous with the novel's author, Jeffrey Archer. | ||||
| Film | 2010 | Based on Tony Blair | |||||
| Roadkill | Television | 2020 | Previously the transport secretary and the justice secretary, he was appointed to the latter position by Prime Minister Dawn Ellison amidst prison rioting in a bid to undermine his popularity. Laurence was embroiled in numerous scandals, including two extramarital affairs, a love child, his daughter Susan being photographed taking cocaine, and culpability in the deaths of several tenants in properties that he owned, and often contradicted government policy publicly, such as supporting the decriminalisation of drugs and questioning the imprisonment of non-violent offenders. He was being investigated by journalist Charmian Pepper, against whom he had won a libel case, for his involvement with an American think tank which sought to privatise the National Health Service; this investigation practically came to a halt following Pepper's death during a suspicious traffic collision. Becoming prime minister following Ellison's resignation, Laurence's premiership was immediately jeopardised after his wife Helen's refusal to liquidate a shell company opened under her name. | ||||
| Little Britain USA | Television | 2008 | Formerly an aide to Michael Stevens, Sebastian Love's affections have been transferred to the new American president. Love is a parody of Peter Mandelson. | ||||
| Seven Days to Noon | Film | 1950 | |||||
| The Kidnapped Prime Minister | Short story | 1923 | Collected in Poirot Investigates | ||||
| The Final Cut | Television | 1995 | Formerly the deputy prime minister and foreign secretary, Makepeace was fired from the Cabinet following a dispute over Prime Minister Francis Urquhart's proposal for a single language for Europe. Refusing Urquhart's offer of demotion to education secretary, Makepeace began attacking him from the opposition benches. Following Urquhart's disastrous attempt to rally support by stirring up conflict in Cyprus, Makepeace challenged him for the Conservative leadership. Initially planning to discredit Urquhart by leaking a tape proving his role in the death of journalist Mattie Storin, Urquhart's assassination on the day he surpassed Thatcher's time in office allows Makepeace to succeed him unopposed. | ||||
| Novel | 2003 | [14] | |||||
| The Prime Minister | Novel | 1876 | [15] | ||||
| Henry IX | Television | 2017 | The incumbent prime minister when King Henry IX announces his intention to abdicate in coincidence with his Silver Jubilee. | [16] | |||
| Doctor Who | Television | 2021 | Episode: "Revolution of the Daleks": The Technology Secretary who won a leadership election and announced a rollout of Security Droids built from Daleks. However, she was immediately exterminated by a Dalek outside No. 10. | [17] | |||
| Passport to Pimlico | Film | 1949 | Originally a shopkeeper in Miramont Gardens, Pimlico. After it is discovered that his neighbourhood is still technically part of the defunct Duchy of Burgundy, he is appointed prime minister after a descendent of the last known duke asserts his claim and forms a privy council, with its meetings taking place in his shop. Forced to contend with strained British-Burgundian relations, owing to Burgundy becoming a safe haven for black marketeers, he ceases to be prime minister once the micro-nation is reunited with Britain. | ||||
| Novel | 1982 | Being the target of a conspiracy orchestrated by the Civil Service, the General Staff, newspaper magnate Sir George Fison, and the United States to undermine his radical policy agenda, Perkins is ultimately forced to resign after a meltdown at a nuclear power station whose creation he supported as Secretary of State for the Public Sector. He represented the Sheffield Central constituency. The sequel novel The Friends of Harry Perkins, published in 2019 and set forty years after the events of A Very British Coup, opens with Harry Perkins' funeral. | |||||
| --> | Television | 1988 | Following much of the plot of the novel, albeit with Perkins opposed to nuclear power, Perkins is presented with forged evidence of financial irregularity suggesting that he accepted £300,000 from the Soviet government as part of loan negotiations with the International State Bank of Moscow, implicating his former lover Helen Jarvis. With Fison's newspapers falsely speculating on Perkins' health and suggesting overwhelming public support for Perkins's former chancellor Lawrence Wainwright (a co-conspirator) as prime minister, he uses a live national broadcast intended for the announcement of his resignation on grounds of ill health to reveal the blackmail conspiracy and to call an early general election. On Election Day morning, it is implied that a military coup has begun. He represented the Sheffield Central constituency. | ||||
| My Dad's the Prime Minister | Television | 2003–2004 | [18] | ||||
| Novel | 1978 | Based on Margaret Thatcher | [19] [20] | ||||
| Late Night Mash | Television | 2022 | During a Newsdeck report, it was announced that due to difficulties in appointing a long-term prime minister, members of the public were to be randomly selected to serve in the role for two week tenures, similar to jury service. During a press conference, Keith Price, formerly a plumber from Cambridge and the first prime minister appointed under the new system, announced his policies of banning strawberries (as his wife was allergic), prohibiting non-regular customers at the Merchant's Arms pub in Cambridge from sitting at the bar, pursuing a Moon mission, and bombing France. | [21] | |||
| Television | 2006 | Originally a supermarket manager from Eatanswill, Yorkshire, she decided to stand as an independent parliamentary candidate out of anger at the state of British politics. After gauging the extent of dissatisfaction with politics, she formed the Purple Alliance, a third-way party whose members were formerly Conservative, Liberal Democrat, and Labour and were predominantly female. Promising never to deceive voters, her policies including moving Parliament to Bradford (after a 'Great Debate' during which she asks the public for ideas for policies), Green Wednesday during which car use would be banned (which she decided upon spontaneously), and promising to subject EU legislation to greater parliamentary scrutiny (after a Lithuanian plane crashes over Walthamstow). | |||||
| Film | 1970 | Based on David Frost. Formerly a pollster and Conservative Party advisor, Rimmer became prime minister after murdering his predecessor, Tom Hutchinson. Rimmer gained dictatorial powers in a referendum after generating extreme levels of voter apathy by requiring the electorate to engage in constant postal voting and televoting on trivial or complex matters. | |||||
| Years and Years | Television | 2019 | The leader of the far-right, populist Four Star Party (named after her tactic of swearing on pre-watershed television to appeal to disaffected voters). She was the first incumbent prime minister to be arrested, charged with murder and conspiracy to murder for the establishment of so-called 'Erstwhile Sites' for the detainment of asylum seekers and economic migrants. Although incarcerated, it is implied that she escaped with the aid of powerful sponsors and was replaced with a double. | [22] | |||
| Doctor Who | Television | 2007 | Episode: "The Sound of Drums". Alias of The Master, an evil Time Lord and one of the Doctor's archenemies. | ||||
| The Palace | Television | 2008 | The incumbent prime minister at the time of King James III's death, the newly-ascended Richard IV has an affair with his married press officer and he and the new king argue over cuts in defence spending. | ||||
| Zenith | Comics | 1987–2000 | Formerly known as Mandala, a member of the now-disbanded superhero team Cloud 9. | ||||
| The Final Cut | Novel | 1995 | Formerly the Environment Secretary, tasked with prohibiting the erection of a statue in honour of Margaret Thatcher, Stanbrook succeeded Francis Urquhart following his (elective) assassination and went on to win a landslide majority in Parliament due to public sympathy. Stanbrook was Jewish and of dubious parentage. | ||||
| Little Britain | Television | 2003 | Based on Tony Blair, he is the object of aide Sebastian Love's affection. | ||||
| No Love for Johnnie | Novel | 1959 | |||||
| --> | No Love for Johnnie | Film | 1961 | ||||
| V for Vendetta | Graphic novel | 1982–1985 | A former police chief constable, he and the Norsefire Party rose to power by exploiting poverty, chaos, and panic following a worldwide nuclear war, whereafter he adopted the title of Leader. A lifelong virgin and possibly a repressed homosexual, Susan falls in love with the super-computer Fate after the anarchistic terrorist V manipulated it to express the emotion of love to drive Susan insane. He was assassinated by Rose Almond, widow of the head of "The Finger" Derek Almond, resulting in his lieutenants killing each other to become Leader. | ||||
| Cobra | Television | 2020 | In Series 1, Sutherland oversees response efforts following power outages caused by a solar flare, and has to deal with a resultant blockade of Northumberland and the drug overdose death of his daughter Ellie's best friend, which she caused. After Sutherland's Home Secretary Archie Glover-Morgan attempts to orchestrate a vote of no confidence against him, he calls a general election, which he wins albeit with a reduced majority of nine MPs. In Series 2, Sutherland has to contend with the aftermath of an explosion on a sunken Second World War ammunition ship and subsequent Russian cyber attacks. | ||||
| V for Vendetta | Film | 2006 | Based on Adam Susan from the original comic series. Formerly the Conservative Under-Secretary of Defence, he founded the Norsefire Party, whose supporters developed the St Marys virus and corresponding cure, using them to perpetrate false flag attacks and win a general election and become personally wealthy, respectively. Sutler held the title of High Chancellor following the establishment of the Norsefire dictatorship. In exchange for the surrender of the anarchistic terrorist V, Sutler is kidnapped and executed by Creedy, the leader of the Finger (the military police). | ||||
| Party's Over | Radio | 2019 | Being the former prime minister, the series is set in the aftermath of Tobin's disastrous eight-month-long premiership and follows his misadventures as he attempts to repair his reputation and find lucrative employment. In the pilot, his time in office ended following a landslide defeat to the Opposition and the loss of his own seat in a snap general election, and his own unceremonious removal as party leader. However, in later episodes it is implied that he lost a vote of no confidence and that his party has remained in government. It is implied that he was a Conservative, having succeeded real-life prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May and mentioned several Conservative ministers as former colleagues. His attempts to restart his political career included joining with tech entrepreneur Scott Machin in establishing the Common Sense Party (which immediately backfired when Machin announced several eugenic policies at the party's launch event), and accepting the offer of a peerage (which was withdrawn after Tobin's conspiracy theorist sister sabotaged his investiture ceremony by playing a recording of him supposedly accusing the House of Lords of being lizard people). | [23] | |||
| The Diplomat | Television | 2023 | |||||
| To Play the King | Novel | 1993 | After the newly crowned king criticises many of Urquhart's policies and establishes himself as an unofficial Leader of the Opposition, Urquhart wins a majority in a snap general election, thus forcing the king to abdicate in favour of his son. | [24] | |||
| --> | To Play the King | Television | 1993 | ||||
| --> | Novel | 1995 | |||||
| --> | Television | 1995 | |||||
| Bodyguard | Television | 2018 | Forced to resign after a kompromat originally given to Home Secretary Julia Montague was leaked following her assassination. | ||||
| A Very British Coup | Novel | 1982 | Initially serving as chancellor of the Exchequer, Wainwright was a co-conspirator in a plot to remove Harry Perkins as prime minister and stymie his legislative agenda, hoping to become prime minister himself as a result after losing out on becoming Labour leader due to an electoral college system. After Perkins' resignation, Wainwright was elected leader by a majority of Labour MPs whilst Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House Jock Steeples was declared acting leader by the Labour Party National Executive. After the King appointed Wainwright as prime minister after the intervention of DI5, civil disruption and abortive legal proceedings against Wainwright ensued. After replacing the entire Cabinet (with Steeples turning down a minor position), Wainwright abandoned Perkins' policies not already implemented, including British withdrawal from NATO, nuclear disarmament, withdrawal from the Common Market, and the dissolution of newspaper monopolies. In The Friends of Harry Perkins, it was revealed that he served for only two years as prime minister before Labour fell from power. | ||||
| Novel | 2007 | In an alternate timeline in which the Confederate States won the War of Secession over the United States, the Second Great War (1941-1944) in Europe witnesses the destruction of London, Norwich and Brighton (alongside Paris and Petrograd) by German superbombs. After the ousting of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chancellor of the Exchequer Oswald Mosley, Horace Wilson was installed as a caretaker prime minister tasked with negotiating peace with the victorious Central Powers. | |||||
| --> | The War That Came Early | Novel series | 2009-2014 | In an alternate timeline in which the Second World War began in 1938 due to the assassination of Konrad Henlein by a Czech nationalist, Horace Wilson succeeded Neville Chamberlain as prime minister in 1940 (Winston Churchill having been killed by a drink-driver). As a result of his increasingly anti-democratic leadership, a relatively bloodless military coup occurred in 1941 resulting in Wilson and his Cabinet being placed in preventative detention and replaced by a military junta which respected civil liberties and voices of dissent out of expediency. | |||
| Endymion | Novel | 1880 | |||||
| Touch Me I'm Karen Taylor | Television | 2008 | Series of sketches about 'The Brass Lady', a "Junior Minister catapulted to power" following the deaths of most of the Cabinet due to cat flu. She does not take the job very seriously. | ||||
| Lifeforce | Film | 1985 | |||||
| North Sea Hijack | Film | 1980 | |||||
| Film | 1935 | ||||||
| Stormbreaker | Novel | 2000 | |||||
| Stormbreaker | Film | 2006 | |||||
| Percy's Progress | Film | 1974 | |||||
| Carry On Emmannuelle | Film | 1978 | |||||
| Random Harvest | Film | 1942 | |||||
| Heavens Above! | Film | 1963 | |||||
| Water | Film | 1985 | |||||
| Mr Stink | Novel | 2009 | |||||
| Damage | Film | 1992 | |||||
| Poirot | Television | 1990 | Episode: "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" | [25] | |||
| Ice | Television | 2011 | |||||
| Unnamed | Ali G Indahouse | Film | 2002 | Michael Gambon |