Talk:Records of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

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Uncertain[edit]

A few of these are uncertain so any help/best guesses would be appreciated.

Most Parliamentary elections[edit]

I think the PM who fought the most parliamentary elections was Churchill with a grand total of 21 (by-elections in 1899, 1908 {twice}, 1917, 1924; general elections in 1900, 1906 1910 {twice}, 1918, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1935, 1945, 1950, 1951, 1955 and 1955) but there may well be earlier ones who exceed this (the longer 7 year Parliaments until 1911 being balanced out by the Ministers of the Crown Act requiring newly appointed Ministers to seek re-election, though usually an uncontested formality). Timrollpickering 22:02, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Hmm...interesting question. I think Palmerston beats Churchill, though. He would appear to have run first in the 1806 general election and lost (1); then won a by-election in Horsham later that year but was unseated (2); then lost in his first attempt to find a seat in 1807 after his appointment as a Junior Lord of the Admiralty (3); then finally elected for Newport later that year (4); then re-elected to that seat after his appointment as Secretary at War in 1809 (5); then elected in an 1811 by-election for Cambridge University (6); re-elected in the 1812 general election (7); in the 1818 general election (8); in the 1820 general election (9); in the 1826 general election (10); in the 1830 general election (11); in the by-election occasioned by his appointment as foreign secretary that same year (12); then he lost the 1831 general election for the University (13); but was elected either at the same time or in a very early by-election for Bletchingley (14); then in the 1832 general for South Hampshire(15); then he appears to have lost at South Hampshire in the 1835 general election (16); but he was elected for Tiverton later that year, after his re-appointment as Foreign Secretary (17); re-elected in the 1837 general election (18); in the 1841 general election (19); in an 1846 by-election after his third appointment as foreign secretary (20); in the 1847 general election (21); in the 1852 general election (22); in what would have probably been an 1853 by-election after his appointment as home secretary (23); in an 1855 by-election after his appointment as Prime Minister (24); in the 1857 general election (25); in the 1859 general election (26); in the 1859 by-election caused by his second appointment as prime minister (27); and, finally, in the 1865 general election (28). So that seems likely to be more than Churchill, assuming I've not accidentally created any phantom by-elections. john k (talk) 17:00, 21 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
With respect to Timrollpickering, Churchill fought 22 Parliamentary elections - his last was in the General Election 1959, before retiring at the 1964 Election when his seat was anyway abolished.Cloptonson (talk) 20:08, 10 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

First...[edit]

The first PM is acknowledged as Robert Walpole and the first women is clearly Margaret Thatcher. However others are trickier.

The first non-Christian and first gay PMs are debated by many because the evidence is unclear.

Not everyone now considers Jews to be ethnic minorities. Others have argued that at times the Scots, Welsh and Irish were. So who is the first here?

First from each party:

The first Labour PM is clearly Ramsay MacDonald (even if Labour tried to airbrush him out of their history for a time).

The first Liberal is clearly Palmerston (even though both he and the second, Russel, were in their second terms in office).

We can clearly say Walpole was a Whig and thus the first by definition.

We can reasonably call Aberdeen a Peelite.

But the first Tory is unclear because of the fluid nature of political parties in the second half of the 18th century - is Bute really a PM from the Tory Party as continuing from that of Bolingbroke and Harley?

Similarly who is the first Conservative PM? In 1834 Wellington was only really a caretaker standing in for a returning Peel. And later Conservatives such as Disraeli did try to airbrush out Peel from party history, looking to either earlier periods like Pitt or claiming that their Conservative party was emerged from the Protectionists opposed to Peel. Timrollpickering 22:02, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I don't know that it's at all clear that Palmerston was the first Liberal PM. The Whigs started to be called Liberals as early as the Grey and Melbourne ministries, and I've definitely seen works that describe Gladstone's first ministry as the first Liberal ministry (or Russell's second ministry as the last Whig one). john k (talk) 17:03, 21 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Others[edit]

Can anyone suggest any others to list on this page? Timrollpickering 22:02, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

First PM born outside the UK (Bonar Law?). Gabriel Rozenberg 14:47, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Others on the PM website[edit]

There are a couple of other records which can be found on the official Prime Minister's website at:

Prime Ministers in History

David 08:23, 15 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Suggested additional records[edit]

I'm surprised that no reference has been made to the PMs who have won the most elections. Although this does not of course affect their term in office under present law, it is nevertheless of political significance, and is the record most likely to ever actually be referred to in the real world.
Also, I think it would be interesting to have something about the person who was the oldest to hold the post at the end of the term.
Silverhelm 21:52, 10 May 2006 (UTC).[reply]

I agree with both proposed additions. —Nightstallion (?) 11:06, 12 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The oldest at the end of their term was Gladstone (about 84) - the only others to be PM in their 80s were Palmerston and Churchill, both of whom were 80/81 at the end. As for winning the most elections this is especially complicated by a) define "winning" - not as easy for earlier eras as it may think; and b) the convention of co-equal leaders in the Commons and Lords except for when one became PM, or for that matter a different person being appointed from the leaders in the election (e.g. Gladstone in 1880) means that it's hard to say who actually was winning.
But off the top of my head, working backwards and taking "person who stays/becomes PM as a result" as the definition of "winner" (which gets contentious in cases such as Feb 1974, 1929 and especially 1923), the more recent ones are:
  • Wilson - 4
  • Gladstone - 4 (but see my comment above about 1880)
  • Blair - 3
  • Thatcher - 3
  • MacDonald - 3 (but see my comments above about 1923 & 1929)
  • Salisbury - 3
  • Attlee - 2
  • Baldwin - 2 (but see my comments above about 1923 & 1929)
  • Asquith - 2
  • Major - 1
  • Heath - 1
  • Macmillan - 1
  • Eden - 1
  • Churchill - 1
  • Law - 1
  • Lloyd George - 1
  • Campbell Bannerman - 1
  • Disraeli - 1
  • Callaghan - 0
  • Douglas-Home - 0
  • Balfour - 0
  • Rosebery - 0
  • Chamberlain - never fought an election
Going much earlier than pre 1868 and we're into a much messier period for this. Timrollpickering 15:14, 12 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with comments about significance of General Elections to a PM's term of office, but for the purposes of this article I would stick to counting those elections which either brought the PM concerned to office, occurred during their span of service if more than one consecutive term was served, or caused the defeat of their party and relegation to Leaders of the Opposition. Before I read this, I yesterday began including a section on ages at losing General Elections, and today one on the most PMs serving between elections. That said, it has occurred to me that technically they fought General Elections in the capacity of leader of their respective party and not as Prime Minister, having given up the seals of office at resignation or dissolution of parliament, but I have decided to let these stand. I am not a constitutional lawyer and wait on better legal opinion.Cloptonson (talk) 17:19, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Raison d'être of the article[edit]

I've removed the additions made earlier today by William Quill, as the article is broadly about records in the sense of extremes. While detailing which Prime Ministers were either in the Commons or the Lords has a place somewhere, it's not here. The nature of the article is such that any given category should in theory only have one name against it (e.g. there can only ever be one "oldest Prime Minister").

To put it another way, this article is the political equivalent of stating who the world record holder is for the 100m sprint, as opposed to listing all athletes who have ever one the 100m sprint at the Olympics.

Silverhelm 18:20, 15 June 2006 (UTC).[reply]

To be honest, I expected as much, but I thought I'd risk it. Would anyone have an idea of where such a list should go, if it's worth adding at all. They're lists of Prime Ministers who throughout their political career sat in only one of the houses. William Quill 12:01, 21 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It has only been since 1902 (retirement of Lord Salisbury) that Prime Ministers have always been serving members of the House of Commons when holding that office, a situation which gives a greater sense of achievement to acquiring and holding the office, so I think it is helpful to modern readers (and fair to modern aspirants to political office in UK) to include records qualified "since members of the House of Lords ceased to hold the office". Members of the House of Lords sometimes had unfair advantage in that they could have been members without ever having served in the Commons (peerages have sometimes been inherited before the person was old enough to vote) or fought a parliamentary election.Cloptonson (talk) 16:57, 1 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

First Female Prime Minister[edit]

Why is Margaret Thatcher not included anywhere in this article? She is still the first and only female Prime Minister the UK have had. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.93.162.90 (talk) 21:47, 15 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

She now appears four times in different sections of this page (two insertions by me).Cloptonson (talk) 13:51, 28 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Campbell-Bannerman heaviest?[edit]

Under the miscellaneous section at the end you have details for the tallest PMs. According to a comment in Paul Johnson's "Oxford Book of Political Anecdotes", Henry Campbell-Bannerman and his wife were both "nearly twenty stone". Were any PMs reportedly heavier, it sounds an unusual weight for his own era.Cloptonson (talk) 06:32, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Other potential contenders for 'heaviest' include Walpole and Lord Salisbury, were their weights recorded?Cloptonson (talk) 05:22, 15 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Pitt the Younger's record debts[edit]

I have raised a citation need against statement in the Miscellaneous section that Pitt the Younger was £40,000 in debt in 1800 - not over the figure but the year. His Wikipedia biography states he was £40,000 in debt at time of his death in 1806.Cloptonson (talk) 19:11, 4 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

To update, I have discovered that the 3rd Duke of Portland, who according to his ODNB article had an annual income of £17,000, died in 1809 (3 years later) leaving debts computed at £52,000. As to the record of "poorest Prime Minister", I think such a record should be stated in terms not only of debts but recorded assets and income for context.Cloptonson (talk) 05:20, 15 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I also note Spencer Perceval left only £106 in the bank when he was assassinated in 1812 (another 3 years later).Cloptonson (talk) 22:09, 10 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Most General Elections contested category[edit]

Charles James Fox was NEVER PM, so I am deleting the reference to him, although I copy the text here in case someone knows other articles to copy this into:

The most number of General Elections lost by an individual is 5. Charles James Fox was unsuccessful after contesting the 1784, 1790, 1796, 1801 co-option, and 1802 General Elections.

It also needs making clear why you are mentioning Asquith - is it the number of elections he contested as Prime Minister and (Liberal) Party Leader?Cloptonson (talk) 05:36, 17 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Religious minority PMs[edit]

I have added a section on Religious minority Prime Ministers. The denominations to which they belonged would be 'minority' in the context of what had become by Walpole's time a primarily Anglican population. As well as other denominations held while in office I have also added those a few of them were known to be either brought up in or (in notable case of Tony Blair) converted to. Investigation is wanted on the Earl of Shelburne who is stated, without citation, in his Wikipedia biography infobox to be by religion "Dissenter" (article linked to "English Dissenters")Cloptonson (talk) 20:46, 7 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Alec Douglas-Home[edit]

I notice that Alec Douglas-Home has been added to the list of Prime Ministers who held office without a General Election affecting their time in office. In fact, he contested and lost the 1964 General Election, to Harold Wilson, and only subsequently (1965) did he resign from Conservative Party leadership when Edward Heath succeeded. I will therefore delete him.Cloptonson (talk) 20:10, 19 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Diabetes a 'disability'?[edit]

I notice Theresa May has been added to the list of disabled serving Prime Ministers because of her (known to me) diabetes. I question if that is classed as a disability - though diabetes can be a cause of disability such as blindness and limb amputations. BTW, Winston Churchill, in his book Great Contemporaries mentions Lord Rosebery had diabetes in later life and once took an accidental overdose of insulin when that treatment was in its infancy.Cloptonson (talk) 18:32, 7 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Assassination attempts[edit]

Mentioned under the section 'Died in office' is the fact Margaret Thatcher and John Major both survived assassination attempts while in office but I am sure they are not the only ones. Sir Robert Peel was the intended victim in 1843 of a man who instead shot dead his personal secretary (dealt with in Peel's Wikipedia biography). I also recall, in a book Churchill in America, 1895-1961: An Affectionate Portrait (author Robert Pilpel) that on one of his WWII travels Winston Churchill had a gun pulled on him in America by a man who was overpowered but I forgot the exact timing. I have added Robert Peel's case in the meantime. Mention is best confined to those who were targets of witnessed and enacted attempts, rather than hindsightedly rumoured.Cloptonson (talk) 09:26, 18 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Inconsistency With Page On Jenkinson's Grandmother[edit]

The information given on this page seems inconsistent with that on the page of Jenkinson's grandmother, the URL of which is below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begum_Johnson — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.193.39.153 (talk) 06:21, 11 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Add all at once, or not at all?[edit]

I see the addition of Boris to the bachelor's section - can the list of alive former PMs be updated then as well (as well as anything else?) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.146.169.248 (talk) 15:46, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Breaking up Period of service into "Longest" and "Shortest".[edit]

The section on terms is currently kind of conflated. Given the current likelihood that the Johnson Government is unlikely to last very long, the article will need some revision and it might be useful to make this information just a little more readable...

perhaps if this sub-section https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_of_Prime_Ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom#Period_of_service

can be changed from

Period of service[edit]

The Prime Minister with the longest single term was Sir Robert Walpole, lasting 20 years and 315 days from 3 April 1721 until 11 February 1742.[1] This is also longer than the accumulated terms of any other Prime Minister.

The shortest period in office is more confused, depending on the criteria. The shortest ever period was only two days, a record held by Lord Bath, from 10 February to 12 February 1746, who was asked to form a government but was unable to find more than one person who would agree to serve in his cabinet. A satirist of the time wrote: "the minister to the astonishment of all wise men never transacted one rash thing; and, what is more marvellous, left as much money in the Treasury as he found in it." James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave was a prime minister for four days, from 8 June to 12 June 1757. However, since neither of these Earls actually formed an effective government, there are other contenders for the record of shortest term of office among those who actually governed the country.

In November 1834, the Duke of Wellington declined to become Prime Minister in favour of Sir Robert Peel but formed a ’caretaker’ administration for 25 days (17 November 1834 – 9 December 1834) while Peel returned from Europe. However, as a caretaker administration this might not necessarily be considered a term of office in its own right.

Therefore, of those with clear and effective terms, the Prime Minister with the shortest single one was Lord Rockingham, whose second term lasted 96 days from 27 March 1782 until his death on 1 July 1782. However, combined with his first term (13 July 1765 – 30 July 1766) his total time in office was 1 year and 113 days, which exceeds the total periods of several other Prime Ministers. (The Duke of Wellington had also served as Prime Minister between 1828 and 1830.)

Consequently, the Prime Minister with the total shortest period in office was George Canning, whose sole term lasted 119 days from 12 April 1827 until his death on 8 August 1827.

The Prime Minister with the longest period between the start of their first appointment and the end of their final term was the Duke of Portland, whose first term began on 2 April 1783 and whose second and final term ended on 4 October 1809.''

over to

Period of Service[edit]

Longest Term[edit]

The Prime Minister with the longest single term was Sir Robert Walpole, lasting 20 years and 315 days from 3 April 1721 until 11 February 1742.[1] This is also longer than the accumulated terms of any other Prime Minister.

Longest Period between First Appointment and End of Final Term[edit]

The Prime Minister with the longest period between the start of their first appointment and the end of their final term was the Duke of Portland, whose first term began on 2 April 1783 and whose second and final term ended on 4 October 1809

Shortest term without forming a Government[edit]

The shortest ever period was only two days, a record held by Lord Bath, from 10 February to 12 February 1746, who was asked to form a government but was unable to find more than one person who would agree to serve in his cabinet. A satirist of the time wrote: "the minister to the astonishment of all wise men never transacted one rash thing; and, what is more marvellous, left as much money in the Treasury as he found in it." James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave was a prime minister for four days, from 8 June to 12 June 1757. However, since neither of these Earls actually formed an effective government, there are other contenders for the record of shortest term of office among those who actually governed the country.

In November 1834, the Duke of Wellington declined to become Prime Minister in favour of Sir Robert Peel but formed a ’caretaker’ administration for 25 days (17 November 1834 – 9 December 1834) while Peel returned from Europe. However, as a caretaker administration this might not necessarily be considered a term of office in its own right.

Shortest Single Term Government[edit]

The Prime Minister with the shortest single one was Lord Rockingham, whose second term lasted 96 days from 27 March 1782 until his death on 1 July 1782. However, combined with his first term (13 July 1765 – 30 July 1766) his total time in office was 1 year and 113 days, which exceeds the total periods of several other Prime Ministers. (The Duke of Wellington had also served as Prime Minister between 1828 and 1830.)

Shortest Single Period in Office[edit]

The Prime Minister with the total shortest period in office was George Canning, whose sole term lasted 119 days from 12 April 1827 until his death on 8 August 1827.


This would make the subsection more readable and easily updated, if the Johnson Government falls within 60 days.


--Patbahn (talk) 16:32, 8 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Died while immediate successor was in office[edit]

Does Gladstone actually belong on this list?...Lord Salisbury had previously succeeded him directly,but when Gladstone finally retired in 1894,his immediate successor was Rosebery,who lost the 1895 election to Salisbury before Gladstone died in 1898.--12.144.5.2 (talk) 05:29, 25 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Having seen no comment since but see him still on that list I have decided to remove Gladstone as Lord Salisbury obviously does not fit the qualifying word immediate.Cloptonson (talk) 09:15, 18 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Move discussion in progress[edit]

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:List of peerages held by Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:33, 20 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Nationality detail - Lord Liverpool[edit]

Is it correct to refer to Lord Liverpool's status as Anglo-Indian as a 'nationality', when it is properly an ethnic minority distinction? Ethnic Anglo-Indians could be citizens of either the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan or Bangladesh (the latter two modern states formerly part of British India pre-1947)..Cloptonson (talk) 15:54, 23 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 5 May 2021[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. Given that the nominator has been blocked indefinitely, further discussion that can produce a move destination seems unlikely. Other editors are welcome to propose an new requested move right after this closure. (closed by non-admin page mover) ~ Aseleste (t, e | c, l) 04:42, 13 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Records of prime ministers of the United Kingdom → ? – Title is possibly ambiguous with regard to historical sources as the term "record", uncertain here. Chelston-temp-1 (talk) 15:20, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Prime ministers who were Father of the House[edit]

The table mis-identifies Churchill as a Conservative throughout his parliamentary career. He was of course a Liberal from 1904 to 1924. I don't know how to make tables work. DuncanHill (talk) 19:51, 28 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

section Most Children - what happened?[edit]

The section 'Most children', which I recall stated Lord Grey was the most prolific Prime Minister (the brood included one known illegitimate child), appears to have been deleted. Has Lord Grey's record been called into question? If the section was removed intentionally it would have been civil to have given notice of intention with an explanation. I have reinstated the section, populated with cited details copied from Lord Grey's wikipedia article.Cloptonson (talk) 18:54, 2 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Liz Truss not 44 days[edit]

I have seen several Wikipedia references on Prime Minister, General Election pages claiming Liz Truss was Prime Minister for 44 days. These claims are wrong. She is STILL Prime Minister and if the nuclear codes had to be used this weekend it's her call.

She is still acting Prime Minister until a new leader is elected AND King Charles III has formally accepted that person as PM. So about another 7 days need to be added to the 44 tally on many Wikipedia pages.

Looks like Wikipedia editors were too quick.. 81.228.193.66 (talk) 14:26, 20 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Most PMs in office between general elections[edit]

The article currently states there will be three Prime Ministers since 2019, however, as Boris Johnson appears to be one of the most likely successors of Liz Truss, this may not end up being the case. I tried editing to say “Unless Boris Johnson returns as prime minister”, but editing is disabled.

I did also wonder, at the current rate, if it should say “at least three”.

Related, I did also wonder about a “most changes in prime minister in a year” category. 78.144.19.35 (talk) 11:55, 22 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Most former PMs still sitting in Parliament[edit]

When Liz Truss is replaced, there will be 3 former PMs sitting in the House of Commons (Truss, Johnson, and May), which got me wondering if this is a record? Or a record for a single party, perhaps?

What is the record for the Houses of Parliament as a whole (including former PMs sitting in the Lords)? 78.144.19.35 (talk) 08:01, 24 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I was interested in this and think this should be added to the page perhaps in section 13. The record is three. If we discount a sitting PM who has served a previous term, it has been equalled four times before: (1) Wilson, Callaghan and Heath served in the 1979 - 1983 parliament, and Wilson retired at the next election. (2) In 1929, Stanley Baldwin resigned and Ramsay MacDonald wasn't appointed until the next day - so overnight, there were 3 former PMs serving as MPs, including MacDonald - though I suspect parliament didn't meet. Once MacDonald was re-appointed, the number went down to 2. (3) When Baldwin left office in 1924, he, Lloyd-George and Asquith were serving alongside each other, but Asquith left parliament at the next election. (4) When Bonar Law left office in 1923, he Lloyd-George and Asquith all served alongside each other until his death later that year.
This table can be cleaned up but captures the timeline. "Office" here refers to the office of Prime Minister. "Parliament" refers to the House of Commons, but where someone has gone to the House of Lords, this is recorded as being elevated to the peerage.
Timeline Event No. of Former Prime Ministers sitting in the Commons Duration
10/07/1765 Grenville leaves office. 1 5 years, 126 days
13/11/1770 Grenville dies. 0 11 years, 134 days
27/03/1782 North leaves office. 1 8 years, 130 days
04/08/1790 North elevated to Peerage. 0 10 years, 222 days
14/03/1801 Pitt leaves office. 1 3 years, 57 days
10/05/1804 Addington leaves office and Pitt re-enters office. 1 247 days
12/01/1805 Addington elevated to Peerage. 0 30 years, 86 days
08/04/1835 Peel leaves office. 1 6 years, 144 days
30/08/1841 Peel re-enters office. 0 4 years, 303 days
29/06/1846 Peel leaves office. 1 4 years, 3 days
02/07/1850 Peel dies. 0 1 year, 234 days
21/02/1852 Russel leaves office. 1 2 years, 363 days
19/02/1855 Palmerston leaves office. 2 4 years, 113 days
12/06/1859 Palmerston re-enters office. 1 2 years, 48 days
30/07/1861 Russell elevated to peerage. 0 7 years, 124 days
01/12/1868 Disraeli leaves office. 1 5 years, 78 days
17/02/1874 Gladstone leaves office. 2 3 days
20/02/1874 Disraeli re-enters office. 1 6 years, 63 days
23/04/1880 Gladstone re-enters office. 0 5 years, 47 days
09/06/1885 Gladstone leaves office. 1 237 days
01/02/1886 Gladstone re-enters office. 0 169 days
20/07/1886 Gladstone leaves office. 1 6 years, 26 days
15/08/1892 Gladstone re-enters office. 0 1 year, 199 days
02/03/1894 Gladstone leaves office. 1 1 year, 126 days
06/07/1895 Gladstone leaves parliament. 0 10 years, 151 days
04/12/1905 Balfour leaves office. 1 35 days
08/01/1906 Balfour leaves parliament. 0 50 days
27/02/1906 Balfour re-enters parliament. 1 2 years, 36 days
03/04/1908 Campbell-Bannerman leaves office. 2 19 days
22/04/1908 Campbell-Bannerman dies. 1 8 years, 227 days
05/12/1916 Asquith leaves office. 2 1 year, 355 days
25/11/1918 Asquith leaves parliament. 1 1 year, 79 days
12/02/1920 Asquith re-enters parliament. 2 2 years, 82 days
05/05/1922 Balfour leaves parliament. 1 167 days
19/10/1922 Lloyd-George leaves office. 2 213 days
20/05/1923 Bonar Law leaves office. 3 163 days
30/10/1923 Bonar Law dies. 2 84 days
22/01/1924 Baldwin leaves office. 3 261 days
09/10/1924 Asquith leaves parliament. 2 26 days
04/11/1924 MacDonald leaves office and Baldwin re-enters office. 2 4 years, 212 days
04/06/1929 Baldwin leaves office. 3 1 day
05/06/1929 MacDonald re-enters office. 2 6 years, 2 days
07/06/1935 MacDonald leaves office, Baldwin re-enters office. 2 160 days
14/11/1935 MacDonald leaves parliament. 1 78 days
31/01/1936 MacDonald re-enters parliament. 2 1 year, 117 days
28/05/1937 Baldwin leaves office. 3 33 days
30/06/1937 Baldwin leaves parliament. 2 132 days
09/11/1937 MacDonald dies. 1 2 years, 183 days
10/05/1940 Chamberlain leaves office. 2 183 days
09/11/1940 Chamberlain dies. 1 4 years, 96 days
13/02/1945 Lloyd George elevated to the peerage. 0 163 days
26/07/1945 Churchill leaves office. 1 6 years, 92 days
26/10/1951 Atlee leaves office, Churchill re-enters office. 1 3 years, 161 days
05/04/1955 Churchill leaves office. 2 255 days
16/12/1955 Atlee leaves parliament. 1 1 year, 24 days
09/01/1957 Eden leaves office. 2 1 day
10/01/1957 Eden leaves parliament. 1 6 years, 281 days
18/10/1963 Macmillan leaves office. 2 343 days
25/09/1964 Churchill and Macmillan leave parliament. 0 21 days
16/10/1964 Douglas-Home leaves office. 1 5 years, 246 days
19/06/1970 Wilson leaves office. 2 3 years, 258 days
04/03/1974 Heath leaves office, Wilson re-enters office. 2 200 days
20/09/1974 Douglas-Home elevated to the peerage. 1 1 year, 198 days
05/04/1976 Wilson leaves office. 2 3 years, 29 days
04/05/1979 Callaghan leaves office. 3 4 years, 9 days
13/05/1983 Wilson leaves parliament. 2 4 years, 5 days
18/05/1987 Callaghan leaves parliament. 1 3 years, 194 days
28/11/1990 Thatcher leaves office. 2 1 year, 109 days
16/03/1992 Thatcher leaves parliament. 1 5 years, 47 days
02/05/1997 Major leaves office. 2 4 years, 12 days
14/05/2001 Heath and Major leave parliament. 0 6 years, 44 days
27/06/2007 Blair leaves office and parliament. 0 2 years, 318 days
11/05/2010 Brown leaves office. 1 4 years, 323 days
30/03/2015 Brown leaves parliament. 0 1 year, 105 days
13/07/2016 Cameron leaves office. 1 61 days
12/09/2016 Cameron leaves parliament. 0 2 years, 315 days
24/07/2019 May leaves office. 1 3 years, 44 days
06/09/2022 Johnson leaves office. 2 49 days
25/10/2022 Truss leaves office. 3 1 year, 185 days
McStrolly (talk) 14:25, 25 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for doing the hard work! It seemed you missed a couple of occasions when there were 3 in your summary, but I hopefully spotted them all.

I’ve added a sub-section to Number of living former PMs.

For now I’ve just added a table with the times there were three, as the larger table felt a bit wIeldy (and I couldn’t figure out how to copy and edit it on the app on my phone). Lukens (talk) 18:21, 25 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 27 October 2022[edit]

I have to correct a mistake on the section about Rishi Sunak. 151.57.85.246 (talk) 18:13, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 18:31, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Sunak's mostly vegetarian diet is enlightening[edit]

He doesn't even include meat in his occasional weekday breakfast, stating in a 2021 podcast, "In terms of breakfast, well, I do some intermittent fasting so most days it's nothing. Otherwise, I'd probably have Greek yogurt and blueberries during the week." "And then I'd have a second breakfast mid-morning which is either a cinnamon bun or a pain au chocolat or a chocolate chip muffin. So I'd have a chocolatey, sugary pastry at some point."[1] I should remain in the article.Speakfor (talk) 19:16, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The citations for his vegetarian diet seem pretty weak, especially as one reports that he says he puts bacon on his pancakes.

Would be good to get a better source for this, otherwise it doesn’t feel it merits inclusion that he’s maybe mostly vegetarian.

The one source says he’s known as a vegetarian. By who? On what basis? Lukens (talk) 22:55, 28 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Reading this through I was surprised that Margaret Thatcher's three terms of office are not included in the section 'Number of Terms' ?? Danzealloyd (talk) 11:48, 17 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Margaret Thatcher missing?![edit]

Margaret Thatcher's three terms of office is not included in the 'terms of office' section ?! Danzealloyd (talk) 11:53, 17 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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