As you know, in the form of government, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. However, this country does not have a constitution as such, and many of the subtleties of government are determined by centuries-old traditions. And although today the head of Great Britain is a monarch, the country is actually led by the prime minister. Of course, the queen has almost absolute power, but other people rule the state. About where the Prime Minister of England lives, what he is responsible for and what powers he has, as well as a little about the most prominent politicians who held this position, later in this article.
Prime Minister
By tradition, the prime minister is elected by the monarch. Usually this is the person with the highest support from the House of Commons. In most cases, it becomes the leader of the majority party. The term of office of the first minister is closely related to the period of work of the House of Commons, with the support of which he was elected. The Prime Minister has great power, oversees the work of the government, in short, he is the main representative and adviser to the monarch.
Interestingly, the house on 10 Downing Street in the British capital, London, was originally a personal gift from the king to Robert Walpole, the first prime minister of England. However, he refused such a presentation. They agreed that the building will become the residence of the first ministers of the country, and since then most of the politicians occupying this position have lived at this address.
The prime ministers of England, the list of which is quite large, since 53 people have held this post since its introduction in 1721, were members of different parties and pursued different policies. Each of them had a different degree of influence and was remembered by people in their own way. Here is a brief summary of the most significant figures who left the greatest mark in history.
Robert Walpole (1676-1745)
Robert Walpole began his political career in the House of Commons, then he was 25 years old. Under King George III, in 1721, he was appointed chief minister and part-time manager of the state treasury. Since then, in the UK it has been customary to appoint a person who was at the head of the cabinet to this responsible position.
Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of England, held this post longer than all his successors - he led the government for 21 years.
William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806)
He held the post of first minister twice: from 1783 to 1801 and from 1804 to 1806. William Pitt the Younger is the youngest Prime Minister of England, because he was only 24 years old when he was appointed to this position for the first time. However, the extreme nervous tension that he had experienced while being at the helm of the state significantly spoiled his health, which made the activist die relatively young.
The years of the reign of William Pete the Younger were difficult for the United Kingdom, because at that time the country lost control of its colonies in North America, which negatively affected the economy. In addition, it was necessary to somehow respond to the French revolution and develop a strategy for a war with Napoleon. Pitt was not only the initiator of the creation of three anti-Napoleonic coalitions, but also contributed to the preservation of Ireland as part of England.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
He held the post in 1868 and in 1874-1880. This politician, who published several novels in his youth, which attracted a lot of public attention, showed himself to be a politician who, along with the tasks of the state level, was also interested in the problems of ordinary people. Disraeli secured the adoption of a law according to which men who worked in cities were able to vote. He also worked to improve the sanitary condition of urban settlements and the living conditions of workers.
In foreign policy, Benjamin Disraeli also achieved considerable success: under him, Queen Victoria received the title of Empress of India, and Britain gained control of the Suez Canal. The former Prime Minister of England was a good orator, a very witty person, and his sense of humor was told that it did not leave him even at the last moments of his life.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Winston Churchill, whose ancestor is the legendary John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, became known throughout the world thanks to his wise management of Great Britain during the Second World War. However, the story of his life is full of vivid episodes. In childhood, the future politician was a wayward child, which later prevented him from receiving a full education. Thus, he decided to take up military affairs.
In 1899, the future Prime Minister of England resigned and became involved in politics, and a year later he was elected to Parliament. Churchill initially held conservative views, but in 1904 he joined the Liberal Party, but not forever - in 1924 he returned to the ranks of the conservatives. In 1939, then-First British Minister Neville Chamberlain appointed Churchill the head of the Admiralty, but the following year, King George VI invited him to take over the leadership of the government.
During the war, Winston Churchill had a tough stance on Hitlerite Germany, while many other politicians allowed for agreements with the aggressor. He made a significant contribution to the victory of Great Britain in World War II and left the post of first minister at its end, and after that he was elected for a second term in 1951-1955.
Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013)
Margaret Thatcher, born in the family of the owner of two grocers, a chemist by training, from a student's bench began to be interested in politics. After working for two years in her specialty, in 1948 she took up political activities, and before she had the honor of leading the British government, she had the opportunity to visit both the Minister of Education and Science and the leader of the conservative party.
Since 1979, the new Prime Minister of England - a woman with a strong-willed character, who later nicknamed her "Iron Lady" for her harsh criticism of the Soviet Union. However, these qualities helped her to hold onto the post of first minister of government for 11 years. Sometimes she had to carry out not too popular reforms, which nevertheless gave good results.
Under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, the conservative party won more than one victory, and the Iron Lady herself was elected to the post of prime minister three times, thereby breaking the record for the length of tenure of the Earl of Liverpool, who led the British government from 1812 to 1827.
David Cameron (born 1966)
Today, the first British minister is David Cameron, who has held this position since 2010. Since 2005, he is the head of the conservative party. After graduating from Oxford University, in which he studied economics, politics and philosophy, Cameron received a red diploma. His political activity began in 1988 with work in the research department of the Conservative Party of Great Britain. For some time, Cameron was an adviser to the Minister of Finance, worked in the Ministry of the Interior, and even served on the board of governors of a large media company. In 1997, he participated in the election, but was elected only in 2001.
The Prime Minister of England, David Cameron, adheres to the position that the country's integration with the European Union should not be expanded, and during the war in Georgia in 2008 in the year he proposed introducing visa restrictions against Russia and temporarily excluding it from the Group of Eight.
