52 individuals have been British Prime Minister from Walpole to Brown and 53 First Lords of the Treasury, including Northcote and Smith. (Pitt the elder was never First Lord). Some lists include the names of the Earl's of Bath: 10th to 12th February 1746 and Waldegrave: 8th to 12th June 1757. Just seven days between them. (SeeHarold Wilson - A Prime Minister On Prime Ministers). However, since neither was officially recognised as Prime Minister, or held the post of First Lord, they have been included in this collection only as an historic courtesy. Others, like Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, were offered the post but declined.
NOTE: Lord Waldegrave is not usually counted as Prime Minister or First Lord of the Treasury, but as he was, he is sometimes regarded as the second-shortest-serving Prime Minister in British history. (See also William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath.)
Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend ('Turnip' Townshend)
There can often be breaks in the holding of the office of the Prime Minister, usually if the handover of power follows an election defeat or the death, resignation or retirement of the current PM. In the 18th century there were 98 days post-Walpole when the UK officially had no prime minister. In the 19th century this figure rose to 192, but there were only 13 such days in the 20th century and none so far since 2000. There have been twelve handovers after one-day, seven after a two-day gap and a further eight following a three-day pause. The longest gap so far was the fifty-six day period in 1743 after the Earl of Wilmington’s death and the appointment of Henry Pelham. That was twice as long as the time between Perceval’s assassination and Liverpool’s assumption of office.
Since Walpole, there are two First Lords of the Treasury who have been almost ignored by history completely. The first is Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh. In 1885, when Lord Salisbury became prime minister he took the titles of Earl of Iddesleigh and Viscount St Cyres, and was included in the cabinet as First Lord of the Treasury. The second was William Henry Smith ll who served as the First Lord from 14th January 1887 to 6th October 1891, during Salisbury's second administration. Neither gets a mention on the 10 Downing Street website.Both are included on this site at the bottom of 19th century Prime Minister's.and onOther First Lords of the Treasury
Gordon Brown is not alone in being a 'contemporary' un-elected Prime Minister. He joins a list of illustrious names including Balfour, Asquith, Lloyd-George, Baldwin, Chamberlain, Churchill, Macmillan, Douglas-Home, Callaghan and Major.
The United Kingdom's constitution, being uncodified and largely unwritten, makes no mention of a prime minister. Though it had de facto existed for centuries, its first mention in official state documents did not occur until the first decade of the twentieth century. Accordingly, it is often said "not to exist", indeed there are several instances of parliament declaring this to be the case. The prime minister sits in the cabinet solely by virtue of occupying another office, either First Lord of the Treasury (office in commission), or more rarely Chancellor of the Exchequer (the last of whom was Balfour in 1905).
A similar piece (illustrated on the right) was sold at Christie's of London in 2006 for £3,600
Lord Rockingham is one of the three rarest of all Prime Minister signatures, and given the historical significance of this letter would be valued today at around £10,000
Prime Minister Lord North resigned in March 1782. In April 1782, the Commons voted to end the war in America. Preliminary peace articles were signed in Paris at the end of November, 1782; the formal end of the war did not occur until the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, and the U.S Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784. The last British troops left New York City on November 25, 1783.
