The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has called for a general election on July 4, which will see him go up against Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer.
While Mr Sunak has been prime minister for about a year and half, the Conservatives have had several leaders in recent years, such as Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, and Theresa May.
Since 1937, the average length of time a prime minister serves is five years. The last PM to serve more than five years was David Cameron, who held the position from 2010 to 2016.
Below is the full list of post-war prime ministers in order of how long they remained in the top job.
Post-war Prime Ministers from the shortest to longest terms
Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been the Tory leader since October 25, 2022, meaning he has served for 576 days so far, as of May 23, 2024.
Liz Truss: 2022 – 44 days
Alec Douglas-Home: 1963-64 – 364 days
Anthony Eden: 1955-57 – 1 year and 279 days
Gordon Brown: 2007-10 – 2 years and 319 days
Boris Johnson: 2019–22 – 2 years and 362 days
Theresa May: 2016-19 – 3 years and 12 days
James Callaghan: 1976-79 – 3 years and 30 days
Winston Churchill: 1951-55 – 3 years and 162 days
Edward Heath: 1970-74 – 3 years and 259 days
Harold Wilson: 1974-76 – 2 years and 247 days
David Cameron: 2010-16 – 6 years and 64 days
Clement Attlee: 1945-51 – 6 years and 93 days
John Major: 1990-97 – 6 years and 156 days
Harold Macmillan: 1957-63 – 6 years and 282 days
Tony Blair: 1997-2007 – 10 years and 57 days
Margaret Thatcher: 1979-90 – 11 years and 209 days
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
