As the most famous address in England welcomes our 59th prime minister, its seventh new occupant in just ten years – and Sir Keir Starmer heads off to spend more time with his family - here’s a quick reminder of some of the interesting facts about this most elusive and exclusive of jobs
- 1st PM: Robert Walpole, 1721 - 1742
- Youngest PM: William Pitt the Younger, age 24 on appointment 1783
- Oldest PM: William Gladstone, age 84 on leaving office 1894
- Longest term in office: Robert Walpole, 20 years 315 days
- Shortest term in office: Liz Truss, 49 days
- Most terms in office: Gladstone, 4 terms
- Died in office: Earl of Wilmington, Henry Pelham, Marquess of Rockingham, William Pitt the Younger, Spencer Perceval, George Canning, Lord Palmerston
- Education: 20 Eton, 31 Oxford, 15 Cambridge
And as Andy Burnham gets ready to 'hit the ground running’ with a radical plan for lasting change that he assures us he has, he might do well to heed some of these wise words from some of his predecessors.
"I believe that the foundation of democratic liberty is a willingness to believe that other people may perhaps be wiser than oneself.” Clement Attlee, Labour 1945 – 51: founder of the NHS & the welfare state
"The work of a Prime Minister is the loneliest job in the world." Stanley Baldwin, Conservative 1923 – 24, 1924 – 29, 1935 - 37: the inter-war prime minister
“Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.” David Lloyd George, Liberal 1916 – 22: remembered by history as ‘the man who won the war and lost the peace.’
Which of these quotes resonates most for you?
