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April 4

Sir Robert Walpole Becomes Great Britain’s First "Prime Minister" (1721)


On April 4, 1721, Sir Robert Walpole is generally regarded by most scholars to have attained the de facto title of Prime Minister of Great Britain. In other words, although there was no official title of "Prime Minister of Great Britain" at that time, Walpole is regarded as having assumed the role of Prime Minister.

Walpole received his first appointed government position under the reign of King George I in 1701. Then, in 1721, a number of events occurred which propelled Walpole into a very powerful position which eventually evolved into the legal position of Prime Minister.

In particular, a committee was created in 1721 to investigate corruption in the British Cabinet. Through the investigation many Cabinet members lost their positions, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Postmaster General, Southern Secretary, and heads of the Ministry. In addition, a few other prominent Cabinet members coincidentally died at that time. This left many vacancies in the Cabinet and King George I became hesitant in trusting anyone.

So, King George I appointed Walpole to hold multiple positions including the First Lord of the Treasury, Leader of the House of Commons, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Many historians date Walpole’s appointment to "Prime Minister" during this time when he held multiple Cabinet positions and acted as the de facto head of government.

In 1727, when King George I died and King George II succeeded him, Walpole nearly lost his Cabinet positions. But King George II finally agreed to retain Walpole and allowed him to act as the de facto head of government. For the next twenty years Walpole acted as the single most influential politician in England even though many claimed that he did little in the way of legislation.

Walpole finally resigned in 1742 and served in the House of Lords until his death in 1745. To this day, Walpole is the longest serving Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Walpole’s legacy also lives on because he was the first Prime Minister to make 10 Downing Street his official residence as the First Lord of the Treasury. Not all of the Prime Ministers chose to live at 10 Downing Street, but over time it has become the established official residence of the Prime Minister.

Today, the Prime Minister acts as the political leader of the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister selects members of the government, chairs Cabinet meetings, decides when to call new general elections for the House of Commons, appoints judges, and can propose the creation of new officers. Gordon Brown currently holds the position of Prime Minister as the leader of the Labour Party.