Gimson's Prime Ministers

I have enjoyed reading this recently published book. Andrew Gimson, who previously wrote on kings and queens, gets this about right going through the list giving you his assesment and the salient facts with surefootedness. I found there were some PMs who I know of because they have served in my own life time (Wilson, Heath, Blair, etc) others I know from the history books (Gladstone, Disraeli, Attlee, etc). Some I had heard of but knew little about (Walpole, Balfour, MacDonald, etc) others I had practically never heard of (Henry, Pelham, the Earl of Aberdeen, etc). I was interested to read of the evangelical convictions of Spencer Perceval, of which I was not aware. It is surprising to see how much the parties have changed down the years. Martin Rowson's cartoon portraits are a little hit or miss. They add to the attractiveness of the book.

10 Unique Prime Ministers

1. David Lloyd-George The only Welsh PM (ie Welsh speaking Welshman though born in England)

2. Benjamin Disraeli The only [ethnically] Jewish PM (though Callaghan and Cameron had some Jewish ancestry)

3. Andrew Bonar Law The only PM born outside the British Isles (in Canada. There were three Irish ones Shelburne, Palmerston and Wellington)

4. Spencer Perceval The only PM to be assassinated

5. Winston Churchill The only PM to win the Nobel Prize for literature (1953)

6. Alec Douglas-Home The only PM to have played first class cricket

7. Margaret Thatcher The only PM to be married to a divorcee

8. The Duke of Devonshire The shortest-lived PM (8 May 1720 - 2 October 1764).

9. Lord Grey The PM who fathered the most children (16 legitimate, one illegitimate)

10. Henry Pelham, who was succeeded on his death in 1754 by the Duke of Newcastle. The only brothers to hold the office

10 Oldest UK PMs

1. 30th  William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809-19 May 1898)
began as pm 3 December 1868 58 years, 340 days
ended March 1894 84 years, 63 days

2. 41st  Winston Churchill (30 November 1874-24 January 1965)
began as pm 10 May 1940 65 years, 162 days
ended 6 April 1955 80 years, 127 days

3. 29th  Benjamin Disraeli (21 December 1804-19 April 1881)
began as pm 27 February 1868 63 years, 68 days
ended 21 April 1880 75 years, 122 days

4. 25th  Lord John Russell (18 August 1792- 28 May 1878)
began as pm 30 June 1846 53 years, 316 days
ended 26 June 1866 73 years, 312 days

5. 31st  Marquess of Salisbury (3 February 1830-22 August 1903)
began as pm 23 June 1885 55 years, 140 days
ended 11 July 1902 72 years, 158 days

6. 34th  Henry Campbell-Bannerman (7 September 1836-22 April 1908)
began as pm 5 December 1905 69 years, 89 days
ended 7 April 1908 71 years, 213 days

7. 13th  Duke of Portland (14 April 1738-30 October 1809)
began as pm 2 April 1783 44 years, 353 days
ended  4 October 1809 71 years, 173 days

8. 40th  Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869-9 November 1940)
began as pm 28 May 1937 68 years, 71 days
ended 10 May 1940 71 years, 53 days

9. 27th  Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 1784-d 14 December 1860)
began as pm 19 December 1852 68 years, 326 days
30 January 1855 71 years, 2 days

10. 22nd  Earl Grey (13 March 1764-17 July 1845)
began as pm 22 November 1830 66 years, 254 days
ended 9 July 1834 70 years, 118 days

The oldest age for a prime minister to be first appointed is 70 years, 109 days the age of the 28th pm Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784-18 October 1865) on  6 February 1855. His premiership ended with his death on 18 October 1865 aged 80 years, 363 days (29,582 days). Gladstone was the oldest leaving office. The longest lived person to have held the office is James Callaghan who was 92 years, 364 days (33,967 days) when he died in 2005.

10 Youngest UK PMs

1. 14th William Pitt the Younger born 28 May 1759 19 December 1783 24 years, 205 days

2. 10th Duke of Grafton born 28 September 1735 14 October 1768 33 years, 16 days

3. 8th Marquess of Rockingham born 13 May 1730 13 July 1765 35 years, 61 days

4. 5th Duke of Devonshire born 8 May 1720 16 November 1756 36 years, 192 days

5. 11th Lord North born 13 April 1732 28 January 1770 37 years, 290 days

6. 18th Earl of Liverpool born 7 June 1770 8 June 1812 42 years, 1 day

7. 53d David Cameron born 9 October 1966 11 May 2010 43 years, 214 days

8. 15th Henry Addington born 30 May 1757 17 March 1801 43 years, 291 days

9. 51st Tony Blair born 6 May 1953 2 May 1997 43 years, 361 days

10. 1st Robert Walpole born 26 August 1676 4 April 1721 44 years, 221 days

10 UK PMs who served with no wife

1. Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington 16 February 1742 – 2 July 1743 Never married

2. William Pitt the Younger 19 December 1783 – 14 March 1801 and 10 May 1804 – 23 January 1806 Never married

3. Arthur Balfour 11 July 1902 – 5 December 1905 Never married

4. Edward Heath 19 June 1970 – 4 March 1974 Never married

5. The Duke of Devonshire 16 November 1756 – 25 June 1757 Widower

6. William Cavendish, The Duke of Portland 31 March 1807 – 4 October 1809 Widower

7. William Lamb, The Viscount Melbourne18 April 1835 – 30 August 1841 Widower

8. The Earl of Rosebery 5 March 1894 – 22 June 1895 Widower

9. Bonar Law 23 October 1922 – 20 May 1923 Widower

10. Ramsay MacDonald 22 January 1924 – 4 November 1924 and 5 June 1929 – 7 June 1935 Widower

10 Longest serving UK PMs

1. Sir Robert Walpole 20 years, 314 days Whig 1721

2. William Pitt the Younger 18 years, 343 days Tory (Pittite) 1783 (2 terms)

3. The Earl of Liverpool 14 years, 305 days Tory (Pittite) 1812

4. The Marquess of Salisbury 13 years, 252 days Conservative 1885 (3 terms)

5. William Ewart Gladstone 12 years, 126 days 4 Liberal 1868

6. Lord North 12 years, 58 days Tory (Northite) 1770

7. Margaret Thatcher 11 years, 209 days Conservative 1979

8. Henry Pelham 10 years, 191 days Whig 1743

9. Tony Blair 10 years, 56 days Labour 1997

10. Viscount Palmerston 9 years, 141 days Whig/Liberal 1855 (2 terms)

10 Shortest serving UK PMs

1. George Canning 119 days 1 Tory (Canningite) 1827
2. Viscount Goderich 130 days Tory (Canningite) 1827
3. Bonar Law 211 days Conservative (Scottish Unionist) 1922
4. The Duke of Devonshire 225 days Whig 1756
5. The Earl of Shelburne 266 days Whig (Chathamite) 1782
6. The Earl of Bute 317 days Tory 1762
7. Sir Alec Douglas-Home 362 days Conservative (Scot. Unionist)
8. Lord Grenville 1 year, 42 days Whig 1806
9. The Duke of Grafton 1 year, 106 days Whig (Chathamite) 1768
10. The Earl of Rosebery 1 year, 109 days Liberal 1894

Foot note

You will have read of the death of (former!) atheist Michael Foot. Like his successor, Neil Kinnock he was a known atheist. One wonders if the atheism was a factor in their not beoming PM. The British public are perhaps happier with a John Smith, a Gordon Brown or a Tony Blair. The other connection, between those two is their Gwent ties. They with two or three others are men with Gwent/Monmouthshire connections who went high but never to the very top. The ones I am thinking of together are

1. Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) - Monmouthshire born and raised, MP for Ebbw Vale, founder of the NHS, who stood for Labour leadership in 1955 but lost to Gaitskell.

2. Roy Jenkins (1920-2003) - Monmouthshire born and raised MP who became Chancellor, Home Secretary and Deputy Labour leader 1970-1972 before leaving to form the SDP.

3. Michael Foot (1913-2010) - West country born MP who succeeded Bevan in Ebbw Vale (after 10 years in Plymouth) and was Labour Party leader 1980-1983 after Callaghan, before Kinnock.

4. Neil Kinnock (b 1942) - Monmouthshire born and raised MP who succeeded Foot as Labour leader and served 1983-1992.

Of the three Wales based men who became PM

1. Lloyd George (1863-1945) Liberal PM 1916-1922 was a North Walian

2. J Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937) Labour PM 1924 and 1929-1935 though Scots was MP for Aberavon in South Wales the first time he was in office.

3. James Callaghan (1912-2005) Labour PM 1976-1979 was born in Portsmouth but was MP for Cardiff South (East)

Clearly the lesson is that a Monmouthshire connection takes you a long way but it will not get you the top job!