UK Prime Ministers timeline

This timeline shows the birth, death and political career of each Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from Lord Palmerston. Unlike countries where the leader is elected directly to high office, the Prime Minister must first establish a political career in Parliament and typically serves many years in the House of Commons before becoming Prime Minister, and in some cases for many years afterwards.

Key

* The dark coloured bar denotes the time spent as Prime Minister
* A light colour denotes time spent in Parliament before or after serving as Prime Minister
* Grey denotes the time the Prime Minister spent outside Parliament, either before or after their political career

Parliament

For Prime Ministers after the Earl of Rosebery, Parliament refers to the House of Commons, apart from Sir Alec Douglas-Home's period as a member of the Government while in the House of Lords from 1951-63.

Notable achievements

* "changed party": Palmerston, Earl of Derby, Gladstone, Churchill (twice)
* "died in office": Palmerston
* "died shortly after leaving office": Campbell-Bannerman, Bonar Law, Chamberlain
* "left Parliament on leaving office": Russell, Baldwin, Blair
* "long career after being Prime Minister": Rosebery, Balfour, Lloyd George, Heath
* "served as Prime Minister after an interruption to their political career": MacDonald, Churchill, Macmillan (twice), Douglas-Home
* "lived for more than twenty years after leaving Parliament": Macmillan, Douglas-Home

The timeline

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyImageSize = width:800 height:600Period = from:01/01/1800 till:31/12/2007TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalAlignBars = justifyPlotArea = width:90% height:90% left:0 bottom:60

Colors = id:labourpm value:rgb(0.9,0.2,0.2)
Lord Palmerston" shift: (-10,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Palmerston from:15/06/1807 till:30/06/1830 color:tory text:" " bar:Palmerston from:01/07/1830 till:05/02/1855 color:liberal text:" " bar:Palmerston from:06/02/1855 till:19/02/1858 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Palmerston from:12/02/1858 till:11/06/1859 color:liberal text:" " bar:Palmerston from:12/06/1859 till:18/10/1865 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Russell from:01/01/1800 till:30/06/1813 color:notmp text:"Lord John Russell" shift: (35,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Russell from:01/07/1813 till: 29/06/1846 color:liberal text:" " bar:Russell from:30/06/1846 till: 23/02/1852 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Russell from:24/02/1852 till: 28/10/1865 color:liberal text:" " bar:Russell from:29/10/1865 till: 28/06/1866 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Russell from:29/06/1866 till:28/05/1878 color:notmp text: bar:Derby from:01/01/1800 till:29/07/1822 color:notmp text:"Earl of Derby" shift: (5,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Derby from:30/07/1822 till:26/05/1834 color:liberal text:" " bar:Derby from:27/05/1834 till:23/02/1852 color:tory text:" " bar:Derby from:23/02/1852 till:19/12/1852 color:torypm text:" " bar:Derby from:20/12/1852 till:19/02/1858 color:tory text:" " bar:Derby from:20/02/1858 till:12/06/1859 color:torypm text:" " bar:Derby from:13/06/1859 till:27/06/1866 color:tory text:" " bar:Derby from:28/06/1866 till:27/02/1868 color:torypm text:" " bar:Derby from:28/02/1868 till:23/10/1869 color:tory text:" " bar:Disraeli from:21/12/1804 till:01/01/1837 color:notmp text:"Benjamin Disraeli" shift: (01,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Disraeli from:01/01/1837 till:27/02/1868 color:tory text:" " bar:Disraeli from:27/02/1868 till:03/12/1868 color:torypm text:" " bar:Disraeli from:03/12/1868 till:20/02/1874 color:tory text:" " bar:Disraeli from:20/02/1874 till:23/04/1880 color:torypm text:" " bar:Disraeli from:23/04/1880 till:19/04/1881 color:tory text:" " bar:Gladstone from:29/12/1809 till:11/12/1832 color:notmp text:"William Ewart Gladstone" shift: (40,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Gladstone from:12/12/1832 till:30/06/1859 color:tory text:" " bar:Gladstone from:01/07/1859 till:03/12/1868 color:liberal text:" " bar:Gladstone from:03/12/1868 till:20/02/1874 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Gladstone from:20/02/1874 till:23/04/1880 color:liberal text:" " bar:Gladstone from:23/04/1880 till:23/06/1885 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Gladstone from:23/06/1885 till:01/02/1886 color:liberal text:" " bar:Gladstone from:01/02/1886 till:25/06/1886 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Gladstone from:25/06/1886 till:15/08/1892 color:liberal text:" " bar:Gladstone from:15/08/1892 till:05/03/1894 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Gladstone from:05/03/1894 till:07/08/1895 color:liberal text:" " bar:Gladstone from:08/08/1895 till:19/05/1898 color:notmp text:" " bar:Salisbury from:03/02/1830 till:31/07/1853 color:notmp text:"Marquess of Salisbury" shift: (30,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Salisbury from:01/08/1853 till:15/07/1885 color:tory text:" " bar:Salisbury from:16/07/1885 till:15/02/1886 color:torypm text:" " bar:Salisbury from:16/02/1886 till:15/08/1886 color:tory text:" " bar:Salisbury from:16/08/1886 till:15/08/1892 color:torypm text:" " bar:Salisbury from:16/08/1892 till:15/06/1895 color:tory text:" " bar:Salisbury from:16/05/1895 till:15/07/1902 color:torypm text:" " bar:Salisbury from:16/07/1902 till:22/08/1903 color:tory text:" " bar:EarlofRosebery from:07/05/1847 till:03/03/1868 color:notmp text:"Earl of Rosebery" shift: (20,-4) fontsize:10 bar:EarlofRosebery from:04/03/1868 till:15/03/1894 color:liberal text:" " bar:EarlofRosebery from:16/03/1894 till:15/06/1895 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:EarlofRosebery from:16/06/1895 till:21/05/1929 color:liberal text:" " bar:Balfour from:25/07/1848 till:05/02/1874 color:notmp text:"Arthur Balfour" shift: (10,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Balfour from:06/02/1874 till:10/07/1902 color:tory text:" " bar:Balfour from:11/07/1902 till:05/12/1905 color:torypm text:" " bar:Balfour from:06/12/1905 till:19/03/1930 color:tory text:" " bar:Bannerman from:07/09/1836 till:31/10/1868 color:notmp text:"Henry Campbell-Bannerman" shift: (30,-4) fontsize:10 bar:Bannerman from:01/11/1868 till:04/02/1906 color:liberal text:" " bar:Bannerman from:05/02/1906 till:03/04/1908 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:Bannerman from:04/04/1908 till:22/04/1908 color:liberal text:" " bar:HerbertHenryAsquith from:12/09/1852 till:01/07/1886 color:notmp text:"Herbert Henry Asquith" shift: (10,-4) fontsize:10 bar:HerbertHenryAsquith from:02/07/1886 till:16/04/1908 color:liberal text:" " bar:HerbertHenryAsquith from:16/04/1908 till:15/12/1916 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:HerbertHenryAsquith from:16/12/1916 till:15/02/1928 color:liberal text:" " bar:DavidLloydGeorge from:17/01/1863 till:12/04/1890 color:notmp text:"David Lloyd George" shift: (20,-4) fontsize:10 bar:DavidLloydGeorge from:13/04/1890 till:26/03/1945 color:liberal text:" " bar:DavidLloydGeorge from:16/12/1916 till:15/10/1922 color:liberalpm text:" " bar:DavidLloydGeorge from:16/10/1922 till:26/03/1945 color:liberal text:" " bar:AndrewBonarLaw from:16/09/1858 till:15/07/1900 color:notmp text:"Andrew Bonar Law" shift: (-10,-4) fontsize:10 bar:AndrewBonarLaw from:16/07/1900 till:15/10/1922 color:tory text:" " bar:AndrewBonarLaw from:16/10/1922 till:15/05/1923 color:torypm text:" " bar:AndrewBonarLaw from:16/05/1923 till:30/10/1923 color:tory text:" " bar:RamsayMacDonald from:12/10/1866 till:01/06/1906 color:notmp text:"Ramsay MacDonald" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:RamsayMacDonald from:02/06/1906 till:01/06/1918 color:labour text:" " bar:RamsayMacDonald from:02/06/1918 till:01/06/1922 color:notmp text:" " bar:RamsayMacDonald from:02/06/1922 till:21/01/1924 color:labour text:" " bar:RamsayMacDonald from:22/01/1924 till:04/11/1924 color:labourpm text:" " bar:RamsayMacDonald from:05/11/1924 till:04/06/1929 color:labour text:" " bar:RamsayMacDonald from:05/06/1929 till:07/06/1935 color:labourpm text:" " bar:RamsayMacDonald from:08/06/1935 till:09/11/1937 color:labour text:" " bar:StanleyBaldwin from:03/08/1867 till:30/06/1908 color:notmp text:"Stanley Baldwin" shift: (-20,-4) fontsize:10 bar:StanleyBaldwin from:01/07/1908 till:15/05/1923 color:tory text:" " bar:StanleyBaldwin from:16/05/1923 till:21/01/1924 color:torypm text:" " bar:StanleyBaldwin from:22/01/1924 till:04/11/1924 color:tory text:" " bar:StanleyBaldwin from:05/11/1924 till:07/06/1929 color:torypm text:" " bar:StanleyBaldwin from:08/06/1929 till:15/06/1935 color:tory text:" " bar:StanleyBaldwin from:16/06/1935 till:15/05/1937 color:torypm text:" " bar:StanleyBaldwin from:16/05/1937 till:14/12/1947 color:notmp text:" " bar:NevilleChamberlain from:18/03/1869 till:30/06/1922 color:notmp text:"Neville Chamberlain" shift: (-20,-4) fontsize:10 bar:NevilleChamberlain from:01/07/1922 till:27/05/1937 color:tory text:" " bar:NevilleChamberlain from:28/05/1937 till:10/05/1940 color:torypm text:" " bar:NevilleChamberlain from:11/05/1940 till:09/09/1940 color:tory text:" " bar:NevilleChamberlain from:10/09/1940 till:09/11/1940 color:notmp text:" " bar:WinstonChurchill from:30/11/1874 till:30/06/1900 color:notmp text:"Winston Churchill" shift: (20,-4) fontsize:10 bar:WinstonChurchill from:01/07/1900 till:30/06/1904 color:tory text:" " bar:WinstonChurchill from:01/07/1904 till:15/10/1922 color:liberal text:" " bar:WinstonChurchill from:15/10/1922 till:30/06/1924 color:notmp text:" " bar:WinstonChurchill from:01/07/1924 till:09/05/1940 color:tory bar:WinstonChurchill from:10/05/1940 till:27/07/1945 color:torypm text:" " bar:WinstonChurchill from:28/07/1945 till:25/10/1951 color:tory text:" " bar:WinstonChurchill from:26/10/1951 till:07/04/1955 color:torypm text:" " bar:WinstonChurchill from:08/04/1955 till:30/03/1964 color:tory text:" bar:WinstonChurchill from:01/04/1964 till:24/01/1965 color:notmp text:" bar:ClementAttlee from:03/01/1883 till:30/06/1922 color:notmp text:"Clement Attlee" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:ClementAttlee from:01/07/1922 till:26/07/1945 color:labour text:" " bar:ClementAttlee from:27/07/1945 till:26/10/1951 color:labourpm text:" " bar:ClementAttlee from:27/10/1951 till:30/06/1955 color:labour text:" " bar:ClementAttlee from:01/07/1955 till:08/10/1967 color:notmp text:" " bar:AnthonyEden from:12/06/1897 till:30/06/1923 color:notmp text:"Anthony Eden" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:AnthonyEden from:01/07/1923 till:06/04/1955 color:tory text:" " bar:AnthonyEden from:07/04/1955 till:09/01/1957 color:torypm text:" " bar:AnthonyEden from:10/01/1957 till:30/06/1961 color:tory text:" " bar:AnthonyEden from:01/07/1961 till:14/01/1977 color:notmp text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:10/02/1894 till:30/06/1924 color:notmp text:"Harold Macmillan" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:HaroldMacmillan from:01/07/1924 till:30/06/1929 color:tory text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:01/07/1929 till:30/06/1931 color:notmp text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:01/07/1931 till:05/07/1945 color:tory text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:06/07/1945 till:15/11/1945 color:notmp text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:16/11/1945 till:10/01/1957 color:tory text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:11/01/1957 till:19/10/1963 color:torypm text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:20/10/1963 till:15/09/1964 color:tory text:" " bar:HaroldMacmillan from:16/09/1964 till:29/12/1986 color:notmp text:" " bar:AlecDouglasHome from:02/07/1903 till:30/06/1931 color:notmp text:"Alec Douglas-Home" shift: (15,-4) fontsize:10 bar:AlecDouglasHome from:01/07/1931 till:05/07/1945 color:tory text:" " bar:AlecDouglasHome from:06/07/1945 till:18/06/1950 color:notmp text:" " bar:AlecDouglasHome from:19/06/1950 till:18/10/1963 color:tory text:" " bar:AlecDouglasHome from:19/10/1963 till:16/10/1964 color:torypm text:" " bar:AlecDouglasHome from:17/10/1964 till:10/10/1974 color:tory text:" " bar:AlecDouglasHome from:11/10/1974 till:05/10/1995 color:notmp text:" " bar:HaroldWilson from:11/03/1916 till:05/07/1945 color:notmp text:"Harold Wilson" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:HaroldWilson from:06/07/1945 till:15/10/1964 color:labour text:" " bar:HaroldWilson from:16/10/1964 till:19/06/1970 color:labourpm text:" " bar:HaroldWilson from:20/06/1970 till:03/03/1974 color:labour text:" " bar:HaroldWilson from:04/03/1974 till:05/04/1976 color:labourpm text:" " bar:HaroldWilson from:06/04/1976 till:30/06/1983 color:labour text:" " bar:HaroldWilson from:01/07/1983 till:24/05/1995 color:notmp text:" " bar:TedHeath from:09/07/1916 till:18/06/1950 color:notmp text:"Ted Heath" shift: (-20,-4) fontsize:10 bar:TedHeath from:19/06/1950 till:18/06/1970 color:tory text:" " bar:TedHeath from:19/06/1970 till:04/03/1974 color:torypm text:" " bar:TedHeath from:05/03/1974 till:07/06/2001 color:tory text:" " bar:TedHeath from:08/06/2001 till:17/07/2005 color:notmp text:" " bar:JamesCallaghan from:27/03/1912 till:05/07/1945 color:notmp text:"James Callaghan" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:JamesCallaghan from:06/07/1945 till:04/04/1976 color:labour text:" " bar:JamesCallaghan from:05/04/1976 till:02/05/1979 color:labourpm text:" " bar:JamesCallaghan from:03/05/1979 till:11/06/1987 color:labour text:" " bar:JamesCallaghan from:12/06/1987 till:26/03/2005 color:notmp text:" bar:MargaretThatcher from:13/10/1925 till:08/10/1959 color:notmp text:"Margaret Thatcher" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:MargaretThatcher from:09/10/1959 till:03/05/1979 color:tory text:" " bar:MargaretThatcher from:04/05/1979 till:27/11/1990 color:torypm text:" " bar:MargaretThatcher from:28/11/1990 till:09/04/1992 color:tory text:" " bar:MargaretThatcher from:10/04/1992 till: end color:notmp text:" bar:JohnMajor from:29/03/1943 till:03/05/1979 color:notmp text:"John Major" shift: (-20,-4) fontsize:10 bar:JohnMajor from:04/05/1979 till:27/11/1990 color:tory text:" " bar:JohnMajor from:28/11/1990 till:01/05/1997 color:torypm text:" " bar:JohnMajor from:02/05/1997 till:07/06/2001 color:tory text:" " bar:JohnMajor from:08/06/2001 till: end color:notmp text:" " bar:TonyBlair from:06/05/1953 till:03/05/1983 color:notmp text:"Tony Blair" shift: (-15,-4) fontsize:10 bar:TonyBlair from:04/05/1983 till:01/05/1997 color:labour text:" " bar:TonyBlair from:02/05/1997 till:27/06/2007 color:labourpm text:" " bar:TonyBlair from:28/06/2007 till: end color:notmp text:" bar:GordonBrown from:20/02/1951 till:03/05/1983 color:notmp text:"Gordon Brown" shift: (0,-4) fontsize:10 bar:GordonBrown from:04/05/1983 till:26/06/2007 color:labour text:" " bar:GordonBrown from:28/06/2007 till: end color:labourpm text:" "

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:01/01/1800ScaleMinor = gridcolor:liteline unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1805

ee also

* List of UK Prime Ministers' Burial Places