A Porky Prime Cut
There is no specific date for when the office of Prime Minister first appeared,
as the role was not created but rather evolved over time through a merger of duties.
The term was regularly, if informally, used by Robert Walpole by the 1730s.
It was used in the House of Commons as early as 1805,
and it was certainly in parliamentary use by the 1880s,
but did not become the official title until 1905
when Henry Campbell-Bannerman held the post.
Historians generally consider Robert Walpole, who led the government of the Kingdom
of Great Britain for over twenty years from 1721 to be the first Prime Minister.
The first to use the title in an official act was Benjamin Disraeli
who signed the 1878 Treaty of Berlin as "Prime Minister of Her Britannic Majesty".
William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, and James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave,
are sometimes listed as Prime Ministers.
However, modern academic consensus does not consider
either man to have held office as PM.
Waldegrave's tenure lasted for five days.
He retired from public life in 1760, and died of smallpox in 1763.
William Pulteney only managed three days.
I always link his name to the City of Bath, particularly the Pulteney Bridge.
Completed in 1774, it is one of only four bridges in the world
to have shops across its full span on both sides.
A fabulous place to visit with it's impressive weir.
You'd have to be crazy to jump in there right?
People aere crazy.
Liz Truss was only PM for 50 days and I think she shouldn't be counted either.
It's a bit like how Pluto lost it's Planet status :)
regards
Titus
