Which Prime Ministers should you know for the Life in the UK test?

Which Prime Ministers should you know for the Life in the UK test?

Learn about eight: Walpole, Wellington, Churchill, Attlee, Macmillan, Thatcher, Blair and Cameron. Each is tied to one big event, so you can remember the person by the event. The handbook also names Major, Brown, May and Johnson, mostly in a sentence each.

You do not need a long list. You need a short line you can say from memory, with a few dates.

What is a Prime Minister?

The Prime Minister leads the government. The monarch invites the leader of the party with the most MPs, or of a group of parties working together, to form a government. The Prime Minister then chooses the ministers.

The post grew in the 1700s. King George I spoke little English and relied on his ministers, and the most important one became known as the Prime Minister. The first to be called this was Sir Robert Walpole, who held the post from 1721 to 1742.

Who matters before the twentieth century?

The Duke of Wellington beat Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 and was known as the Iron Duke. The handbook says he later became Prime Minister. Hook: the Iron Duke won at Waterloo and then ran the country.

That is all you need from this period. For the monarchs of the time, see kings and queens.

Who led the country in the Second World War and after?

Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940. He refused to surrender to the Nazis and inspired people in a time of great hardship. He lost the general election in 1945 but returned as Prime Minister in 1951. He left the Commons in 1964 and died in 1965.

Clement Attlee won in 1945 for Labour and was Prime Minister until 1951. His government set up the welfare state and the National Health Service in 1948, and it took the railways, coal and other industries into public ownership.

Harold Macmillan led the Conservative government in the 1950s and early 1960s, a time of recovery. He is known for his "wind of change" speech about independence for countries of the Empire.

The hook: Churchill wins the war, Attlee wins the peace, Macmillan watches the Empire change.

Who led the country from 1979?

Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister in 1979 and stayed until 1990. She sold off state-owned industries and set limits on trade unions. In 1982, a task force took back the Falkland Islands.

John Major followed her and helped the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Tony Blair led Labour into power in 1997. His government created the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, now the Senedd, and the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. Gordon Brown took over in 2007.

David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010, leading a coalition of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. This was the first time since 1974 that no party won a majority. After the 2015 election he kept the post and called the referendum on the EU, held on 23 June 2016.

Theresa May took over on 13 July 2016, and Boris Johnson on 24 July 2019. The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020.

How do you keep them in order?

Use the party colours as a thread. The handbook gives Labour from 1945, the Conservatives from 1951 to 1964, the Conservatives again from 1979 to 1997, Labour from 1997 to 2010, and the Conservatives from 2010. Attlee is Labour. Churchill and Macmillan, Thatcher and Major, Cameron, May and Johnson are Conservative. Blair and Brown are Labour. A change of party is easier to recall than a list of names.

Pair each name with a place or a number:

• Walpole: 1721, the first.
• Churchill: 1940, the war.
• Attlee: 1948, the NHS.
• Thatcher: first woman, to 1990.
• Blair: 1997, devolution.
• Cameron: 2016, the referendum.

What has changed since the handbook?

The handbook ends its list of Prime Ministers with Boris Johnson. Learn what the handbook says, because the test follows the handbook. Today this has changed: more Prime Ministers have served since. For the present holder of the post, check a news source, because it can change at any time.

Where does this fit in the handbook?

Most of the names sit in the part on Britain since 1945 and the twentieth century. Read more in Britain since 1945. The full chapter is at history. When you have a clear line in your head, try the free practice test.

Check yourself

• Which Prime Minister is tied to 1948 and the NHS?
• Say which party held power in each period listed above.
• Which Prime Minister called the 2016 referendum, and which took over after it?