List of British governments
This is a list of British ministries, in the sense of successive governments, from the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, continuing through the duration of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922, and since then dealing with the governments of the present-day United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Guide to the list
"Ministry" refers collectively to all the ministers of a government, including cabinet members and junior ministers alike. Only the Civil Service is considered outside of the ministry. While the term was in common parlance in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it has become rarer, except in official and academic uses.[1] Both Australia and Canada have inherited the term and continue to use it. It is perhaps in more common use in those countries, which both have official catalogues of their respective ministries, whereas Britain has no such catalogue.[2][3]
Articles listed by ministry contain information on the term(s) of one prime minister. Articles listed by political party contain information on the ministries of multiple consecutive prime ministers of the same political party. Prior to the 20th century, the leader of the British government traditionally held the title of First Lord of the Treasury, and not that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Therefore, the list below refers to the "Head of Government" and not the "Prime Minister". Even so, the leader of a government was often colloquially referred to as the "prime minister", beginning in the 18th century. Modern-day prime ministers generally still hold the office of First Lord of the Treasury.
Ministries
Date |
Monarch |
Head of government |
Governing party |
Ministry |
1707 | Anne | The Duke of Marlborough | Coalition | Godolphin–Marlborough ministry |
1708 |
1710 | Robert Harley | Tory | Harley ministry |
1710 |
1713 |
1714 | George I | The Viscount Townshend | Whig | Whig government, 1714–1717 |
1715 |
1717 | The Earl Stanhope | First Stanhope–Sunderland ministry |
1718 | Second Stanhope–Sunderland ministry |
1721 | Sir Robert Walpole | Walpole–Townshend ministry |
1722 |
1727 | George II |
1730 | Whig government, 1730–1742 |
1734 |
1741 |
1742 | The Earl of Wilmington | Carteret ministry |
1743 | Henry Pelham |
1744 | Broad Bottom ministry[note 1] |
1747 |
1754 | The Duke of Newcastle | Whig government, 1754–1756 |
1754 |
1756 | The Duke of Devonshire | Pitt–Devonshire ministry |
1757 | 1757 caretaker ministry |
1757 | The Duke of Newcastle | Pitt–Newcastle ministry |
1760 | George III |
1761 |
1762 | The Earl of Bute | Tory | Bute ministry |
1763 | George Grenville | Whig | Grenville ministry |
1765 | The Marquess of Rockingham | First Rockingham ministry |
1766 | The Earl of Chatham | Chatham ministry |
1768 |
1768 | The Duke of Grafton | Grafton ministry |
1770 | Lord North | North ministry |
1774 |
1780 |
1782 | The Marquess of Rockingham | Second Rockingham ministry |
1782 | The Earl of Shelburne | Shelburne ministry |
1783 | The Duke of Portland | Fox–North coalition |
1783 | William Pitt the Younger | Tory | Tory government, 1783–1801 |
1784 |
1790 |
1796 |
1801 | Henry Addington | Addington ministry |
1802 |
1804 | William Pitt the Younger | Fifth Pitt the Younger ministry |
1806 | The Lord Grenville | Ministry of All the Talents |
1806 |
1807 | The Duke of Portland | Tory government, 1807–1809 |
1807 |
1809 | Spencer Perceval | Perceval ministry |
1812 | The Earl of Liverpool | Liverpool ministry |
1812 |
1818 |
1820 | George IV |
1826 |
1827 | George Canning | Canningite and Whig | Canningite government, 1827–1828 |
1827 | The Viscount Goderich |
1828 | The Duke of Wellington | Tory | Wellington ministry |
1830 | William IV |
1830 | The Earl Grey | Whig | Whig government, 1830–1834 |
1831 |
1832 |
1834 | The Viscount Melbourne |
1834 | The Duke of Wellington | Conservative | Wellington caretaker ministry |
1834 | Sir Robert Peel | First Peel ministry |
1835 | Conservative (minority) |
1835 | The Viscount Melbourne | Whig | Whig government, 1835–1841 |
1837 | Victoria |
1839 |
1841 | Sir Robert Peel | Conservative | Second Peel ministry |
1846 | Lord John Russell | Whig | Whig government, 1846–1852 |
1847 | Whig (minority) |
1852 | The Earl of Derby | Conservative | Who? Who? ministry |
1852 |
1852 | The Earl of Aberdeen | Coalition | Aberdeen ministry |
1855 | Viscount Palmerston | Whig and Peelite | Whig government, 1855–1858 |
1857 |
1858 | The Earl of Derby | Conservative | Third Derby ministry |
1859 | Viscount Palmerston | Liberal | Liberal government, 1859–1866 |
1865 |
1865 | The Earl Russell |
1866 | The Earl of Derby | Conservative | Conservative government, 1866–1868 |
1868 | Benjamin Disraeli |
1868 | William Ewart Gladstone | Liberal | First Gladstone ministry |
1874 | Benjamin Disraeli[note 2] | Conservative | Second Disraeli ministry |
1880 | William Ewart Gladstone | Liberal | Second Gladstone ministry |
1885 | The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | First Salisbury ministry |
1885 | Conservative (minority) |
1885 | William Ewart Gladstone | Liberal | Third Gladstone ministry |
1886 |
1886 | The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | Second Salisbury ministry |
1892 | William Ewart Gladstone | Liberal (minority) | Liberal government, 1892–1895 |
1894 | The Earl of Rosebery |
1895 | The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative and Unionist | Unionist government, 1895–1905 |
1895 |
1900 |
1901 | Edward VII |
1902 | Arthur Balfour |
1905 | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman | Liberal | Liberal government, 1905–1915 |
1906 |
1908 | H. H. Asquith |
1910 | George V | Liberal (minority) |
1910 |
1915 | Coalition | Fourth Asquith ministry |
1916 | David Lloyd George | Lloyd George ministry |
1918 |
1922 | Bonar Law | Conservative | Conservative government, 1922–1924 |
1922 |
1923 | Stanley Baldwin |
1924 | Ramsay MacDonald | Labour (minority) | First MacDonald ministry |
1924 | Stanley Baldwin | Conservative | Second Baldwin ministry |
1929 | Ramsay MacDonald | Labour (minority) | Second MacDonald ministry |
1931 | National | National government, August–October 1931 |
1931 | National government, 1931–1935 |
1935 | Stanley Baldwin | National government, 1935–1937 |
1935 |
1936 | Edward VIII |
1936 | George VI |
1937 | Neville Chamberlain | National government, 1937–1939 |
1939 | Chamberlain war ministry |
1940 | Winston Churchill | Coalition | Churchill war ministry |
1945 | National | Churchill caretaker ministry |
1945 | Clement Attlee | Labour | Attlee ministry |
1950 |
1951 | Sir Winston Churchill | Conservative | Third Churchill ministry |
1952 | Elizabeth II |
1955 | Sir Anthony Eden | Eden ministry |
1957 | Harold Macmillan | Conservative government, 1957–1964 |
1959 |
1963 | Sir Alec Douglas-Home[note 3] |
1964 | Harold Wilson | Labour | Labour government, 1964–1970 |
1966 |
1970 | Edward Heath | Conservative | Heath ministry |
1974 | Harold Wilson | Labour (minority) | Labour government, 1974–1979 |
1974 | Labour |
1976 | James Callaghan |
1977 | Labour (minority) |
1979 | Margaret Thatcher | Conservative | First Thatcher ministry |
1983 | Second Thatcher ministry |
1987 | Third Thatcher ministry |
1990 | John Major | First Major ministry |
1992 | Second Major ministry |
1996 | Conservative (minority) |
1997 | Tony Blair | Labour | Blair ministry |
2001 |
2005 |
2007 | Gordon Brown | Brown ministry |
2010 | David Cameron | Conservative and Liberal Democrat | Cameron–Clegg coalition |
2015 | Conservative | Second Cameron ministry |
2016 | Theresa May | First May ministry |
2017 | Conservative (minority) | Second May ministry |
See also
Notes
References
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