View source for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The '''Prime Minister of the United Kingdom''' is the head of the [[Government]] of the [[United Kingdom]]. The Prime Minister is usually elected by a [[General Election]] which takes place every 5 years, although sometimes the job can be given to someone else part way between elections, usually this happens for example, if the current Prime Minister resigns. In this case, it's up to the members of the political party to which they belong, to select who they want to take over. Whoever leads the political party in power, automatically becomes the Prime Minister (although [[King Charles III|The King]] still has to give his formal permission for them to take up the job.)  

The current prime minister is [[Keir Starmer]] who was elected in the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]].

The first British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister is Sir [[Robert Walpole]], who was prime minister of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] from 1721 till 1742. 

[[William Pitt the Younger]] was the first prime minister of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] with its creation on 1 January 1801. [[Benjamin Disraeli]] was the first prime minister to use the title in an official act when he signed the [[1878 Treaty of Berlin]] as "Prime Minister of Her Birtannic Majesty". 

In 1905, the post of prime minister was given official recognition in the [[Order of precedence (United Kingdom|order of precedence]], with [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]] the first officially referred to as "prime minister". 

The first prime minister of the current [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]] upon its creation in 1922 (when 26 Irish counties seceded and created the [[Irish Free State]]). Although the country was not officially renamed until 1927, when [[Stanley Baldwin]] was prime minister.

The official residence of the Prime Minister is [[10 Downing Street]], London SW1A 2AA. It has been used officially since 1735.

== List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom (since 1721) ==
* [[Robert Walpole]] (1721–1742)
* [[Spencer Compton]] (1742–1743)
* [[Henry Pelham]] (1743–1754)
* [[Thomas Pelham-Holles]] (1754–1756)
* [[William Cavendish]] (1756–1757)
* [[Thomas Pelham-Holles]] (1757–1762)
* [[John Stuart]] (1762–1763)
* [[George Grenville]] (1763–1765)
* [[Charles Watson-Wentworth]] (1765–1766)
* [[William Pitt the Elder]] (1766–1768)
* [[Augustus FitzRoy]] (1768–1770)
* [[Frederick North]] (1770–1782)
* Charles Watson-Wentworth (1782)
* [[William Petty]] (1782–1783)
* [[William Cavendish-Bentinck]] (1783)
* [[William Pitt the Younger]] (1783–1801)
* [[Henry Addington]] (1801–1804)
* William Pitt the Younger (1804–1806)
* [[William Grenville]] (1806–1807)
* William Cavendish-Bentinck (1807–1809)
* [[Spencer Perceval]] (1809–1812)
* [[Robert Jenkinson]] (1812–1827)
* [[George Canning]] (1827)
* [[Frederick John Robinson]] (1827–1828)
* [[Arthur Wellesley]] (1828–1830)
* [[Charles Grey]] (1830–1834)
* [[William Lamb]] (1834)
* Arthur Wellesley (1834)
* [[Robert Peel]] (1834–1835)
* William Lamb (1835–1841)
* Robert Peel (1841–1846)
* [[John Russell]] (1846–1852)
* [[Edward Smith-Stanley]] (1852)
* [[George Hamilton-Gordon]] (1852–1855)
* [[Henry John Temple]] (1855–1858)
* Edward Smith-Stanley (1858–1859)
* Henry John Temple (1859–1865)
* John Russell (1865–1866)
* Edward Smith-Stanley (1866–1868)
* [[Benjamin Disraeli]] (1868)
* [[William Ewart Gladstone]] (1868–1874)
* Benjamin Disraeli (1874–1880)
* William Ewart Gladstone (1880–1885)
* [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil]] (1885–1886)
* William Ewart Gladstone (1886)
* Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (1886–1892)
* William Ewart Gladstone (1892–1894)
* [[Archibald Primrose]] (1894–1895)
* Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (1895–1902)
* [[Arthur Balfour]] (1902–1905)
* [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]] (1905–1908)
* [[H. H. Asquith]] (1908–1916)
* [[David Lloyd George]] (1916–1922)
* [[Bonar Law]] (1922–1923)
* [[Stanley Baldwin]] (1923–1924)
* [[Ramsay MacDonald]] (1924)
* Stanley Baldwin (1924–1929)
* [[Ramsay MacDonald]] (1929–1935)
* Stanley Baldwin (1935–1937)
* [[Neville Chamberlain]] (1937–1940)
* [[Winston Churchill]] (1940–1945)
* [[Clement Attlee]] (1945–1951)
* Winston Churchill (1951–1955)
* [[Anthony Eden]] (1955–1957)
* [[Harold MacMillan]] (1957–1963)
* [[Alec Douglas-Home]] (1963–1964)
* [[Harold Wilson]] (1964–1970)
* [[Edward Heath]] (1970–1974)
* Harold Wilson (1974–1976)
* [[James Callaghan]] (1976–1979)
* [[Margaret Thatcher]] (1979–1990)
* [[John Major]] (1990–1997)
* [[Tony Blair]] (1997–2007)
* [[Gordon Brown]] (2007–2010)
* [[David Cameron]] (2010–2016)
* [[Theresa May]] (2016–2019)
* [[Boris Johnson]] (2019–2022)
* [[Liz Truss]] (2022)
* [[Rishi Sunak]] (2022–2024)
* [[Keir Starmer]] (2024–present)

=== Disputed ===
* [[William Pulteney]] (10–12 February 1746)
* [[James Waldegrave]] (8–12 June 1757)

[[Category:British Prime Ministers|*]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]