List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure explained

This is a list of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure. This is based on the difference between dates; if counted by the number of calendar days, the figures would be one day greater for each term served.

The term prime minister appeared in the early eighteenth century as an unofficial title for the leader of the government, usually the head of the Treasury.^[1] Jonathan Swift, for example, wrote that in 1713 there had been "those who are now commonly called Prime Minister among us", referring to Sidney Godolphin and Robert Harley, Queen Anne's lord treasurers and chief ministers.^[2] Robert Walpole is regarded as the first prime minister; he became First Lord of the Treasury of Great Britain in 1721. This list includes all prime ministers of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the modern-day United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Notable lengths

Of the 57 past prime ministers, nine served more than 10 years while eight served less than a year.^[3] Robert Walpole is the only person to have served as prime minister for more than two decades. Liz Truss is the shortest-serving prime minister, resigning after seven weeks.^{[4] [5] [6]} The previous shortest time served was George Canning, who served for less than four months before dying in office.^[7] Margaret Thatcher, in office for 11 years and 208 days between 1979 and 1990, is the longest-serving prime minister in modern history,^[8] and the longest-serving prime minister officially referred to as such.^{[9] [10]} William Gladstone is the only person to have served four separate terms.

List of office holders by tenure

Rank	Prime Minister			Party	Start	End	Tenure length (term)	Tenure length (total)	Reason for exit	class=unsortable
1				Whig	3 April 1721	11 February 1742			Resigned
2				Tory (Pittite)	19 December 1783	14 March 1801			Resigned
					10 May 1804	23 January 1806			Died
3			The Earl of Liverpool	Tory (Pittite)	8 June 1812	9 April 1827			Resigned due to illness	^[11]
4			The Marquess of Salisbury	Conservative	23 June 1885	28 January 1886			Resigned
					25 July 1886	11 August 1892			Defeated in election
					25 June 1895	11 July 1902			Resigned due to illness
5			William Ewart Gladstone	Liberal	3 December 1868	17 February 1874			Defeated in election
					23 April 1880	9 June 1885			Defeated in election
					1 February 1886	20 July 1886			Resigned
					15 August 1892	2 March 1894			Resigned
6			Lord North	Tory (Northite)	28 January 1770	27 March 1782			Resigned
7				Conservative	4 May 1979	28 November 1990			Resigned
8			Henry Pelham	Whig	27 August 1743	6 March 1754			Died
9			Tony Blair	Labour	2 May 1997	27 June 2007			Resigned
10			The Viscount Palmerston	Whig	6 February 1855	19 February 1858			Resigned
				Liberal	12 June 1859	18 October 1865			Died
11			H. H. Asquith	Liberal	8 April 1908	5 December 1916			Resigned
12			Sir Winston Churchill	Conservative	10 May 1940	26 July 1945			Defeated in election
					26 October 1951	5 April 1955			Resigned due to illness
13			Harold Wilson	Labour	16 October 1964	19 June 1970			Defeated in election
					4 March 1974	5 April 1976			Resigned
14			The Duke of Newcastle	Whig	16 March 1754	11 November 1756			Dismissed
					29 June 1757	26 May 1762			Dismissed
15			Stanley Baldwin	Conservative	22 May 1923	22 January 1924			Lack of majority after election
					4 November 1924	4 June 1929			Defeated in election
					7 June 1935	28 May 1937			Resigned
16			Benjamin Disraeli	Conservative	27 February 1868	1 December 1868			Election
					20 February 1874	21 April 1880			Election
17			Ramsay MacDonald	Labour	22 January 1924	4 November 1924			Defeated in election
				LabourNational Labour	5 June 1929	7 June 1935			Resigned due to illness
18			Harold Macmillan	Conservative	10 January 1957	18 October 1963			Resigned due to illness
19			The Viscount Melbourne	Whig	16 July 1834	14 November 1834			Dismissed
					18 April 1835	30 August 1841			Defeated in election
20			John Major	Conservative	28 November 1990	2 May 1997			Defeated in election
21			Lord John Russell	Whig	30 June 1846	21 February 1852			Defeated in election
				Liberal	29 October 1865	26 June 1866			Resigned
22			Clement Attlee	Labour	26 July 1945	26 October 1951			Defeated in election
23			David Cameron	Conservative	11 May 2010	13 July 2016			Resigned
24			David Lloyd George	Liberal	6 December 1916	19 October 1922			Resigned
25			Sir Robert Peel	Conservative	10 December 1834	8 April 1835			Defeated in election
					30 August 1841	29 June 1846			Resigned
26			The Earl of Derby	Conservative	23 February 1852	17 December 1852			No confidence vote
					20 February 1858	11 June 1859			No confidence vote
					28 June 1866	25 February 1868			Resigned due to illness
27			Edward Heath	Conservative	19 June 1970	4 March 1974			Defeated in election
28			The Earl Grey	Whig	22 November 1830	9 July 1834			Resigned
29			Arthur Balfour	Conservative	12 July 1902	4 December 1905			Resigned
30			The Duke of Portland	Whig	2 April 1783	18 December 1783			Lost a vote in the Lords
				Tory (Pittite)	31 March 1807	4 October 1809			Resigned due to illness
31			Henry Addington	Tory (Pittite)	17 March 1801	10 May 1804			Replaced
32			Boris Johnson	Conservative	24 July 2019	6 September 2022			Resigned
33			James Callaghan	Labour	5 April 1976	4 May 1979			Defeated in election
34			Theresa May	Conservative	13 July 2016	24 July 2019			Resigned
35			Neville Chamberlain	Conservative	28 May 1937	10 May 1940			Resigned
36			The Duke of Wellington	Tory	22 January 1828	16 November 1830			Replaced
					17 November 1834	9 December 1834			Caretaker
37			Gordon Brown	Labour	27 June 2007	11 May 2010			Defeated in election
38				Tory (Pittite)	4 October 1809	11 May 1812			Assassinated
39			Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Liberal	5 December 1905	3 April 1908			Resigned due to illness
40				Whig (Grenvillite)	16 April 1763	10 July 1765			Replaced
41				Whig (Chathamite)	30 July 1766	14 October 1768			Resigned due to illness
42				Peelite	19 December 1852	30 January 1855			Resigned
43				Conservative	6 April 1955	9 January 1957			Resigned due to illness
44			Rishi Sunak	Conservative	25 October 2022	5 July 2024			Defeated in election
45				Whig	16 February 1742	2 July 1743			Died
46				Whig (Rockinghamite)	13 July 1765	30 July 1766			Resigned
					27 March 1782	1 July 1782			Died
47				Liberal	5 March 1894	22 June 1895			Election
48				Whig (Chathamite)	14 October 1768	28 January 1770			Resigned
49				Whig	11 February 1806	25 March 1807			Replaced
50				Conservative (Scot. Unionist)	18 October 1963	16 October 1964			Defeated in election
51				Tory	26 May 1762	8 April 1763			Resigned
52				Whig (Chathamite)	4 July 1782	26 March 1783			Replaced
53				Whig	16 November 1756	29 June 1757			Replaced
54				Conservative (Scot. Unionist)	23 October 1922	20 May 1923			Resigned due to illness
55			Sir Keir Starmer	Labour	5 July 2024	Incumbent			Incumbent
56			The Viscount Goderich	Tory (Canningite)	31 August 1827	8 January 1828			Replaced
57				Tory (Canningite)	12 April 1827	8 August 1827			Died
58			Liz Truss	Conservative	6 September 2022	25 October 2022			Resigned

Disputed

Prime Minister			Party	Start	End	Tenure length	Reason for exit
			Whig	8 June 1757	12 June 1757		Unsupported
			Whig	10 February 1746	12 February 1746		Unsupported

See also

• History of the prime minister of the United Kingdom
• List of leaders of the opposition of the United Kingdom by length of tenure
• List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom
• List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by age
• List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office
• List of prime ministers of Canada by time in office
• List of prime ministers of New Zealand by time in office

Notes and References

1. Book: Dodd, A. H. . The Growth of Responsible Government from James the First to Victoria . Routledge and Kegan Paul . 1956 . London . 50.
2. Book: Marriott, J. A. R. . English Political Institutions . Oxford University Press, Oxford . 1925 . 87 . J. A. R. Marriott.
3. Web site: Past Prime Ministers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20080825191232/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history . 25 August 2008 . . Government of the United Kingdom.
4. Web site: 2022-10-25 . Liz Truss doubles down on disastrous 'growth' plan in farewell speech . 2022-10-25 . The Independent . en.
5. News: Marx . Willem . British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after weeks of criticism and turmoil . 20 October 2022 . NPR . 20 October 2022 . en.
6. News: Landler . Mark . Castle . Stephen . Here is the latest on the political turmoil in Britain. . 20 October 2022 . The New York Times . 20 October 2022.
7. News: Fortescue . Ali . 20 October 2022 . The divided Tories won't find it easy choosing a new PM . . 20 October 2022.
8. Web site: Baroness Margaret Thatcher: Conservative 1979 to 1990 . GOV.UK . . 10 November 2022.
9. News: Mackay . Robert . 28 December 1987 . Thatcher longest serving British prime minister . United Press International . live . 26 June 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303004520/http://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/28/Thatcher-longest-serving-British-prime-minister/8486567666000 . 3 March 2016.
10. Book: Marriott, John . English Political Institutions: An Introductory Study . Clarendon Press . 1923 . 2nd . Oxford . 17361473W . John Marriott (British politician) . free . 83.
11. Web site: British Prime Ministers University of Oxford . 2022-10-20 . www.ox.ac.uk.