Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom
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Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
---|---|
since 11 May 2010 | |
Style | Mrs. Cameron |
Residence | 10 Downing Street |
Inaugural holder | Catherine, Lady Walpole |
Formation | 30 April 1789 |
Website | number10.gov.uk |
The Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the wife or husband of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. To date there have been 44 women and one man who have been married to British Prime Ministers while in office. The United Kingdom has also had four bachelor and several widower Prime Ministers, the last bachelor being Edward Heath, and the last widower being Ramsay MacDonald, besides one, the Duke of Grafton, who was divorced while in office.
Living spouses of Prime Ministers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Caroline_shorter_-_pierwsza_zona_Walpole%27a..jpg)
The spouse of the current Prime Minister is Samantha Cameron, wife of David Cameron and is also the youngest prime ministerial spouse to enter Downing Street since Clarissa Eden, when Anthony Eden took office in 1955. There are currently five living spouses of former Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom:
- Clarissa Eden, Dowager Countess of Avon (born 1920), widow of Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon
- Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx (born 1916), widow of Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, who is the oldest living spouse and the longest-lived on record, having passed her 100th birthday on 12 January 2016
- Dame Norma Major, Lady Major DBE (born 1942), wife of Sir John Major
- Cherie Blair CBE QC (born 1954), wife of Tony Blair
- Sarah Brown (born 1963), wife of Gordon Brown
Role and duties
The role of the Prime Ministerial Consort is not an official office and as such they are not given a salary or official duties. Some spouses, such as Norma Major, have chosen to remain very much in the background, although over time the position has evolved and others, such as Cherie Blair, have gained public attention through their own independent careers and achievements, as well as attending engagements such as the African First Ladies Summit.[1] The role also includes playing hostess at 10 Downing Street during state visits and ceremonial functions. Samantha Cameron hosted a street party at Downing Street to celebrate the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. The Prime Minister's consort has gained more media attention over time especially concerning fashion and when attending functions such as national conference and at summit meetings, and though their role is not official, staff are appointed to help who form part of the Prime Minister's Office. Isabel Spearman is the current adviser to the wife of the Prime Minister.
Cherie Blair, with Cate Haste, wrote a book about recent Prime Ministerial spouses, The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister, 1955–1997, in 2005.[2]
List of spouses of British Prime Ministers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Clementine_Churchill_1915.jpg/150px-Clementine_Churchill_1915.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Hester_%28nee_Grenville%29_Countess_of_Chatham_%281721-1803%29.jpg/150px-Hester_%28nee_Grenville%29_Countess_of_Chatham_%281721-1803%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Duchess_of_Wellington.jpg/150px-Duchess_of_Wellington.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Denis_Thatcher.jpg/150px-Denis_Thatcher.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Cherie_Blair_in_Trento.jpg/150px-Cherie_Blair_in_Trento.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Sarah_Brown_2008.jpg)
Prime Minister | Term | Spouse | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Robert Walpole later Sir Robert Walpole (1725); then The Earl of Oxford (1742) |
4 April 1721 – 20 August 1737 | Catherine Shorter | Walpole's first marriage; she died 1737 |
20 August 1737 – 3 March 1738 | None | Widower | |
3 March 1738 – 4 June 1738 | Maria Skerrett | Walpole's second marriage; she died 1738 | |
4 June 1738 – 11 February 1742 | None | Widower | |
The Earl of Wilmington | 16 February 1742 – 2 July 1743 | None | Bachelor: Wilmington never married |
Henry Pelham | 27 August 1743 – 6 March 1754 | Catherine Manners | |
The Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 16 March 1754 – 16 November 1756 | Lady Harriet Godolphin | |
The Duke of Devonshire | 16 November 1756 – 25 June 1757 | None | Widower: Devonshire's wife, Charlotte Boyle, had died 1754 |
The Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 2 July 1757 – 26 May 1762 | Lady Harriet Godolphin | |
The Earl of Bute | 26 May 1762 – 16 April 1763 | Mary Wortley Montagu | |
George Grenville | 16 April 1763 – 13 July 1765 | Elizabeth Wyndham | Mother of The Lord Grenville |
The Marquess of Rockingham | 13 July 1765 – 30 July 1766 | Mary Bright | |
William Pitt the Elder later The Earl of Chatham (1766) |
30 July 1766 – 14 October 1768 | Hester Grenville later The Baroness Chatham (1761) |
Mother of William Pitt the Younger |
The Duke of Grafton | 14 October 1768 – 23 March 1769 | Anne Liddell | Grafton's first marriage, lived apart; Liddell's second marriage after The Earl of Upper Ossory |
23 March 1769 – 24 June 1769 | None | Divorcé | |
24 June 1769 – 28 January 1770 | Elizabeth Wrottesley | Grafton's second marriage | |
The Lord North later The Earl of Guilford (1790) |
28 January 1770 – 22 March 1782 | Anne Speke | |
The Marquess of Rockingham | 27 March 1782 – 1 July 1782 | Mary Bright | |
The Earl of Shelburne later The Marquess of Lansdowne (1784) |
4 July 1782 – 2 April 1783 | Louisa FitzPatrick | Shelburne's second marriage after Anne Petty |
The Duke of Portland | 2 April 1783 – 19 December 1783 | Lady Dorothy Cavendish | Daughter of The Duke of Devonshire |
William Pitt the Younger | 19 December 1783 – 14 March 1801 | None | Bachelor: Pitt the Younger never married |
Henry Addington later The Viscount Sidmouth (1805) |
17 March 1801 – 10 May 1804 | Ursula Hammond | |
William Pitt the Younger | 10 May 1804 – 23 January 1806 | None | Bachelor: Pitt the Younger never married |
The Lord Grenville | 11 February 1806 – 31 March 1807 | Anne Pitt | |
The Duke of Portland | 31 March 1807 – 4 October 1809 | None | Widower: Portland's wife, Lady Dorothy Cavendish, had died 1794 |
Spencer Perceval | 4 October 1809 – 11 May 1812 | Jane Wilson | |
The Earl of Liverpool | 8 June 1812 – 12 June 1821 | Louisa Hervey | Liverpool's first marriage; she died 1821 |
12 June 1821 – 24 September 1822 | None | Widower | |
24 September 1822 – 9 April 1827 | Mary Chester | Liverpool's second marriage | |
George Canning | 10 April 1827 – 8 August 1827 | Joan Scott later The Viscountess Canning (1828) |
|
The Viscount Goderich later The Earl of Ripon (1833) |
31 August 1827 – 21 January 1828 | Sarah Hobart | |
The Duke of Wellington | 22 January 1828 – 16 November 1830 | Catherine Pakenham | |
The Earl Grey | 22 November 1830 – 9 July 1834 | Mary Ponsonby | |
The Viscount Melbourne | 16 July 1834 – 14 November 1834 | None | Widower: Melbourne's wife, Caroline Ponsonby, had died 1828 |
The Duke of Wellington | 14 November 1834 – 10 December 1834 | None | Widower: Wellington's wife, Catherine Pakenham, had died 1831 |
Sir Robert Peel, Bt | 10 December 1834 – 8 April 1835 | Julia Floyd | |
The Viscount Melbourne | 18 April 1835 – 30 August 1841 | None | Widower: Melbourne's wife, Lady Caroline Ponsonby, had died 1828 |
Sir Robert Peel, Bt | 30 August 1841 – 29 June 1846 | Julia Floyd | |
Lord John Russell later The Earl Russell (1861) |
30 June 1846 – 21 February 1852 | Frances Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound | Russell's second marriage after Adelaide Lister |
The Earl of Derby | 23 February 1852 – 17 December 1852 | Emma Bootle-Wilbraham | |
The Earl of Aberdeen | 19 December 1852 – 30 January 1855 | Harriet Douglas | Aberdeen's second marriage after Lady Catherine Hamilton; Douglas' second marriage after The Viscount Hamilton |
The Viscount Palmerston | 6 February 1855 – 19 February 1858 | Emily Lamb | Lamb's second marriage after The Earl Cowper; Sister of The Viscount Melbourne |
The Earl of Derby | 20 February 1858 – 11 June 1859 | Emma Bootle-Wilbraham | |
The Viscount Palmerston | 12 June 1859 – 16 October 1865 | Emily Lamb | Lamb's second marriage after The Earl Cowper; Sister of The Viscount Melbourne |
Lord John Russell later The Earl Russell (1861) |
29 October 1865 – 26 June 1866 | Frances Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound | Russell's second marriage after Adelaide Lister |
The Earl of Derby | 28 June 1866 – 25 February 1868 | Emma Bootle-Wilbraham | |
Benjamin Disraeli later The Earl of Beaconsfield (1876) |
27 February 1868 – 1 December 1868 | Mary Anne Evans later The Viscountess Beaconsfield (1868) |
Evans' second marriage after Wyndham Lewis |
William Ewart Gladstone | 3 December 1868 – 17 February 1874 | Catherine Glynne | |
Benjamin Disraeli later The Earl of Beaconsfield (1876) |
20 February 1874 – 21 April 1880 | None | Widower: Disraeli's wife, The Viscountess Beaconsfield (Mary Anne Evans), had died 1872 |
William Ewart Gladstone | 23 April 1880 – 9 June 1885 | Catherine Glynne | |
The Marquess of Salisbury | 23 June 1885 – 28 January 1886 | Georgina Alderson | |
William Ewart Gladstone | 1 February 1886 – 20 July 1886 | Catherine Glynne | |
The Marquess of Salisbury | 25 July 1886 – 11 August 1892 | Georgina Alderson | |
William Ewart Gladstone | 15 August 1892 – 2 March 1894 | Catherine Glynne | |
The Earl of Rosebery | 5 March 1894 – 22 June 1895 | None | Widower: Rosebery's wife, Hannah de Rothschild, had died 1890 |
The Marquess of Salisbury | 25 June 1895 – 20 November 1899 | Georgina Alderson | She died 1899 |
20 November 1899 – 11 July 1902 | None | Widower | |
Arthur Balfour later The Earl of Balfour (1922) |
11 July 1902 – 5 December 1905 | None | Bachelor: Balfour never married |
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman | 5 December 1905 – 30 August 1906 | Charlotte Bruce | She died 1906 |
30 August 1906 – 3 April 1908 | None | Widower | |
Herbert Henry Asquith later The Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1925) |
5 April 1908 – 5 December 1916 | Margot Tennant | Asquith's second marriage after Helen Melland |
David Lloyd George later The Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (1945) |
6 December 1916 – 19 October 1922 | Margaret Owen later Dame Margaret Lloyd George (1920) |
|
Bonar Law | 23 October 1922 – 20 May 1923 | None | Widower: Law's wife, Annie Robley, had died 1909 |
Stanley Baldwin later The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1937) |
23 May 1923 – 16 January 1924 | Lucy Ridsdale later Dame Lucy Baldwin (1937) |
|
Ramsay MacDonald | 22 January 1924 – 4 November 1924 | None | Widower: MacDonald's wife, Margaret Gladstone, had died 1911; Their daughter Ishbel MacDonald acted as hostess during MacDonald's term |
Stanley Baldwin later The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1937) |
4 November 1924 – 5 June 1929 | Lucy Ridsdale later Dame Lucy Baldwin (1937) |
|
Ramsay MacDonald | 5 June 1929 – 7 June 1935 | None | Widower: MacDonald's wife, Margaret Gladstone, had died 1911; Their daughter Ishbel MacDonald acted as hostess during MacDonald's term |
Stanley Baldwin later The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1937) |
7 June 1935 – 28 May 1937 | Lucy Ridsdale later Dame Lucy Baldwin (1937) |
|
Neville Chamberlain | 28 May 1937 – 10 May 1940 | Anne de Vere Cole | |
Winston Churchill later Sir Winston Churchill (1953) |
10 May 1940 – 27 July 1945 | Clementine Hozier later Dame Clementine Churchill (1946); then The Baroness Spencer-Churchill (1965) |
|
Clement Attlee later The Earl Attlee (1955) |
27 July 1945 – 26 October 1951 | Violet Millar | |
Winston Churchill later Sir Winston Churchill (1953) |
26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955 | Clementine Hozier later Dame Clementine Churchill (1946); then The Baroness Spencer-Churchill (1965) |
|
Sir Anthony Eden later The Earl of Avon (1961) |
6 April 1955 – 9 January 1957 | Clarissa Spencer-Churchill | Eden's second marriage after Beatrice Beckett |
Harold Macmillan later The Earl of Stockton (1984) |
11 January 1957 – 19 October 1963 | Dorothy Cavendish | |
The Earl of Home later Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1963); then The Lord Home of the Hirsel (1974) |
20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964 | Elizabeth Alington | |
Harold Wilson later The Lord Wilson of Rievaulx (1983) |
16 October 1964 – 19 June 1970 | Mary Baldwin | |
Edward Heath later Sir Edward Heath (1992) |
19 June 1970 – 4 March 1974 | None | Bachelor: Heath never married |
Harold Wilson later The Lord Wilson of Rievaulx (1983) |
4 March 1974 – 5 April 1976 | Mary Baldwin | |
James Callaghan later The Lord Callaghan of Cardiff (1987) |
5 April 1976 – 4 May 1979 | Audrey Moulton | |
Margaret Thatcher later The Baroness Thatcher (1992) |
4 May 1979 – 28 November 1990 | Denis Thatcher later Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt (1990) |
First male spouse; Mr Thatcher's second marriage after Margaret Kempson |
John Major later Sir John Major (2005) |
28 November 1990 – 2 May 1997 | Norma Johnson later Dame Norma Major (1999) |
|
Tony Blair | 2 May 1997 – 27 June 2007 | Cherie Booth | |
Gordon Brown | 27 June 2007 – 11 May 2010 | Sarah Jane Macaulay | |
David Cameron | 11 May 2010 – present | Samantha Sheffield |
The PMs names are those upon entering office; their spouses' names are those before marriage, with honours awarded in his or her own right from that time given beneath.
See also
- List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
- Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia
- Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada
References
- ^ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/02/michelle-obama-laura-bush-africa
- ^ Cherie Booth; Cate Haste (2005). The Goldfish Bowl: Married To The Prime Minister, 1955–1997. Random House. ISBN 978-0-09-946202-6.