It’s been an exciting couple of days in British Politics. One interesting fact that I was pointed at by Paddy Ashdown on the Radio this morning is that of the 12 Prime Ministers since the 2nd World War, only 6 came to office by winning an election. i.e. Only 50% of post war Prime Ministers came to office by winning an election.
| How | 1940’s | 1950’s | 1960’s | 1970’s | 1980/90’s | Post 1997 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election | Attlee | Churchill | Wilson | Heath | Thatcher | Blair |
| Between Election | Eden & MacMillan | Dougas Home | Callaghan | Major | Brown |
The table above doesn’t show Wilson’s second administration. Also Ashdown says that it was five who became Prime Ministers on the basis of the ability to command a majority in the House of Commons, rather than on the back of a general election, so I may have made a mistake. I used Wikipedia’s British General Elections page as my source.
Electing a Prime Minister
And now, we have Cameron, May & Johnson, the latter two being appointed mid-parliament,
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