UK Prime Ministers timeline
This timeline shows the birth, death and political career of each Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from Lord Palmerston. Unlike countries where the leader is elected directly to high office, the Prime Minister must first establish a political career in Parliament and typically serves many years in the House of Commons before becoming Prime Minister, and in some cases for many years afterwards.
Contents |
Key
- The dark coloured bar denotes the time spent as Prime Minister
- A light colour denotes time spent in Parliament before or after serving as Prime Minister
- Grey denotes the time the Prime Minister spent outside Parliament, either before or after their political career
Parliament
For Prime Ministers after the Earl of Rosebery, Parliament refers to the House of Commons, apart from Sir Alec Douglas-Home's period as a member of the Government while in the House of Lords from 1951-63.
Notable achievements
- changed party: Viscount Palmerston, Earl of Derby, Gladstone, Churchill (twice)
- died in office: Palmerston
- died shortly after leaving office: Campbell-Bannerman, Bonar Law, Chamberlain
- left Parliament on leaving office: Russell, Baldwin, Blair
- long career after being Prime Minister: Rosebery, Balfour, Lloyd George, Heath
- served as Prime Minister after an interruption to their political career: MacDonald, Churchill, Macmillan (twice), Douglas-Home
- lived for more than twenty years after leaving Parliament: Macmillan, Douglas-Home, Thatcher
The timeline
