41 figures mapped
Political Figures of United Kingdom
Leaders, thinkers and campaigners from United Kingdom, born between 1588 and 1966, each placed on the 12 axes of the 12 Axes Political Test from their own speeches, writings and record. Sources are on every profile.
Heads of state and government
In order of office
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834-1835, 1841-1846)Robert PeelConservative Prime Minister who founded the Metropolitan Police, issued the Tamworth Manifesto and split his party by repealing the Corn Laws in 1846.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1868, 1874-1880)Benjamin DisraeliConservative Prime Minister and novelist who steered the 1867 Reform Act, promoted social legislation and an assertive imperial foreign policy, and...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (four times, 1868-1894)William Ewart GladstoneLiberal statesman who served as Prime Minister four times, championed free trade and low public spending, extended the vote and sought Home Rule for...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1916-1922)David Lloyd GeorgeWelsh Liberal statesman who introduced old age pensions, the 1909 People's Budget and National Insurance, and led Britain's coalition government in...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1940-1945, 1951-1955)Winston ChurchillBritish statesman who led the wartime coalition against Nazi Germany from 1940, crossed party lines twice and returned as Conservative Prime Minister...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1945-1951)Clement AttleeLabour Prime Minister from 1945 to 1951 whose government created the National Health Service, nationalised major industries and oversaw Indian...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1955-1957)Anthony EdenConservative Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957, a long-serving Foreign Secretary whose premiership ended after the Suez crisis of 1956.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1957-1963)Harold MacmillanConservative Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963 who pursued a centrist Middle Way at home, speeded up decolonisation and first applied to join the...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1963-1964)Alec Douglas-HomeConservative Prime Minister for 363 days in 1963-1964 who gave up his earldom to lead the government and served twice as Foreign Secretary.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1964-1970, 1974-1976)Harold WilsonLabour Prime Minister in 1964-1970 and 1974-1976 who promoted technological modernisation, economic planning and a series of social reforms, and kept...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1970-1974)Edward HeathConservative Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974 who took Britain into the European Economic Community and whose government was shaken by miners'...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1976-1979)James CallaghanLabour Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979, the only person to have held all four great offices of state, whose government faced the IMF crisis and the...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979-1990)Margaret ThatcherConservative Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the office, whose governments pursued privatisation, deregulation and trade...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1990-1997)John MajorConservative Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997 who negotiated the Maastricht Treaty, privatised the railways and coal industry and began the Northern...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007)Tony BlairLabour Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007 who rebranded his party as New Labour, oversaw devolution and the Good Friday Agreement, and took Britain...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2007-2010)Gordon BrownLabour Chancellor from 1997 to 2007 and Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, who made the Bank of England independent and led the British response to...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2010-2016)David CameronConservative Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016 who led a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, legalised same-sex marriage and called the 2016...
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2016-2019)Theresa MayConservative Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019 who began the UK's formal withdrawal from the European Union, after six years as Home Secretary.
Legislators and politicians
In order of birth
1730-1797Edmund BurkeIrish-born British statesman and writer whose Reflections on the Revolution in France made him a foundational figure for modern conservative thought.
1759-1833William WilberforceEvangelical MP for Yorkshire who led the parliamentary campaign that abolished the British slave trade in 1807 and campaigned for moral and religious...
1806-1873John Stuart MillEnglish philosopher whose On Liberty (1859) set out the harm principle and whose work on representative government and women's equality shaped modern...
1856-1915Keir HardieScottish miner and labour organiser who became one of Britain's first Labour MPs, founded the Independent Labour Party and was the first leader of...
1879-1963William BeveridgeLiberal economist and social reformer whose 1942 report on social insurance, which named the five giants of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and...
1897-1960Aneurin BevanWelsh Labour politician and former miner who, as Minister of Health from 1945, created the National Health Service and led the left wing of his party.
1912-1998Enoch PowellConservative and later Ulster Unionist politician, classical scholar and free-market thinker, best known for his 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech...
1913-2010Michael FootLabour politician, journalist and author who led the party from 1980 to 1983, campaigned for nuclear disarmament and, as Employment Secretary,...
1918-1994Keith JosephConservative minister and thinker who co-founded the Centre for Policy Studies with Margaret Thatcher and promoted the monetarist and free-market...
1920-2003Roy JenkinsWelsh-born Labour Home Secretary and Chancellor who led the liberal social reforms of the 1960s, served as President of the European Commission and...
1925-2014Tony BennLabour cabinet minister, diarist and leading figure of the party's left, who renounced a hereditary peerage, championed public ownership and later...
Activists and reformers
In order of birth
1748-1832Jeremy BenthamEnglish philosopher and law reformer who made the greatest happiness of the greatest number the test of right and wrong in law and government.
1858-1928Emmeline PankhurstLeader of the militant suffragette movement who founded the Women's Social and Political Union in 1903 and campaigned for votes for women through...
1872-1970Bertrand RussellBritish philosopher and campaigner who opposed the First World War, championed nuclear disarmament and world government, and argued that religion...
Thinkers and philosophers
In order of birth
1588-1679Thomas HobbesEnglish philosopher whose Leviathan (1651) argues that only an absolute, undivided sovereign can rescue people from a violent state of nature.
1632-1704John LockeEnglish philosopher whose Second Treatise grounds government in consent and the protection of life, liberty and property, including a right of...
1723-1790Adam SmithScottish moral philosopher whose The Wealth of Nations (1776) argued for free trade and a system of natural liberty against mercantilist restrictions.
1759-1797Mary WollstonecraftEnglish writer whose A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) argued that women are rational beings entitled to the same education and civic...
1874-1936G. K. ChestertonEnglish writer and Catholic apologist who, with Hilaire Belloc, promoted distributism, a program of widely spread small property as an alternative to...
1903-1950George OrwellGeorge Orwell was an English novelist and essayist, a democratic socialist and critic of totalitarianism, best known for Animal Farm and Nineteen...
1909-1997Isaiah BerlinIsaiah Berlin was a British philosopher and historian of ideas known for distinguishing negative and positive liberty and for his theory of value...
1944-2020Roger ScrutonEnglish philosopher and writer on aesthetics, politics and the environment who became one of Britain's best-known conservative thinkers.
Economists
In order of birth
Quick quiz
Which UK Prime Minister Are You?
Answer 12 statements and see whose recorded views sit closest to yours. Free, about two minutes.
FAQ
United Kingdom: questions
Which political figures from United Kingdom are on PoliticalTests?
41 figures from United Kingdom, born between 1588 and 1966, including 18 heads of state or government. Each has a profile with sources. Leaders still active in politics are not included.
Where do figures from United Kingdom sit on the political compass?
On the economic axis, 14 sit on the left, 13 near the centre and 14 on the right. Up and down the compass, 14 are on the authority side, 14 near the middle and 13 on the liberty side.
How are these positions worked out?
Each person is placed on the 12 axes of the 12 Axes Political Test from their own speeches, writings, votes and record in office, with sources on every profile page. The compass shows two of those measures: economic views across, and the mean of the civil and society axes up and down. The placements describe stated positions, not character or success in office.
Where can I compare all UK prime ministers?
The page Political Views of UK Prime Ministers puts every one of them on one compass and lists them in order of office.
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