Past prime ministers
This series of biographies of British Prime Ministers, from Sir Robert Walpole to Gordon Brown are written by members of History & Policy, a 500+ strong network of expert historians. These new, succinct bios will be published over the coming months.
Each describes the major issues facing the PM at the time, his or her successes and failures in office, as well as personal characteristics. The series will offer readers of the History of Government Blog clear analysis and interesting insights into how Britain’s Prime Ministers have ruled across nearly 300 years.
The principles set out in the Atlantic Charter eighty years ago remain key to the global vision shared by the UK and US. But its terms also contained the roots of international tensions that persist today: for example in relation …
Sir Norman Brook’s report on the ‘Secret Intelligence and Security Services’ is an important document for understanding the state of Britain’s intelligence and security machinery at the start of the Cold War. Finished in 1951, this wide-ranging review of the …
Researcher in Residence: Progress Report IV My name is Jack Brown and I am the first ‘Researcher in Residence’ at No. 10 Downing Street, based at the Policy Institute at King’s, King’s College London. I have been investigating the ‘Geography of Power’ at …
Researcher in Residence: Progress Report III My name is Jack Brown and I am the first ‘Researcher in Residence’ at No. 10 Downing Street, based at the Policy Institute at King’s, King’s College London. As part of my role …
George Hamilton-Gordon, fourth earl of Aberdeen, was Prime Minister of one of Britain’s rare coalition governments, despite never sitting in the House of Commons or holding a significant domestic post, but his reputation was damaged by his failure to prevent …
Disraeli said of Derby that ‘he abolished slavery, he educated Ireland, he reformed parliament’, but only the last of these was done when he was a Conservative Prime Minister. He is remembered mostly for the 1867 Reform Act, a milestone …
Benjamin Disraeli remains one of the most intriguing of British prime ministers. Born into a Jewish middle-class family, he became famous through his novels and self-publicity, and eventually achieved high political office after many failures. Opinions differ about his achievements, …
Viscount Palmerston was over 70 when he finally became Prime Minister: the most advanced age at which anyone has ever become Prime Minister for the first time. Holding a large number of offices during the course of his career, he …
Lord John Russell was prime minister for over six years, from 1846 to 1852 and from 1865 to 1866. He also led the government in the House of Commons for a further eight years during the premierships of Viscount Melbourne …
The most detailed and literary diaries of all the occupants of 10 Downing Street were those kept by Harold Macmillan and William Gladstone. There are, however, two significant differences between these prime ministerial diaries. Gladstone kept a diary throughout his …
