The Princess Elizabeth Mary Alexandra was born April 21, 1926 to the Duke and Duchess of York. Her grandfather, King George V was the reigning Monarch and her grandmother was Queen Mary. As a child, then third in line to the throne, she saw two Prime Ministers serve her grandfather, then later her uncle, Edward VIII:
- Stanley Baldwin (November 4, 1924 - June 5, 1929; Conservative Party)
- Ramsay MacDonald (June 5, 1929 - August 24, 1931; Labour Party/August 24, 1931 - June 7, 1935; National Labour Party)
Stanley Baldwin was returned to office on August 24, 1931. During his second term as Prime Minister, King Edward VIII abdicated. Baldwin managed the abdication crisis, which resulted in Elizabeth's father's accession as King George VI. While first in line to the throne, Princess Elizabeth saw four Prime Ministers serve her father, among them her father's favorite, Winston Churchill in his first term as PM. King George V died shortly after Churchill was returned to office; he served the majority of that term as Queen Elizabeth's first Prime Minister.
As Princess Elizabeth, under King George VI[]
| # | Image | Name | Tenure | Party Affiliation | Played by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947) MP for Bewdley |
August 24, 1931 - May 28, 1937 |
Conservative | Does not appear |
| Government of India Act 1935; Edward VIII abdication crisis; started re-armament but later criticised for failing to rearm more when Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany broke his Treaty of Versailles obligations. Only Prime Minister to serve three monarchs: George V, Edward VIII and George VI. | |||||
| 2 | 
|
Neville Chamberlin (1869–1940) MP for Birmingham Edgbaston |
May 28, 1937 - May 10, 1940 |
Conservative | Does not appear |
| 1939 IRA bombings in England; sought to maintain "peace for our time" via appeasement of Germany (Munich Agreement); widely criticised after the German invasion of Poland and outbreak of the Second World War. Resigned after losing the Norway Debate; died six months after leaving office. | |||||
| 3 | 
|
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) MP for Epping |
May 10, 1940 - July 26, 1945 |
Conservative | (John Lithgow) |
| World War continues; formed military alliances with both the US and the Soviet Union, and reactively declared war on Fascist Italy and Japan (while successfully leading an all-party War Coalition). United Nations founded, replacing the LN; proposed what would eventually lead to the European Union (EU); Beveridge Report and Butler Education Act. Following the VE Day celebrations, Churchill formed a caretaker ministry of Conservatives, Liberal Nationals and independent ministers; it was subsequently defeated after two months. | |||||
| 4 | 
|
Clement Attlee (1883–1967) MP for Limehouse until 1950 MP for Walthamstow West from 1950 |
July 26, 1945 - October 26, 1951 |
Labour | Simon Chandler (Season 1) |
| Victory over Japan ends the World War; Potsdam Conference; post-war consensus established; introduced nationalisation of the Bank of England and utilities; foundation of the National Health Service; extended National Insurance scheme; economic austerity, characterised by continued and deepened wartime food and fuel rationing; independence of India; end to the UK role in Palestine; foundation of NATO; beginning of the Cold War; Berlin Blockade and the resulting Airlift; National Service Act 1948 reinstates conscription; devalued the pound by 30%; failure of the East Africa Groundnut Scheme; start of UK involvement in the Korean War.. | |||||
- John Lithgow appears as 86-year-old Churchill during his second term, but his earlier term is only discussed in dialogue.
As Queen Elizabeth II[]
The Queen has seen thirteen Prime Ministers in office while the sovereign; one, Harold Wilson, serving two terms separated by Edward Heath's only term. Her current Prime Minister is the now-embattled Teresa May, whose current term will run until 2022, assuming she does not call for an election sooner.
| # | Image | Name | Tenure | Party Affiliation | Played by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) MP for Woodford |
October 28 1951 - April 6, 1955 |
Conservative | John Lithgow (Season 1) |
| Last Prime Minister to be concurrently Minister of Defence. Domestic policy (notably end of rationing) interrupted by foreign disputes (Korean War; Operation Ajax; Mau Mau Uprising; Malayan Emergency). Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Having suffered a stroke in 1953, Churchill continued in office in the hope of achieving a summit with the new leadership of the USSR under Khrushchev, until finally resigning nearly two years later. | |||||
| 2 | 
|
Anthony Eden (1897–1977) MP for Warwick and Leamington |
April 6, 1955 - January 10, 1957 |
Conservative | Jeremy Northam (Season 1-2) |
| Oversaw Egyptian nationalisation of the Suez Canal, an action that sparked the Suez Crisis; Premium Bonds introduced. Resigned on grounds of ill health and having lost the confidence of his senior colleagues. | |||||
| 3 | 
|
Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) MP for Bromley |
January 10, 1957 - October 19, 1963 |
Conservative | Anton Lesser (Season 2) |
| The UK applied to join the European Economic Community for the first time, the application split Conservatives and was vetoed by France; acceptance of Keynesianism; First Cod War; Rent Act 1957; "Wind of Change" speech; Notting Hill race riots and New Commonwealth immigration; opening of the BBC Television Centre; end of National Service; Beeching cuts begin; Night of the Long Knives; Cuban Missile Crisis; Profumo affair, following which Macmillan resigned due to ill health. | |||||
| 4 | 
|
Alec Douglas-Home (1903–1995) MP for Kinross and Western Perthshire |
October 19, 1963 - October 16, 1964 |
Conservative | (Did not feature) |
| Last Prime Minister to hold office by virtue of the House of Lords (was Lord Home upon appointment). Home renounced his peerage four days after being appointed to contest a by-election to the Commons. Oversaw the independence of colony Nyasaland; abolition of Resale Price Maintenance. | |||||
| 5 | 
|
Harold Wilson (1916–1995) MP for Huyton |
October 16, 1964 - June 19, 1970 |
Labour | Jason Watkins (Season 3) |
| Social policies encompassing the legalisation of abortion, abolition of capital punishment and decriminalisation of homosexuality. Colony Northern Rhodesia receives independence, and Rhodesian UDI; Wilson Doctrine; began depopulation of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago; adopted, but then abandoned, a National Plan for the economy; devalued the pound by 14%; foundation of the Open University; government disputes with trade unions over "In Place of Strife" and prices and incomes policy; ordered troops into Northern Ireland in response to start of Troubles. | |||||
| 6 | 
|
Edward Heath | 19 June 1970 – 4 March 1974 | Conservative | Michael Maloney (Season 3) |
| 5 |
|
Harold Wilson | Labour | Jason Watkins | |
| 7 | 
|
James Callaghan | |||
| 8 | 
|
Margaret Thatcher | Conservative | Gillian Anderson (Season 4) | |
| Britain's first female Prime Minister. Thatcher extinguished the post-war consensus, and pioneered an ideology known as Thatcherism. Iranian Embassy siege; 1981 Irish hunger strike; Falklands War; sold council housing to tenants (Right to Buy); 1984–85 miners' strike; privatisation of many previously government-owned industries; decreased power of unions; negotiation of a UK rebate towards EC budget; Brighton hotel bombing (failed attempt to assassinate Thatcher); Sino-British Joint Declaration; Anglo-Irish Agreement; Westland affair; abolition of the Greater London Council; "Big Bang"; King's Cross fire; Section 28; Lockerbie bombing; Collapse of Communism; Community Charge (or poll tax) introduced, and subsequent rioting; Gulf War commences. Resigned after failing to win outright against a challenge to her party leadership. | |||||
| 9 | 
|
John Major | Conservative | Marc Ozall (Season 4) Johnny Lee Miller (Season 5) | |
| Early 1990s recession; Operation Granby and the Downing Street mortar attack (Gulf War victory); Citizen's Charter; dissolution of the USSR (officially ending the Cold War); ratification of the Maastricht Treaty (and the Maastricht Rebels); annus horribilis for the Queen and forced exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (Black Wednesday) in 1992; Council Tax introduced; Downing Street Declaration (initiating the NI peace process); privatisation of British Rail. Major also introduced the National Lottery and permitted Sunday Shopping in 1994; the Cones Hotline in 1992 and the "Back to Basics" campaign in 1993; Dangerous Dogs Act. Lost the 1997 election in a landslide to Labour, ending 18 years of government by the Conservatives. To date, Major is the last non-graduate Prime Minister. | |||||
| 10 | 
|
Tony Blair | Labour | Bertie Carvill(Season 5-6) | |
| Hong Kong Handover (to China); death of Diana, Princess of Wales; independence for the Bank of England; Ecclestone tobacco controversy; Belfast Agreement; Human Rights Act; devolution to Scotland and Wales; House of Lords reform; minimum wage introduced; NATO bombing of Yugoslavia; fuel protests; creation of the Greater London Authority and Mayoralty of London; Freedom of Information Act; UK military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War; 2001 foot and mouth outbreak; 11 September attacks on the US; War in Afghanistan; 2003 invasion of Iraq (and the consequent Iraq War); tuition (top-up) fees introduced; Civil Partnership Act 2004; Constitutional Reform Act; 2005 London bombings; Cash for Honours; Identity Cards Act 2006. Resignation rumoured as an eventual result of a deal between himself and his chancellor, ordon Brown). | |||||
| 11 | 
|
Gordon Brown | Labour | ||
| 12 | 
|
David Cameron | Conservative | ||
| 13 | 
|
Theresa May | Conservative | ||
| 14 | 
|
Boris Johnson | Conservative | ||