List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom by nickname

This is a list of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom by nickname.

Prime Minister Nicknames
David Cameron "Dave"[1]
"Call me Dave"[2]
"Dave the Chameleon"[3]
"Flashman"[4][5]
Gordon Brown "The Big Clunking Fist"[6]
"Bottler Brown"[7]
"Golden Brown"[8]
"Gordo"[9]
"Great Leader"[10][11]
"Mr. Bean"[12]
"Squatter at No. 10" [13][14][15]
"Stalin"[16]
"Superman"[17]
Tony Blair "Bambi"[18]
"Bliar"[18]
"Poodle"[19]
"Teflon Tony"[20]
John Major "Grey Man"[21]
Margaret Thatcher "Attila the Hen"[22]
"The Great She-Elephant"[23][24]
"The Grocer's Daughter"[25]
"The Iron Lady"[26]
"Maggie"[27]
"Milk Snatcher"[28]
James Callaghan "Big Jim"[29]
"Sunny Jim"[29]
"Gentleman Jim"[29]
"Lucky Jim"[29]
Edward Heath "Grocer Heath"[30]
Harold Wilson "Wislon"
Alec Douglas-Home "Baillie Vass"[31]
Harold Macmillan "Supermac"[32]
"Mac the Knife"[32]
Anthony Eden
Clement Attlee "Clem"[33]
Winston Churchill "Winnie"[34]
"(British) Bulldog"[35]
Neville Chamberlain "The Coroner"[36]
Ramsay MacDonald "Ramsay Mac"[37]
"Ramshackle Mac"[38]
Stanley Baldwin "The Ironmonger"
"Honest Stan"
Andrew Bonar Law "The Unknown Prime Minister"[39]
David Lloyd George "The Welsh Wizard"[40]
"The Man Who Won The War"[40]
"The Welsh Goat"[41]
Herbert Henry Asquith "The Sledgehammer"[42]
"Squiffy"[43]
Henry Campbell-Bannerman "CB"[44]
Arthur James Balfour "Pretty Fanny"[45]
"Bloody Balfour"[46]
Earl of Rosebery
Marquess of Salisbury
William Ewart Gladstone "Grand Old Man"[47]
"The People's William"[47]
Benjamin Disraeli "Dizzy"[48]
Viscount Palmerston "Lord Cupid"[49]
"Lord Pumicestone"[49]
Earl of Aberdeen
Earl of Derby "Scorpion Stanley"[50]
"The Rupert of Debate"[50]
Earl Russell "Finality Jack"[51]
"The Widow's Mite"[51]
Robert Peel "Orange Peel"[52]
Viscount Melbourne
Earl Grey
Duke of Wellington "The Iron Duke"[53]
"Europe's Liberator"[53]
"Saviour of the Nations"[53]
Viscount Goderich "Prosperity Robinson"[54]
"Goody Goderich"[54]
"The Blubberer"[54]
George Canning "The Cicero of the British Senate"[55]
"The Zany of Debate"[55]
Earl of Liverpool
Spencer Perceval "Little P"[56]
William Grenville "Bogey"[57]
Henry Addington "The Doctor"[58]
William Pitt "Pitt the Younger"[59]
Duke of Portland
Earl of Shelburne "Malagrida"[60]
"The Jesuit in Berkerly Square"[60]
Lord North "Boreas" (the north wind)[61]
"Lord-deputy North"[61]
Duke of Grafton "Royal Oak"[62]
"The Turf Macaroni"[62]
Earl of Chatham "The Great Commoner"[63]
Marquess of Rockingham
George Grenville "Gentle Shepherd"[64]
Earl of Bute "Jack Boot"[65]
Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Newcastle "Hubble-Bubble"[66]
Henry Pelham "King Henry the Ninth"[67]
Earl of Wilmington
Robert Walpole "Sir Blustering"[68]
"Screen-Master General"[68]
"The fat old Squire of Norfolk"

See also

References

  1. ^ Cameron is reported to be known to friends and family as 'Dave' rather than David, although he invariably uses 'David' in public. Helen Rumbelow, "The gilded youth whose son steeled him in adversity", The Times, 21 May 2005. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  2. ^ Often sarcastically used by Andrew Neil on This Week in relation to Cameron saying "Lots of people call me Dave, my mum calls me David, my wife calls me Dave, I don't really notice what people call me."
  3. ^ Dave the Chameleon was the British Labour Party's advertising slogan, and the basis of their political campaign, for the 2006 elections to local government.
  4. ^ Letts, Quentin (2011-05-12). "'Flashman' just makes Cameron sound more sexy and swaggery". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386040/David-Camerons-nickname-Flashman-makes-sound-sexy-swaggery.html. 
  5. ^ "Cameron like bully Flashman, says Miliband". BBC News. 2011-05-11. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13363120. 
  6. ^ First used by Tony Blair during his final Queen's Speech debate; later used by columnists throughout the British media. Martin Kettle (2009-03-18). "'Clunking fist' - down but not out". The Guardian (London: guardian.co.uk). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/18/gordon-brown-davidcameron. Retrieved 20019-04-1. 
  7. ^ Used in relation to Brown not calling an election in 2007 after previously suggesting he would. Andrew Rawnsley (2007-11-07). "They will call him Bottler Brown and it is going to hurt". The Observer (London: guardian.co.uk). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/oct/07/comment.politics1. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "The Tories will try to stick him with the nickname 'Bottler Brown'. That's a soubriquet he is going to hate, not least because it is a label with history." 
  8. ^ Article, Leading (1999-03-11). "Golden Brown". The Guardian (London: guardian.co.uk). http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/mar/11/budget1999.budget5. Retrieved 2008-07-31.  Used by Terry Wogan and the TOGs, normally followed by Wogan saying "Never a frown with Golden Brown", a reference to the song "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.
  9. ^ Parris, Matthew (2009-05-30). "Let's go. We can't. We're waiting for Gordo". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article6390670.ece. Retrieved 2009-11-23. 
  10. ^ Often sarcastically used by Andrew Neil on This Week in relation to Lord Turnbull's description of Brown as a man who operates with "Stalinist ruthlessness"
  11. ^ "Brown accused of 'ruthlessness'". BBC News. 2007-03-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6469293.stm. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "The chancellor has a Macavity quality. He is not there when there is dirty work to be done... You can choose whether you are impressed or depressed by that, but you cannot help admire the sheer Stalinist ruthlessness of it all." 
  12. ^ Was described as having undergone a transformation from Stalin to Mr Bean by acting Lib dem leader Vince cable http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2963664.ece
  13. ^ Nicola Boden (2010-05-10). "From green-eyed Chancellor to the 'squatter of No10, Gordon Brown finally admits he can't hang on to job he coveted for so long | Mail Online". London: Dailymail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/election/article-1272278/From-green-eyed-Chancellor-squatter-No10-Gordon-Brown-finally-admits-hang-job-coveted-long.html. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
  14. ^ By TOM NEWTON DUNNPolitical Editor (2010-05-08). "Gordon Brown squatting in No 10 | The Sun |News|Election 2010". London: The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/election2010/2964713/Gordon-Brown-squatting-in-No-10.html. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
  15. ^ “” (2009-01-15). "House of Commons Deputy Speaker 'names' Dennis Skinner MP". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1faDoEZDQI. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
  16. ^ Gimson, Andrew (2007-11-29). "Gordon Brown: From Stalin to Mr Bean". London: Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/1570853/Gordon-Brown-From-Stalin-to-Mr-Bean.html. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
  17. ^ "Harman hails her 'Superman' Brown". BBC News. 2008-12-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7777434.stm. Retrieved 2008-01-22. "Gordon Brown has been called "Superman" in Parliament as the fallout from the prime minister's inadvertent claim to have "saved the world" continues." 
  18. ^ a b "A decade of Tony Blair: From Bambi to Bliar". The Economist (Economist.com). 2007-05-02. http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9102518. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "Mr Blair walked into Downing Street as the youngest prime minister since 1812. His political nickname, at the time, was Bambi... The suspicion that Mr Blair misled voters over Iraq has become an accusation of bad faith that has been impossible to shake off. By now a common nickname for the prime minister was "Bliar"." 
  19. ^ Rob Watson (2003-01-31). "Tony Blair: The US poodle?". BBC News (bbc online). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2711623.stm. Retrieved 2008-07-31. ""America's Poodle" is the insult of choice hurled by critics of Tony Blair for his support for President Bush." 
  20. ^ Riddell, Peter (November 10, 2005). "The collapse of Teflon Tony.". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/peter_riddell/article588490.ece. Retrieved 2008-07-25. "TONY BLAIR no longer commands. Teflon Tony is dead." 
  21. ^ "John Major - The grey man of British politics?". Oxford University Press. OALD Online. http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/newsreader/articles/john_major?cc=global. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "Major had been considered a decent but uninspiring person who was known as the 'grey man' of politics." 
  22. ^ Malcolm Rifkind (2000-05-08). "Attila the Hen". New Statesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/200005080049. Retrieved 2008-07-29. "Denis Healey, with characteristic charm, once referred to her as "Attila the Hen"." 
  23. ^ John Rentoul (2007-05-13). "Blair the betrayed: Labour will be oh-so-sorry when he's gone". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-blair-the-betrayed-labour-will-be-ohsosorry-when-hes-gone-448576.html. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "And it is why he will tender his resignation from the office of Prime Minister on 27 June this year rather than at the end of next year, which would have given him a longer stretch at the top than the Great She-Elephant herself." 
  24. ^ Andrew Rawnsley (2007-07-01). "The new Prime Minister is master of his universe". The Observer (London: guardian.co.uk). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jul/01/comment.politics. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "A Spitting Image sketch had a waiter asking her what she wanted for dinner. 'Steak,' replied the Great She Elephant. 'And what about the vegetables?' Withering the cabinet, she delivered the punchline: 'They'll have the same.'" 
  25. ^ Jonathan Beckman (2007-12-30). "Margaret Thatcher, Volume One: The Grocer's Daughter by John Campbell". The Observer (guardian.co.uk). 
  26. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Margaret Thatcher". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/margaret-thatcher. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  27. ^ Tim Walker (2008-07-21). "Maggie Thatcher speaks out in defence of Gordon Brown". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/2437890/Maggie-Thatcher-speaks-out-in-defence-of-Gordon-Brown.html. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  28. ^ "The truth about Thatcher Thatcher milk snatcher". BBC News (BBC Online). 2001-01-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/uk_confidential/1095121.stm. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "Years before she entered Number 10 as prime minister was the one that left her dubbed "Thatcher, Thatcher Milk Snatcher"." 
  29. ^ a b c d "Prime Ministers in History: James Callaghan". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/james-callaghan. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  30. ^ Denis MacShane (2005-07-25). "Held in misguided contempt". New Statesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/200507250010. Retrieved 2008-07-29. "I had grown up with the Grocer Heath image from Private Eye, and marched against his industrial relations reforms in the 1970s - although his proposals would have left unions legally stronger than they are today under the EU Social Charter." 
  31. ^ Patrick Marnham, "The Private Eye Story", Fontana/Collins, 1983, p. 74.
  32. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: Harold Macmillan". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/harold-macmillan. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  33. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Clement Attlee". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/clement-attlee. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  34. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Sir Winston Churchill". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/winston-churchill. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  35. ^ Brian Moynahan (2005-10-30). "Guarding the bulldog". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article581067.ece. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  36. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Neville Chamberlain". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/neville-chamberlain. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  37. ^ "Appearance of Evil". Time. 1924-09-22. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,719145,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  38. ^ AJP Taylor, English History 1914-1945.
  39. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Andrew Bonar Law". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/andrew-bonar-law. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  40. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: David Lloyd George". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/david-lloyd-george. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  41. ^ Anthony Howard (2006-04-30). "The first rule of the politician's wife should be: Never leave your husband on his own". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/30/do3007.xml. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "And the best case ever to be made for that most notorious philanderer of them all, David Lloyd George (not for nothing known as "the Welsh Goat") has always seemed to me to lie in the fact that his wife, Margaret, was asking for trouble when, from the moment of his election for Caernarvon Boroughs in 1890, she insisted on staying in north Wales and not accompanying her husband to London." 
  42. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Herbert Henry Asquith". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/herbert-henry-asquith. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  43. ^ "The politics of drinking in power". BBC News (BBC online). 2008-07-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4587382.stm. Retrieved 2006-01-06. "Prime Minister Herbert "squiffy" Asquith used to sway on his feet when speaking or answering questions in the House of Commons." 
  44. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Henry Campbell-Bannerman". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/henry-campbell-bannerman. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  45. ^ Malcolm Pearce & Geoffrey Stewart (1992). British Political History, 1867-1990: Democracy and Decline. Routledge. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qN4NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=%22Pretty+Fanny%22+Arthur+Balfour&source=web&ots=J0mhliBIGc&sig=mz3UilYB-sRcTVPY_Rs762PdLik&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result. Retrieved 2008-07-31. "His delicacy of appearance and manners earned him the nickname 'pretty Fanny'." 
  46. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Arthur James Balfour". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/arthur-james-balfour. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  47. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: William Ewart Gladstone". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/william-ewart-gladstone. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  48. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Benjamin Disraeli". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/benjamin-disraeli. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  49. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: Viscount Palmerston". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/viscount-palmerston. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  50. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Derby". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-derby. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  51. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: Earl Russell". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-russell. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  52. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Sir Robert Peel". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/sir-robert-peel. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  53. ^ a b c "Prime Ministers in History: Duke of Wellington". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/duke-of-wellington. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  54. ^ a b c "Prime Ministers in History: Viscount Goderich". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/viscount-goderich. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  55. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: George Canning". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/george-canning. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  56. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Spencer Perceval". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/spencer-perceval. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  57. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Lord Grenville". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/lord-grenville. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  58. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Henry Addington". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/henry-addington. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  59. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: William Pitt". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/william-pitt. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  60. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Shelburne". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-shelburne. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  61. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History Lord North". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/lord-north. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  62. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: Duke of Grafton". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/duke-of-grafton. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  63. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Chatham". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-chatham. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  64. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: George Grenville". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/george-grenville. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  65. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Bute". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/earl-of-bute. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  66. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Duke of Newcastle". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/duke-of-newcastle. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  67. ^ "Prime Ministers in History: Henry Pelham". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/henry-pelham. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
  68. ^ a b "Prime Ministers in History: Sir Robert Walpole". number-10.gov.uk. http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/sir-robert-walpole. Retrieved 2008-07-31. 
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