How many Prime Ministers has the UK had?

There has been a long history of notable names in Number 10 (Pictures: Getty)

After resigning in July, Boris Johnson leaves Number 10 today ahead of the result of the Tory Leadership contest which will reveal the next Prime Minister of the UK.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are the two Conservative Party MPs left in the running for the top position – and one of them will soon join the long list of men and women who have lead the country.

But how many Prime Ministers has the UK seen, and who are they?

Here is the comprehensive list, dating back to Sir Robert Walpole.

How many Prime Ministers has the UK had?

The UK has seen a grand total of 79 Prime Ministers since 1721.

14 – soon to be 15 – of which have served during Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

All the UK Prime Ministers to date

Modern historians generally consider Sir Robert Walpole, who led the government of Great Britain for over twenty years from 1721, as the first prime minister.

10 Downing street, the official office and HQ of the British Prime Minister since 1721 (Picture: EPA)

It was Walpole who began the tradition of Number 10 being passed from one PM to the next as their home and office, as he insisted that the now famous address become the residence of the person in the role, rather than being given to him personally.

Walpole was a representative of the Whig political party, which dominated 18^th Century politics.

18^th Century Prime Ministers

• Sir Robert Walpole (Whig) – 1721 to 1742

Although the title was never used to refer to him at the time, Walpole is regarded as Britain’s first Prime Minister (Picture: The Print Collector / Getty)

• Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (Whig) – 1742 to 1743
• Henry Pelham (Whig) – 1743 to 1754
• Thomas Pelham-Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle (Whig) – 1754 to 1756
• William Cavendish Duke of Devonshire (Whig) – 1756 to 1757
• Thomas Pelham-Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle (Whig) – 1757 to 1762
• John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (Tory) – 1762 to 1763
• George Grenville (Whig) – 1763 to 1765
• Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (Whig) – 1765 to 1766
• William Pitt ‘The Elder’, 1st Earl of Chatham (Whig) – 1766 to 1768
• Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (Whig) – 1768 to 1770
• Lord Frederick North (Tory) – 1770 to 1782
• Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (Whig) – 1782 to 1782
• William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (Whig) – 1782 to 1783
• William Cavendish-Bentinck Duke of Portland (Whig) – 1783 to 1783

William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister at the age of 24, making him the youngest to hold the office in British history. (Picture: The Print Collector / Getty Images)

• William Pitt ‘The Younger’ (Tory and Whig) – 1783 to 1801

19^th Century Prime Ministers

• Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth (Tory) – 1801 to 1804
• William Pitt ‘The Younger’ (Tory and Whig) – 1804 to 1806
• William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (Whig) – 1806 to 1807
• William Cavendish-Bentinck Duke of Portland (Whig) – 1807 to 1809
• Spencer Perceval (Tory) – 1809 to 1812
• Robert Banks Jenkinson Earl of Liverpool (Conservative) – 1812 to 1827
• George Canning (Tory) – 1827 to 1827
• Frederick Robinson, Viscount Goderich (Tory) – 1827 to 1828
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (Tory) – 1828 to 1830
• Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (Whig) – 1830 to 1834
• William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (Whig) – 1834 to 1834
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (Tory) – 1834 to 1834

Sir Robert Peel was voted into office twice (Picture: Print Collector / Getty Images)

• Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet (Conservative) – 1834 to 1835
• William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (Whig) – 1835 to 1841
• Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet (Conservative) – 1841 to 1846
• Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (Whig) – 1846 to 1852
• Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (Tory and Whig) – 1852 to 1852
• George Hamilton Gordon Earl of Aberdeen (Conservative) – 1852 to 1855
• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (Whig and Liberal) – 1855 to 1858

Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley resigned from Lord Melbourne’s government in 1834 and later joined the Conservatives (Picture: Mayall / Getty Images)

• Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (Tory and Whig) – 1858 to 1859
• Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (Whig and Liberal) – 1859 to 1865
• Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (Whig) – 1865 to 1866
• Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (Tory and Whig) – 1866 to 1868
• Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield (Conservative) – 1868 to 1868
• William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) – 1868 to 1874
• Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield (Conservative) – 1874 to 1880
• William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) – 1880 to 1885

Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil was elected PM three times (Picture: Apic / Getty Images)

• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) – 1885 to 1886
• William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) – 1886 to 1886
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) – 1886 to 1892
• William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) – 1892 to 1894
• Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (Liberal) – 1894 to 1895
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) – 1895 to 1902

20^th and 21^st Century Prime Ministers

• Arthur James Balfour (Conservative) – 1902 to 1905
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Liberal) – 1905 to 1908
• Herbert Henry Asquith (Liberal) – 1908 to 1916
• David Lloyd George (Liberal) – 1916 to 1922

British statesman David Lloyd-George, leader of the Liberal Party (Picture: Getty Images)

• Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) – 1922 to 1923
• Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) – 1923 to 1924
• James Ramsay MacDonald (Labour) – 1924 to 1924
• Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) – 1924 to 1929
• James Ramsay MacDonald (Labour) – 1929 to 1935
• Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) – 1935 to 1937

Portrait of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Picture: Popperfoto via Getty Images)

• Neville Chamberlain (Conservative) – 1937 to 1940
• Sir Winston Churchill (Conservative) – 1940 to 1945
• Clement Attlee (Labour) – 1945 to 1951
• Sir Winston Churchill (Conservative) – 1951 to 1955

Winston Churchill gives his famous v-sign as he opens the new headquarters of 615 Squadron of the RAAF (Picture: Central Press / Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

• Sir Anthony Eden (Conservative) – 1955 to 1957
• Harold Macmillan (Conservative) – 1957 to 1963
• Sir Alec Douglas-Home (Conservative) – 1963 to 1964
• Harold Wilson (Labour) – 1964 to 1970
• Sir Edward Heath (Conservative) – 1970 to 1974

Harold Wilson makes a speech at the Labour Party annual conference in Scarborough in October 1967. (Picture: Rolls Press / Popperfoto via Getty Images)

• Harold Wilson (Labour) – 1974 to 1976
• James Callaghan (Labour) – 1976 to 1979
• Baroness Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) – 1979 to 1990
• The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH (Conservative) – 1990 to 1997
• The Rt Hon Tony Blair (Labour) – 1997 to 2007

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves The Royal Courts of Justice by a side door after giving evidence to The Leveson Inquiry (Picture: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images)

• The Rt Hon Gordon Brown (Labour) – 2007 to 2010
• The Rt Hon David Cameron (Conservative) – 2010 to 2016
• The Rt Hon Theresa May MP (Conservative) – 2016 to 2019
• Boris Johnson (Conservative) – 2019 to 2022

Boris Johnson is set to leave Number 10 later today (Picture: Jack Taylor / Getty)

The results of the Tory Party Leadership Vote will be announced at 12.30pm today (September 5).

MORE : Tory MPs ‘plot to oust next PM by Christmas to bring Boris back’

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