Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom Quiz

Answer: Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee (1883-1967) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Limehouse in 1922, and served as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 until 1955. He was the first Labour Prime Minister ever to serve a full five-year term, and the first to hold a majority in Parliament.

Highlights of his term include the nationalization of the Bank of England and utilities, the foundation of the National Health Service, involvement in the founding of NATO, and the start of UK involvement in the Korean War.

Answer: Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Oldham in 1900, and served as the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1940 until 1955. His 1951 to 1955 term as Prime Minister was his second time at the helm, with his first (1940 to 1945) being during World War II.

Highlights of his term include dealing with multiple foreign disputes (the Korean War, Operation Ajax, the Mau Mau Uprising, and the Malayan Emergency), and the death of King George VI and subsequent coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Answer: Sir Anthony Eden

Sir Anthony Eden (1897-1977) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington in 1923, and served as the Leader of the Conservative party for the duration of his term as Prime Minister. Prior to becoming PM, Sir Anthony Eden filled three terms as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

Highlights of his term include overseeing Egyptian nationalization of the Suez Canal and the subsequent Suez Crisis, and the introduction of Premium Bonds.

Answer: Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan (1894-1986) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Stockton-on-Tees in 1924, and served as Leader of the Conservative Party for the duration of his term as Prime Minister. He was the last Prime Minister who was born during the reign of Queen Victoria, and the last to have served during World War I.

Highlights of his term include the adoption of Keynesian economics, the First Cod War (with Iceland), the opening of the BBC Television Centre, the end of National Service, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Answer: Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1903-1995) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Lanark in 1931, and served as Leader of the Conservative Party from 1963 until 1965. Sir Alec Douglas-Home was still a member of the House of Lords when he was appointed as Macmillan's successor as Party Leader, and as the now-accepted practice was for the PM to be from the House of Commons, he renounced his status as viscount (four days after taking office).

Highlights of his term include the overseeing of the independence of the colony of Nyasaland, and the abolition of Resale Price Maintenance.

Answer: Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson (1916-1995) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Ormskirk in 1945, and served as Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 until 1976. Prior to becoming PM, he served as part of the Shadow Cabinet in the roles of Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Shadow Foreign Secretary.

Highlights of his term include the foundation of the Open University, the ordering of troops into Northern Ireland in response to start of Troubles, and social reforms such as the legalization of abortion, abolition of capital punishment and decriminalization of homosexuality.

Answer: Edward Heath

Edward Heath (1916-2005) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Bexley in 1950, and served as Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 until 1975. Prior to taking on the party leadership, Edward Heath served as the Chief Whip, the Minister of Labour, and the Lord Privy Seal.

Highlights of his term include negotiating the UK entry into the European Economic Community, Bloody Sunday (Northern Ireland), and the introduction of the VAT (Value-Added Tax), and the Second Cod War.

Answer: Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson's second term as Prime Minister included such highlights as the enactment of the Health and Safety at Work Act, renegotiating the UK terms for EC membership and then winning a 1975 referendum to validate entry, and the start of the Third Cod War.

Answer: James Callaghan

James Callaghan (1912-2005) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Cardiff South East in 1950, and served as Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 until 1980. He is notable for being the first PM to have filled each of the four senior positions considered the "Great Offices of State", (Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, and Prime Minister).

Highlights of his term include losing the Third Cod War, the Race Relations Act of 1976, and the breakdown of relations with unions (the 'Winter of Discontent').

Answer: Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959, and served as Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990. She is notable for being the UK's first female Prime Minister and the longest-serving PM of the 20th century.

Highlights of her term include the Iranian Embassy siege, the Irish hunger strike (1981), the Falklands War, the 1984-85 miners' strike, the Anglo-Irish Agreement, the introduction of the Community Charge, the Lockerbie bombing, and the commencement of the Gulf War.

Answer: John Major

John Major (born 1943) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire in 1979, and served as Leader of the Conservative Party for the duration of his term as Prime Minister. Every Prime Minister since John Major was born after World War II.

Highlights of his term include the Downing Street Declaration (beginning the Northern Ireland peace process), ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, introduction of the Council Tax, privatization of British Rail, and the dissolution of the USSR (end of the Cold War).

Answer: Tony Blair

Tony Blair (born 1953) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield in 1983, and served as Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 until 2007. At the time of his election as PM, 43-year-old Tony Blair was the youngest PM to take office since 41-year-old Robert Jenkinson (2nd Earl of Liverpool) in 1812.

Highlights of his term include the handover of Hong Kong to China, the death of Princess Diana, the Belfast Agreement, the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak, 9/11 (USA), the Afghanistan War, and the Invasion of Iraq.

Answer: Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown (born 1951) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Dunfermline East in 1983, and served as Leader of the Labour Party for the duration of his term as Prime Minister. He served in three posts on the Shadow Cabinet (Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer) before taking on the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer under Tony Blair.

Highlights of his term include the Glasgow Airport attack, Donorgate, ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, and the financial crisis of 2007-08.

Answer: David Cameron

David Cameron (born 1966) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Witney in 2001, and served as the Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 until 2016. His first term as Prime Minister was as part of a coalition between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

Highlights of his term include an official apology for Bloody Sunday, military intervention in Libya (Operation Ellamy), the Welfare Reform Act, the Health and Social Care Act, exit from Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, the London 2012 Summer Olympics, privatization of the Royal Mail, the European migrant crisis, and the Brexit decision.

Answer: Theresa May

Theresa May (born 1956) was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead in 1997, and became the Leader of the Conservative Party in 2016. Prior to becoming PM, she served in the Shadow Cabinet (Shadow Minister for Women and Equality and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions).

Theresa May took over as Prime Minister after David Cameron's resignation following the Brexit vote. Her first challenges in office included dealing with that fallout by establishing post-Brexit departments: 'Exiting the European Union', and 'International Trade'.