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A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the Government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. In a minority of systems, notably in semi-presidential systems of government, a prime minister is the official who is appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of the head of state.

In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of the government and head of the executive branch. In such systems, the head of state or the head of state's official representative (i.e. the monarch, president, or governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers. The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of parliament and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise executive powers (known as the royal prerogative) which are constitutionally vested in the crown and can be exercised without the approval of parliament.

As well as being head of government, a prime minister may have other roles or titles - the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, for example, is also First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service.^[1] Prime ministers may take other ministerial posts - for example during the Second World War Winston Churchill was also Minister of Defence (although there was then no Ministry of Defence). The Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam, was famous for forming his cabinet entirely of himself and his deputy as soon as the overall result of the 1972 federal election was beyond doubt (see First Whitlam Ministry).

History

The prime ministers of five members of the Commonwealth of Nations at the 1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.

The first actual usage of the term prime minister or Premier Ministre was used by Cardinal Richelieu when in 1625 he was named to head the royal council as prime minister of France. Louis XIV and his descendants generally attempted to avoid giving this title to their chief ministers. The term prime minister in the sense that we know it originated in the 18th century in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]} Since medieval times monarchs of England and the United Kingdom had ministers in whom they placed special trust and who were regarded as the head of the government. Examples were Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII; William Cecil, Lord Burghley under Elizabeth I; Clarendon under Charles II and Godolphin under Queen Anne. These ministers held a variety of formal posts, but were commonly known as "the minister", the "chief minister", the "first minister" and finally the "prime minister".

The power of these ministers depended entirely on the personal favour of the monarch. Although managing the parliament was among the necessary skills of holding high office, they did not depend on a parliamentary majority for their power. Although there was a cabinet, it was appointed entirely by the monarch, and the monarch usually presided over its meetings. When the monarch grew tired of a first minister, he or she could be dismissed, or worse: Cromwell was executed and Clarendon driven into exile when they lost favour. Kings sometimes divided power equally between two or more ministers to prevent one minister becoming too powerful. Late in Anne's reign, for example, the Tory ministers Harley and St John shared power.

In the mid 17th century, after the English Civil War and the Protectorate, Parliament had strengthened its position and it emerged even more powerful after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The monarch could not establish any law or impose any tax without its permission. Thus it has been said that the House of Commons became a part of the government and it has been only a further step of this development that a new kind of prime minister should emerge. This turning point in the evolution of the prime ministership came with the death of Anne in 1714 and the accession of George I. George spoke no English, spent much of his time at his home in Hanover, and had neither knowledge of nor interest in the details of English government. In these circumstances it was inevitable that the king's first minister would become the de facto head of the government. From 1721 this was the Whig politician Robert Walpole, who held office for twenty-one years. Walpole chaired cabinet meetings, appointed all the other ministers, dispensed the royal patronage and packed the House of Commons with his supporters. Under Walpole, the doctrine of cabinet solidarity developed. Walpole required that no minister other than himself have private dealings with the king, and also that when the cabinet had agreed on a policy, all ministers must defend it in public or resign. As a later prime minister, Lord Melbourne, said: "It matters not what we say, gentlemen, so long as we all say the same thing."

Walpole always denied that he was "prime minister", and throughout the 18th century parliamentarians and legal scholars continued to deny that any such position was known to the Constitution. The title was first referred to on government documents during the administration of Benjamin Disraeli but did not appear in the formal British Order of precedence until 1905. George II and George III made strenuous efforts to reclaim the personal power of the monarch, but the increasing complexity and expense of government meant that a minister who could command the loyalty of the Commons was increasingly necessary. The long tenure of the wartime Prime Minister Pitt the Younger (1783–1801), combined with the mental illness of George III, consolidated the power of the post.

The prestige of British institutions in the 19th century and the growth of the British Empire saw the British model of cabinet government, headed by a prime minister, widely copied, both in other European countries and in British colonial territories as they developed self-government. In some places alternative titles such as "premier", "chief minister", "first minister of state", "president of the council" or "chancellor" were adopted, but the essentials of the office were the same. By the late 20th century the majority of the world's countries had a prime minister or equivalent minister, holding office under either a constitutional monarchy or a ceremonial president. The main exceptions to this system have been the United States and the presidential republics in Latin America, modelled on the U.S. system, in which the president directly exercises executive authority.

Bahrain's Prime Minister, Sheikh Khalifah bin Sulman Al Khalifah has been in the post since 1971, making him the longest serving non-elected Prime Minister.

Prime ministers in republics and in monarchies

The post of prime minister may be encountered both in constitutional monarchies (such as Belgium, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Malaysia, Spain,^[2] Sweden, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), and in republics in which the head of state is an elected official (such as Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Ireland, Pakistan, Portugal, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Turkey). This contrasts with the presidential system, in which the president (or equivalent) is both the head of state and the head of the government. See also "First Minister", "Premier", "Chief Minister", "Chancellor", "Taoiseach" and "Secretary of State": alternative titles usually equivalent in meaning to, or translated as, "prime minister". The head of government of the People's Republic of China is referred to as the Premier.

In some presidential or semi-presidential systems, such as those of France, Russia or South Korea, the prime minister is an official generally appointed by the president but usually approved by the legislature and responsible for carrying out the directives of the president and managing the civil service. (The premier of the Republic of China is also appointed by the president, but requires no approval by the legislature. Appointment of the prime minister of France requires no approval by the parliament either, but the parliament can force the resignation of the government.) In these systems, it is possible for the president and the prime minister to be from different political parties if the legislature is controlled by a party different from that of the president. When it arises, such a state of affairs is usually referred to as (political) cohabitation.

Entry into office

In parliamentary systems a prime minister can enter into office by several means.

By appointment by the head of state, without reference to parliament: While in practice most prime ministers under the Westminster system (including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia, India and the United Kingdom) are the leaders of the largest party in parliament, technically the appointment of the prime minister is a royal prerogative exercised by the monarch or the governor-general. In India, the Prime Ministerial candidate must be a member of parliament either Lok Sabha (Lower House) or Rajya Sabha (Upper House). No parliamentary vote takes place on who is forming a government. However as the government will have to outline its legislative programme to parliament in, for example, the Speech from the Throne, the speech is sometimes used to test parliamentary support. A defeat of the Speech is taken to mean a loss of confidence and so requires either a new draft (a humiliating act no government would contemplate), resignation, or a request for a dissolution of parliament. Until the early 20th century governments when defeated in a general election remained in power until their Speech from the Throne was defeated and then resigned. No government has done so for one hundred years, though Edward Heath in 1974 did delay his resignation while he explored whether he could form a government with Liberal party support.

In such systems unwritten (and unenforceable) constitutional conventions often outline the order in which people are asked to form a government. If the prime minister resigns after a general election, the monarch usually asks the leader of the opposition to form a government. Where however a resignation occurs during a parliament session (unless the government has itself collapsed) the monarch will ask another member of the government to form a government. While previously the monarch had some leeway in whom to ask, all British political parties now elect their leaders (until 1965 the Conservatives chose their leader by informal consultation). The last time the monarch had a choice over the appointment occurred in 1963 when the Earl of Home was asked to become Prime Minister ahead of Rab Butler.

During the period between the time it is clear that the incumbent government has been defeated at a general election, and the actual swearing-in of the new prime minister by the monarch or governor-general, that person is variously referred to as the "prime minister-elect", "...-designate" etc. Neither term is strictly correct from a constitutional point of view, but they have wide acceptance. In a situation in which a ruling party elects or appoints a new leader, the incoming leader will usually be referred as "prime minister-in-waiting". An example or this situation was in 2003 in Canada when Paul Martin was elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada while Jean Chrétien was still prime minister.

Appointment by the head of state after parliament nominates a candidate: Example: The Republic of Ireland where the President of Ireland appoints the Taoiseach on the nomination of the Dáil Éireann.
The head of state nominates a candidate for prime minister who is then submitted to parliament for approval before appointment as prime minister: Example: Spain, where the King sends a nomination to parliament for approval. Also Germany where under the German Basic Law (constitution) the Bundestag votes on a candidate nominated by the federal president. In these cases, parliament can choose another candidate who then would be appointed by the head of state.
The head of state appoints a prime minister who has a set timescale within which s/he must gain a vote of confidence: (Example: Italy, Romania, Thailand)
The head of state appoints the leader of the political party with the majority of the votes in the Parliament as Prime Minister: (Example: Greece)
Direct election by parliament: (Example: Japan, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan.)
Direct election by popular vote: (Example: Israel, 1996–2001, where the prime minister was elected in a general election, with no regard to political affiliation.)
Nomination by a state office holder other than the head of state or his/her representative: (Example: Under the modern Swedish Instrument of Government, the power to appoint someone to form a government has been moved from the monarch to the Speaker of Parliament and the parliament itself. The speaker nominates a candidate, who is then elected to prime minister (statsminister) by the parliament if an absolute majority of the members of parliament does not vote no (i.e. he can be elected even if more MP:s vote no than yes).

Prime ministers and constitutions

The position, power and status of prime ministers differ depending on the age of the constitution.

Australia's constitution makes no mention of a Prime Minister of Australia.

The People's Republic of China constitution set a premier just one place below the president of the PRC. While the president deals with international problems, the premier deals with national problems. For example, the earth quake in 2008, the premier will be the first to arrive, then the president arrived after to just examine the situation. Premier read as (Simplified Chinese: 总理; pinyin: Zŏnglĭ) in Chinese.

Canada's constitution, being a 'mixed' or hybrid constitution (a constitution that is partly formally codified and partly uncodified) originally did not make any reference whatsoever to a prime minister, with her or his specific duties and method of appointment instead dictated by "convention". In the Constitution Act, 1982, passing reference to a "Prime Minister of Canada" is added, though only regarding the composition of conferences of federal and provincial first ministers.

Germany's Basic Law (1949) lists the powers, functions and duties of the federal chancellor.

Greece's constitution (1975) lists the powers, functions and duties of the Prime Minister of Greece.

India's constitution (1950) lists the powers, functions and duties of the Prime Minister of India.

Ireland's constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann (1937), provides for the office of Taoiseach in detail, listing powers, functions and duties.

Italy's constitution (1948) lists the powers, functions and duties of the Prime Minister of Italy.

Japan's constitution (1946) lists the powers, functions and duties of the Prime Minister of Japan.

Malta's constitution (1964) lists the powers, functions and duties of the Prime Minister of Malta.

Malaysia's constitution (1957) lists the powers, functions and duties of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Pakistan's constitution (1973) lists the powers, functions and duties of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Spain's constitution (1978) regulates the appointment, dismissal, powers, functions and duties of the President of the Government.

The United Kingdom's constitution, being uncodified and largely unwritten, makes no mention of a prime minister. Though it had de facto existed for centuries, its first mention in official state documents did not occur until the first decade of the twentieth century. Accordingly, it is often said "not to exist", indeed there are several instances of parliament declaring this to be the case. The prime minister sits in the cabinet solely by virtue of occupying another office, either First Lord of the Treasury (office in commission), or more rarely Chancellor of the Exchequer (the last of whom was Balfour in 1905).

Exit from office

Most prime ministers in parliamentary systems are not appointed for a specific term in office and in effect may remain in power through a number of elections and parliaments. For example, Margaret Thatcher was only ever appointed prime minister on one occasion, in 1979. She remained continuously in power until 1990, though she used the assembly of each House of Commons after a general election to reshuffle her cabinet. Some states, however, do have a term of office of the prime minister linked to the period in office of the parliament. Hence the Irish Taoiseach is formally 'renominated' after every general election. (Some constitutional experts have questioned whether this process is actually in keeping with the provisions of the Irish constitution, which appear to suggest that a taoiseach should remain in office, without the requirement of a renomination, unless s/he has clearly lost the general election.) The position of prime minister is normally chosen from the political party that commands majority of seats in the lower house of parliament.

In parliamentary systems, governments are generally required to have the confidence of the lower house of parliament (though a small minority of parliaments, by giving a right to block supply to upper houses, in effect make the cabinet responsible to both houses, though in reality upper houses, even when they have the power, rarely exercise it). Where they lose a vote of confidence, have a motion of no confidence passed against them, or where they lose supply, most constitutional systems require either:

a) a letter of resignation or

b) a request for parliamentary dissolution.

The latter in effect allows the government to appeal the opposition of parliament to the electorate. However in many jurisdictions a head of state may refuse a parliamentary dissolution, requiring the resignation of the prime minister and his or her government. In most modern parliamentary systems, the prime minister is the person who decides when to request a parliamentary dissolution. Older constitutions often vest this power in the cabinet. (In the United Kingdom, for example, the tradition whereby it is the prime minister who requests a dissolution of parliament dates back to 1918. Prior to then, it was the entire government that made the request. Similarly, though the modern 1937 Irish constitution grants to the Taoiseach the right to make the request, the earlier 1922 Irish Free State Constitution vested the power in the Executive Council (the then name for the Irish cabinet).

Titles

Different terms are used to describe prime ministers. In Germany and Austria the prime minister is actually titled Federal Chancellor ([Bundeskanzler] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). In the Russian constitution the prime minister is actually titled Chairman of the government while the Irish prime minister is called the [Taoiseach] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (which is rendered into English as prime minister), and in Israel he is 'Rosh HaMemshalah' meaning head of government. In many cases, though commonly used, "prime minister" is not the official title of the office-holder; the Spanish prime minister is the President of the Government ([Presidente del Gobierno] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). Other common forms include president of the council of ministers (for example in Italy, [Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), President of the Executive Council, or Minister-President. In the Scandinavian countries the prime minister is called statsminister in the native languages (i.e. minister of state). In federations, the head of government of subnational entities such as provinces is most commonly known as the premier, chief minister, governor or minister-president.

In non-Commonwealth countries the prime minister may be entitled to the style of Excellency like a president. In some Commonwealth countries prime ministers and former prime ministers are styled Right Honourable due to their position, for example in the Prime Minister of Canada. In the United Kingdom the prime minister and former prime ministers may appear to also be styled Right Honourable, however this is not due to their position as head of government but as a privilege of being current members of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.^[3]

In the UK where devolved government is in place, the leaders of the Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh Governments are styled First Minister.

In Pakistan, the prime minister is referred to as "Wazir-e-Azam", meaning "Grand Vizier".

Description of the role

Wilfried Martens, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium, described his role as follows:

First of all [the Prime Minister] must listen a lot, and when deep disagreements occur, he must suggest a solution to the matter. This can be done in different ways. Sometimes during the discussion, I note the elements of the problem and think of a proposal I can formulate to the Council (cabinet), the Secretary taking notes. The Ministers then insist on changing commas and full stops. The Prime Minister can also make a proposal which leaves enough room for amendments in order to keep the current discussion on the right tracks. When a solution must be found in order to reach a consensus, he can force one or two Ministers to join or resign.^{[citation needed]}

Lists of prime ministers

The following table groups the list of past and present prime ministers and details information available in those lists.

Government	List starts	Parties shown	Term given by years or dates	Incumbent
Abkhazia	1995	-	dates	Sergei Shamba
Afghanistan	1927	-	years	(Post abolished)
Albania (List)	1912	-	years	Sali Berisha
Algeria	1962	yes	years	Ahmed Ouyahia
Andorra	1982	-	years	Jaume Bartumeu
Angola	1975	-	dates	(Post abolished)
Anguilla	1976	yes	dates	Hubert Hughes
Antigua and Barbuda	1981	-	years	Baldwin Spencer
Armenia	1918	yes	dates	Tigran Sargsyan
Aruba	1986	-	dates	Mike Eman
Australia (List)	1901	yes	dates	Julia Gillard
Austria	1918	yes	years	Werner Faymann
Azerbaijan	1918	yes	dates	Artur Rasizade
Bahamas	1967	-	dates	Hubert Ingraham
Bahrain	1970	-	years	Sheikh Khalifah bin Sulman Al Khalifah
Bangladesh	1971	yes	dates	Sheikh Hasina
Barbados	1954	yes	dates	David Thompson
Belarus	1919	-	dates	Sergey Sidorsky
Belgium	1831	yes	dates	Yves Leterme
Belize	1973	yes	years	Dean Barrow
Benin	1957	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Bermuda	1968	yes	dates	Ewart Brown
Bhutan	1952	-	dates	Jigme Thinley
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1943	-	dates	Nikola Špirić
Botswana	1965	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Brazil	1847	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
British Virgin Islands	1967	yes	dates	Ralph T. O'Neal
Bulgaria	1879	yes	dates	Boyko Borisov
Burkina Faso	1971	-	dates	Tertius Zongo
Burundi	1961	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Cambodia	1996	-	years	Hun Sen
Cameroon	1960	-	dates	Philémon Yang
Canada (List)	1867	yes	dates	Stephen Harper
Cape Verde	1975	-	dates	José Maria Neves
Cayman Islands	1992	yes	dates	McKeeva Bush
Central African Republic	1958	-	dates	Faustin-Archange Touadéra
Chad	1978	-	dates	Emmanuel Nadingar
People's Republic of China (List)	1949	-	dates	Wen Jiabao
Comoros	1957	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Congo (Brazzaville)	1957	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Congo (Kinshasa)	1960	yes	dates	Adolphe Muzito
Cook Islands	1965	yes	dates	Henry Puna
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	1957	yes	dates	Guillaume Soro
Croatia	1939	-	dates	Jadranka Kosor
Cuba	1940	-	dates	Raúl Castro
Northern Cyprus	1983	yes	dates	Derviş Eroğlu
Czech Republic	1993	-	years	Petr Nečas
Denmark (List)	1848	-	years	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Djibouti	1977	-	dates	Dileita Mohamed Dileita
Dominica	1960	-	dates	Roosevelt Skerrit
East Timor	2002	-	dates	Xanana Gusmão
Egypt (List)	1878	-	years	Essam Sharaf
Equatorial Guinea	1963	-	dates	Ignacio Milam Tang
Estonia	1918	-	dates	Andrus Ansip
Ethiopia	1942	yes	dates	Meles Zenawi
Faroe Islands	1946	-	years	Kaj Leo Johannesen
Fiji	1966	-	dates	Frank Bainimarama (interim)
Finland	1917	yes	years	Mari Kiviniemi
France (List)	1589	-	years	François Fillon
Gabon	1957	yes	dates	Paul Biyoghé Mba
The Gambia	1961	-	dates	(Post abolished)
Ghana	1957	-	dates	(Post abolished)
Georgia	1918	yes	dates	Nikoloz Gilauri
Germany (List)	1871/1949	yes	dates	Angela Merkel
Gibraltar	1964	yes	dates	Peter Caruana
Greece (List)	1833	-	dates	George Papandreou
Greenland	1979	-	years	Kuupik Kleist
Grenada	1954	-	years	Tillman Thomas
Guernsey	2007	-	dates	Lyndon Trott
Guinea	1972	-	dates	Jean-Marie Doré
Guinea-Bissau	1973	-	dates	Carlos Gomes Júnior
Guyana	1953	-	dates	Sam Hinds
Haiti	1988	-	dates	Jean-Max Bellerive
Hungary	1848	-	dates	Viktor Orbán
Hyderabad State	1724	-	mixture	(Post abolished)
Iceland	1904	-	dates	Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
India (List)	1947	yes	dates	Manmohan Singh
Indonesia	1945	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Iran (List)	1824	-	years	(Post abolished)
Iraq	1920	-	years	Nouri al-Maliki
Ireland	1937	yes	dates	Brian Cowen
Israel (List)	1948	-	years	Benjamin Netanyahu
Italy (List)	1861	-	years	Silvio Berlusconi
Jamaica	1959	-	years	Bruce Golding
Japan (List)	1885	-	dates	Naoto Kan
Jersey	2005	-	dates	Terry Le Sueur
Jordan	1944	-	dates	Samir Rifai
Kazakhstan	1920	-	years	Karim Massimov
Kenya	1963	-	dates	Raila Odinga
North Korea	1948	-	years	Choe Yong-rim
South Korea (List)	1948	-	years	Kim Hwang-sik
Kosovo	1945	yes	dates	Hashim Thaçi
Kuwait	1962	-	dates	Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah
Kyrgyzstan	1924	-	dates	Daniar Usenov
Laos	1941	-	years	Bouasone Bouphavanh
Latvia	1918	yes	dates	Valdis Dombrovskis
Lebanon	1926	-	dates	Saad Hariri
Lesotho	1965	yes	dates	Pakalitha Mosisili
Libya	1951	-	dates	Baghdadi Mahmudi
Liechtenstein	1921	yes	dates	Klaus Tschütscher
Lithuania	1918	yes	dates	Andrius Kubilius
Luxembourg	1959	-	years	Jean-Claude Juncker
Macedonia	1943	yes	dates	Nikola Gruevski
Madagascar	1833	-	dates	Albert Camille Vital
Malawi	1963	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Malaysia	1957	yes	years	Najib Tun Razak
Mali	1957	yes	dates	Modibo Sidibé
Malta	1921	yes	years	Lawrence Gonzi
Isle of Man	1986	-	years	Tony Brown
Mauritania	1957	yes	dates	Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf
Mauritius	1961	yes	dates	Navin Ramgoolam
Moldova	1990	-	dates	Vlad Filat
Monaco	1911	n/a	dates	Michel Roger
Mongolia	1912	yes	dates	Sükhbaataryn Batbold
Montenegro	1879	yes	dates	Milo Đukanović
Montserrat	1960	yes	dates	Reuben Meade
Morocco	1955	yes	years	Abbas El Fassi
Mozambique	1974	yes	dates	Aires Ali
Myanmar (Burma)	1948	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Nagorno-Karabakh	1992	no	dates	Arayik Harutyunyan
Namibia	1990	yes	dates	Nahas Angula
Nepal	1953	-	dates	Madhav Kumar Nepal
Netherlands (List)	1848	yes	dates	Mark Rutte
Netherlands Antilles	1954	yes	years	Emily de Jongh-Elhage
New Zealand (List)	1856	yes	dates	John Key
Newfoundland	1855	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Niger	1958	yes	dates	Mahamadou Danda
Niue	1974	-	dates	Toke Talagi
Norfolk Island	1896	-	dates	Andre Nobbs
Norway	1814	yes	years	Jens Stoltenberg
Pakistan (List)	1947	-	dates	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Palestinian National Authority	2003	yes	dates	Salam Fayyad
Papua New Guinea	1975	yes	years	Sir Michael Somare
Peru	1975	yes	dates	José Antonio Chang
Philippines	1899	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Poland (List)	1917	-	dates	Donald Tusk
Portugal (List)	1834	yes	dates	José Sócrates
Qatar	1970	-	dates	Hamad ibn Jassim ibn Jabr Al Thani
Romania	1862	-	years	Emil Boc
Russia (List)	1864/1905	yes	dates	Vladimir Putin
Rwanda	1960	yes	dates	Bernard Makuza
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1960	-	dates	Denzil Douglas
Saint Lucia	1960	-	dates	Stephenson King
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1956	-	dates	Ralph Gonsalves
Samoa	1875	yes	dates	Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
São Tomé and Principe	1974	yes	dates	Joaquim Rafael Branco
Saudi Arabia	1953	no	dates	King Abdullah
Senegal	1957	yes	dates	Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye
Serbia	1805	yes	years	Mirko Cvetković
Seychelles	1970	yes	years	(Post abolished)
Sierra Leone	1954	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Singapore	1959	-	dates	Lee Hsien Loong
Slovakia	1918	-	dates	Iveta Radičová
Slovenia	1943	yes	years	Borut Pahor
Solomon Islands	1949	yes	dates	Danny Philip
Somalia	1949	yes	dates	Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
South Africa	1910	-	dates	(Post abolished)
South Ossetia	1991	-	dates	Vadim Brovtsev
Spain (List)	1705	yes	years	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Sri Lanka (List)	1948	-	dates	D. M. Jayaratne
Sudan	1952	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Suriname	1949	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Swaziland	1967	-	years	Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini
Sweden (List)	1876	yes	years	Fredrik Reinfeldt
Syria	1920	-	dates	Mohamed Al-Otari
Taiwan (Republic of China) (List)	1911	-	dates	Wu Den-yih
Tajikistan	1924	-	dates	Okil Okilov
Tanzania	1960	yes	dates	Mizengo Pinda
Thailand (List)	1932	-	dates	Abhisit Vejjajiva
Togo	1956	yes	dates	Gilbert Houngbo
Tokelau	1992	-	dates	Kuresa Nasau
Tonga	1876	-	years	Feleti Sevele
Trinidad and Tobago	1956	-	dates	Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Tunisia	1969	-	dates	Mohamed Ghannouchi
Turkmenistan	1924	-	dates	(Post abolished)
Turkey	1920	yes	dates	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turks and Caicos Islands	1976	yes	dates	vacant
Tuvalu	1975	n/a	dates	Apisai Ielemia
Uganda	1961	yes	dates	Apolo Nsibambi
Ukraine (List)	1917	-	dates	Mykola Azarov
United Arab Emirates	1971	-	years	Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
United Kingdom (List)	1721	yes	dates	David Cameron
Uzbekistan	1924	-	dates	Shavkat Mirziyoyev
Vanuatu	1980	yes	dates	Edward Natapei
Vatican	1644	-	years	Tarcisio Bertone
Vietnam	1976	yes	dates	Nguyễn Tấn Dũng
Yemen	1990	yes	years	Ali Muhammad Mujawar
Western Sahara	1976	no	years	Abdelkader Taleb Oumar
Zambia	1964	yes	dates	(Post abolished)
Zimbabwe	1923	-	dates	Morgan Tsvangirai

Nikola Gruevski, the current Prime Minister of Macedonia.

Manmohan Singh, the current Prime Minister of India

File:HH-Sh-Nasser-AlSabah2.jpg

Nasser Al-Mohammed, the current Prime Minister of Kuwait

José Sócrates, the current Prime Minister of Portugal

Lee Hsien Loong, the current Prime Minister of Singapore

Fredrik Reinfeldt, the current Prime Minister of Sweden

Footnotes

^ Contrary to popular perception the two posts are separate and need not be held by the one person. The last prime minister not to be First Lord of the Treasury was Lord Salisbury at the turn of the 20th century. 10 Downing Street is actually the First Lord's residence, not the Prime Minister's. As Salisbury was not First Lord he had to live elsewhere as prime minister.
^ Although the roles of the Spanish head of government coincide with the definition of a 'prime minister', in Spain the position is in fact referred to as 'the Presidency of the Government'
^ "Privy Council Members". The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 19-Sep-2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links

[1] Contrary to popular perception the two posts are separate and need not be held by the one person. The last prime minister not to be First Lord of the Treasury was Lord Salisbury at the turn of the 20th century. 10 Downing Street is actually the First Lord's residence, not the Prime Minister's. As Salisbury was not First Lord he had to live elsewhere as prime minister.

[2] Although the roles of the Spanish head of government coincide with the definition of a 'prime minister', in Spain the position is in fact referred to as 'the Presidency of the Government'

[PCpage25-3] "Privy Council Members". The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 19-Sep-2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

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 |[[List of Prime Ministers of Equatorial Guinea|Equatorial Guinea]]||1963||-||dates||[[Ignacio Milam Tang]]