British Prime Ministers often come up as tossups and, sometimes, as bonus parts. Here are a few of the most commonly asked PMs with brief descriptions of each.
(Study Guide by Alex Connor)
Background
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In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is a member of the House of Commons ; the
PM is typically the leader of the majority party (or a coalition of parties that combine to make up a majority); the regent is the Head of State ; the PM is the Head of
Government ; the PM’s official residence is located at 10 Downing Street , London
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Major parties: o Whig : proponents of government reform and diminished royal authority; succeeded in the 1850s by the Liberal Party o Tory : began as the party more loyal to the king; succeeded in the 1830s by the
Conservative Party; Conservatives are still sometimes referred to as “Tories” o The terms “whig” and “tory” also appeared during the American Revolution, but were not officially affiliated with the English parties of the same names
Sir Robert Walpole
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Served: 1721-1742; Party: Whig
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Considered the first Prime Minister, although that title did not exist yet; he was leader of the House of Commons and ran the government for King George I
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Rose to power as a result of the South Sea Bubble , which was an economic crisis caused by speculation in stock of a Latin American trading company
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Subject of parodies by writers like Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson;
Walpole fought back with the Licensing Act of 1737
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Fought the War of Jenkins’ Ear against Spain at the end of his premiership
William Pitt, the elder
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Served: 1766-1768; Party: Whig
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Part of the “Patriot Whigs” who opposed the “isolationism” of Walpole
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Also known as the Earl of Chatham ; staunch imperialist; oversaw Seven Years’ War
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Fort Duquesne was captured and renamed Fort Pitt, and the surrounding city of
Pittsburgh , in his honor
William Pitt, the younger
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Served: 1783-1801, 1804-1806; Party: Tory
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Son of William Pitt, the elder; if you answer “William Pitt”, you will likely be prompted to specify which one
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Youngest Prime Minister; first took office at age 24
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Reformed the government and fiscal policy in the wake of the American Revolution
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During his second term, oversaw British involvement in the Napoleonic Wars
Benjamin Disraeli
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Served: 1868, 1874-1880; Party: Conservative
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Only Jewish -born Prime Minister (later converted to Anglicanism)
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Wrote several novels, such as Sybil and Vivien Grey , prior to his political career
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Known for his rivalry with William Gladstone
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Advocated for the Reform Act of 1867 , which nearly doubled the electorate
William Gladstone
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Served: 1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886, 1892-1894; no other Prime Minister served as many separate terms; he served a total of 61 years in Parliament; Party: Liberal
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Rival of Disraeli; attacked Disraeli’s foreign policy with the Midlothian Campaign
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Supported Home Rule for Ireland
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Wrote several works criticizing Catholic doctrine, in particular papal infallibility
David Lloyd George
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Served: 1916-1922; Party: Liberal
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Note: His surname is “Lloyd George”; both names are required for a correct answer, and you most likely will not be prompted on a partial response
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Rose to Prime Minister halfway through World War I
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Represented the UK at the Paris Peace Conference, ended by the Treaty of Versailles
Sir Winston Churchill
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Served: 1940-1945; 1951-1955; Party: Conservative
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Led the UK during World War II
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Lost the 1945 election; replaced during the Potsdam Conference by Clement Atlee
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His mother was American, and he favored close relations between the US and UK
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In 1946, coined the term “ Iron Curtain ”, referring to Soviet control of eastern Europe
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Won a Nobel Prize in Literature for his histories: A History of the English-Speaking
Peoples and The Second World War
Margaret Thatcher
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Served: 1979-1990; Party: Conservative
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Nicknamed the “ Iron Lady ”; first and only female Prime Minister
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Target of the Brighton Hotel Bombing in 1984
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Pursued conservative domestic policy through lower taxes, privatization of public utilities, and clashes with labor unions
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Led the UK into the Falklands War against Argentina
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Partnered with Ronald Reagan in policies that helped bring an end to the Cold War
Tony Blair
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Served: 1997-2007; Party: Labour
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As a young, charismatic leader of a center-left party after decades of conservative rule, his rise mirrored that of Bill Clinton in the US
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Strongly supported interventionist foreign policy in Kosovo , Afghanistan , and Iraq
David Cameron
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Served: 2010- present; Party: Conservative
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Leads coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats , led by Nick Clegg
Other Prime Ministers worth learning about:
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George Grenville – passed the Stamp Act
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Lord North – PM during the American Revolution
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Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington – became PM long after his victory at Waterloo
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Lord Melbourne – passed Poor Laws of 1834; involved in Bedchamber Crisis (1839)
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Sir Robert Peel – repealed the Corn Laws
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Lord Palmerston – PM at end of the Crimean War and during the American Civil War
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Neville Chamberlain – negotiated the Munich Agreement with Hitler in 1938
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Clement Atlee – defeated Churchill in 1945; replaced him at the Potsdam Conference
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Harold MacMillan – came to power after the Suez Crisis; purchased nuclear arms from the US; brought down by the Profumo Affair
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John Major – PM during the first Gulf War; served between Thatcher and Blair
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Gordon Brown – served as Blair’s Chancellor of the Exchequer; succeeded Blair as PM
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