Living Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

This is a list of all of the living people who have served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at each moment in U.K. history.

There have been four time periods when there was only one living Prime Minister, first with the appointment of Robert Walpole in 1721, and most recently during the second term of William Ewart Gladstone following the 1881 death of Benjamin Disraeli. There have been ten time periods when six living Prime Minister/ex-Prime Ministers co-existed, with the longest being a nine-year period beginning with the first appointment of Robert Peel in 1834. The most recent period was between 1990 and 1995 beginning with the 1990 appointment of John Major, and ending with the 1995 death of Harold Wilson. If one includes future Prime Ministers, there has been only one time period when nineteen (see "Statistics", below) different Prime Ministers co-existed.

Table

Statistics

• There have been four men who have been the only living British Prime Minister (no former Prime Minister being alive): Robert Walpole (1721–42, being the first prime minister), Henry Pelham (1745–54, following Walpole's death), Duke of Newcastle (1754–56, following Pelham's death), and William Ewart Gladstone (1881-85, following Disraeli's death).
• During ten periods in the History of the United Kingdom, there have been six men alive to have been Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first such period was from October to November 1768 (when Duke of Newcastle, Earl of Bute, George Grenville, Marquess of Rockingham, William Pitt the Elder, and Duke of Grafton were alive). From January to November 1770 (when Earl of Bute, George Grenville, Marquess of Rockingham, William Pitt the Elder, Duke of Grafton, and Lord North were alive). From December 1783 to March 1792 (when Earl of Bute, Duke of Grafton, Lord North, Earl of Shelburne, Duke of Portland, and William Pitt the Younger were alive). From December 1834 to February 1844 (when Henry Addington, Viscount Goderich, Duke of Wellington, Earl Grey, Viscount Melbourne, and Robert Peel were alive). From May to October 1923 (when Earl of Rosebery, Arthur Balfour, Herbert Henry Asquith, David Lloyd George, Andrew Bonar Law, and Stanley Baldwin were alive). From January 1924 to February 1928 (when Earl of Rosebery, Arthur Balfour, Herbert Henry Asquith, David Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin, and Ramsay MacDonald were alive). From October 1964 to January 1965 (when Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, and Harold Wilson were alive). From April 1976 to January 1977 (when Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, and James Callaghan were alive). From May 1979 to December 1986 (when Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, and Margaret Thatcher were alive). The tenth and most recent period was from November 1990 to May 1995 (with Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, and John Major as the living Prime Ministers). The longest period where there have been six living Prime Ministers was 9 years and 67 days, ending with the death of Henry Addington on February 15, 1844.
• Duke of Newcastle was the only person to be both an only living British Prime Minister (1754-1756) and one of the six living Prime Ministers (1768).
• There have been 21 administrations during which a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has not died, the most recent being the administration of Gordon Brown. This does not include the administrations of Earl of Wilmington, Marquess of Rockingham, and George Canning, who were themselves the only British Prime Ministers to die during their administrations without any former Prime Minister dying. Conversely, only twice during the administrations of William Pitt the Younger and Stanley Baldwin has there been as many as three during an administration. (This does not count the administration of Spencer Perceval, whose death was the third during his term). The longest streak of administrations without a death of a Prime Minister is three which has happened twice: no British Prime Minister would die during the administrations of Duke of Newcastle, Duke of Devonshire or Earl of Bute; nor would a Prime Minister die during the administrations of Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, or Alec Douglas-Home. If one was to include the multiple terms served by each Prime Minister that had been in office more than once, the record is five, as no Prime Minister died during Salisbury's first term, Gladstone's third term, Salisbury's second term, Gladstone's fourth term, nor the Earl of Rosebery's term.
• Because he was the first Prime Minister, and the fact that he served for more than twenty years, Robert Walpole holds the distinction of serving over the longest period during which no Prime Ministers died. The second longest term without a death of a Prime Minister would be that of Earl of Liverpool who served almost fifteen years in office. In recent years, the Prime Minister who served the longest without a death in his term was Harold Macmillan who served for almost seven years in office.
• The longest period between deaths of British Prime Ministers was the 17 years and 41 days between the deaths of Stanley Baldwin on December 14, 1947 and Winston Churchill on January 24, 1965. The shortest was the 113 days between the deaths of James Callaghan on March 26, 2005 and Edward Heath on July 17, 2005.
  • If the longest period between deaths is to be exceeded, no Prime Minister must die before May 19, 2030 (both the current oldest and the second oldest surviving Prime Ministers, John Major and Gordon Brown, would then be 87 years old, and 79 years old respectively.
  • The second longest was the 17 years and 30 days between the deaths of Benjamin Disraeli on April 19, 1881 and William Ewart Gladstone on May 19, 1898.
• Only three times, in 1792, 1995 and 2005, have two British Prime Ministers died in the same year.
• If one includes future as well as past and current Prime Ministers, the record sits at nineteen:
  • Between Benjamin Disraeli's birth on December 21, 1804 and the death of Earl of Shelburne on May 7, 1805, the following Prime Ministers were alive: Duke of Grafton, Lord Shelburne, Duke of Portland, William Pitt the Younger, Henry Addington, William Grenville, Spencer Perceval, Earl of Liverpool, George Canning, Viscount Goderich, Duke of Wellington, Earl Grey, Viscount Melbourne, Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Earl of Derby, Earl of Aberdeen, Viscount Palmerston, and Disraeli.
• Since April 6, 1955 - a period of 7009191989440000000♠60 years, 306 days - there have been at least three Prime Ministers living.

See also

• List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom

References

Lists relating to Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom Lists by order Service (graphical) Constituencies Historical rankings Records Term length By monarch Victoria Edward VII George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II Personal life Burial places Longevity Nickname Spouse Education Coats of Arms In fiction Fictional Prime Ministers Wikipedia Books British Prime Ministers

External links

• Number 10 official website