British Prime Ministers (20th & 21st century)

Name From To Political party Notes and key events
Arthur Balfour 11 July 1902 5 December 1905 Conservative Had poor relations with Edward VII; his cabinet was split over free trade; establishment of the Committee of Imperial Defence; Entente Cordiale.
Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman
5 December 1905 7 April 1908 Liberal Restored autonomy to Transvaal and the Orange Free State; Anglo-Russian Entente; first Prime Minister to be referred to as such in Parliamentary legislation.
H. H. Asquith 7 April 1908 7 December 1916 Liberal Liberal Welfare Reforms; People's Budget; Parliament Act 1911; National Insurance and pensions; Home Rule Act 1914; World War I; Easter Rising.
David Lloyd George 7 December 1916 19 October 1922 Liberal End of World War I; Paris Peace Conference; attempted to extend conscription to Ireland during the First World War; granted women over 30 the vote; formation of the Irish Free State; the only Prime Minister, as of 2007, whose mother tongue was not English (it was Welsh).
Andrew Bonar Law 23 October 1922 20 May 1923 Conservative Resigned due to ill health; died six months after leaving office.
Stanley Baldwin
(1st term)
23 May 1923 16 January 1924 Conservative Called a general election to gain a mandate for protectionist tariffs but failed to gain a majority; resigned after losing a vote of confidence.
Ramsay MacDonald
(1st term)
22 January 1924 4 November 1924 Labour First Labour prime minister; did not have a majority so could not introduce radical legislation; settled reparations with Germany following World War I.
Stanley Baldwin
(2nd term)
4 November 1924 5 June 1929 Conservative Treaty of Locarno; signatory of the Kellogg-Briand Pact; Pensions Act; enfranchisement of women over 21; UK General Strike of 1926.
Ramsay MacDonald
(2nd term)
5 June 1929 24 August 1931 Labour Appointed the first female minister, Margaret Bondfield; economic crises following the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Ramsay MacDonald
(3rd term)
24 August 1931 7 June 1935 National Labour Unable to retain the support of the Labour Party, MacDonald officially resigned and was then re-appointed to form a National Government with the support of the Conservative and Liberal parties. He was expelled from the Labour Party.
Stanley Baldwin
(3rd term)
7 June 1935 28 May 1937 Conservative Managed the abdication crisis of Edward VIII; started rearmament but later criticised for failing to rearm more when Adolf Hitler broke Germany's Treaty of Versailles obligations.
Neville Chamberlain 28 May 1937 10 May 1940 Conservative Attempted to prevent World War II through appeasement of Germany; widely criticised following the invasion of Poland; resigned after failing to form a Coalition Government.
Winston Churchill
(1st term)
10 May 1940 23 May 1945 Conservative World War II; led a Coalition Government; foundation of the United Nations; proposed what would eventually lead to the European Union.
Winston Churchill
(2nd term)
23 May 1945 27 July 1945 Conservative Following the ending of his all-party coalition, Churchill formed a "caretaker" government out of Conservatives, Liberal Nationals and non-party figures. However after two months it was defeated in the 1945 general election.
Clement Attlee 27 July 1945 26 October 1951 Labour Initiated the post-war consensus; introduced nationalisation of utilities; foundation of the National Health Service; extended national insurance scheme; independence of India and the end of the British role in Palestine; foundation of NATO.
Winston Churchill
(3rd term)
26 October 1951 7 April 1955 Conservative Domestic policy interrupted by foreign disputes (Operation Ajax, Mau Mau Uprising, Malayan Emergency).
Anthony Eden 7 April 1955 10 January 1957 Conservative Failed to prevent the Egyptian nationalisation of the Suez Canal; invaded Egypt leading to the Suez Crisis.
Harold Macmillan 10 January 1957 19 October 1963 Conservative The UK applied to join the European Economic Community for the first time, the application split the Conservatives and was rejected by Charles de Gaulle, President of France; Profumo Affair.
Alec Douglas-Home 19 October 1963 16 October 1964 Conservative Was the Earl of Home when he became Prime Minister, and renounced his peerage on 23 October 1963 in order to stand for the House of Commons.
Harold Wilson
(1st term)
16 October 1964 19 June 1970 Labour Social reforms, including legalisation of abortion and decriminalisation of homosexuality; Rhodesian U.D.I.; adopted, then abandoned, the National Plan for the economy; Devaluation of the pound; foundation of the Open University; dispute over In Place of Strife trade union reforms.
Edward Heath 19 June 1970 4 March 1974 Conservative U-turned over intervention in industry; negotiated Britain's entry to the European Community; Violence due to Northern Ireland's 'Troubles' peaked; the Sunningdale Agreement agreed; Three-Day Week; called early election in backfiring attempt to confront striking miners.
Harold Wilson
(2nd term)
4 March 1974 5 April 1976 Labour Ended dispute with miners; Social Contract with trade unions over the economy; Health and Safety at Work Act; Renegotiated terms for EC membership, then 1975 referendum validated entry; North Sea oil, Cod War.
James Callaghan 5 April 1976 4 May 1979 Labour International Monetary Fund loan to support the pound; the Lib-Lab pact; enacted devolution to Scotland and Wales but referendums stopped them; relations with trade unions broke down in the Winter of Discontent.
Margaret Thatcher 4 May 1979 28 November 1990 Conservative First female Prime Minister of the UK; Falklands War; sold council housing to tenants (right to buy) without replacement; miners' strike 1984-5; privatisation of many previously government-owned industries; decreased the power of trade unions; Anglo-Irish Agreement; Section 28; abolition of GLC; negotiation of the UK rebate towards the European Community budget; the "Poll tax".
John Major 28 November 1990 2 May 1997 Conservative Global recession; Gulf War; ratification of the Maastricht Treaty and the Maastricht Rebels; forced exit from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism ("Black Wednesday"); the Downing Street Declaration (initiating the Northern Ireland peace process); Citizen's charter; "Back to Basics" campaign; Cones Hotline; Dangerous Dogs Act.
Tony Blair 2 May 1997 27 June 2007 Labour Independence for the Bank of England; Belfast Agreement; Human Rights Act; devolution to Scotland and Wales; House of Lords Reform; minimum wage; Kosovo War; Mayor of London and GLA; war in Afghanistan; Iraq War; university tuition fees; Civil Partnership Act; July 7th Bombing; Cash for Peerages; Ecclestone scandal; Iraq Dossier; Kelly suicide
Gordon Brown 27 June 2007 Incumbent Labour London car bombs; Glasgow Airport attack; foot-and-mouth outbreak (2007); national floods; child benefit data misplaced; Donorgate ; Northern Rock; Treaty of Lisbon