| Date | Event |
|---|
| 5 May 1640 | Charles I disbands the Short Parliament |
| 4 Jan 1642 | Charles I arrests parliamentarians |
| 16 Dec 1653 | Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector |
| 25 May 1660 | The English Restoration - Charles II lands on British Soil |
| 23 Oct 1707 | First Parliament of Great Britain |
| 3 Apr 1721 | Robert Walpole becomes first British Prime Minister |
| 16 Feb 1742 | Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, elected Prime Minister |
| 27 Aug 1743 | Henry Pelham elected Prime Minister |
| 16 Mar 1754 | Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle, elected Prime Minister |
| 16 Nov 1756 | William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, elected Prime Minister |
| 2 Jul 1757 | Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle, elected Prime Minister |
| 26 May 1762 | John Stuart, Earl of Bute, elected Prime Minister |
| 10 Feb 1763 | France cedes Canada to Britain |
| 16 Apr 1763 | George Grenville elected Prime Minister |
| 13 Jul 1765 | Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham, elected Prime Minister |
| 30 Jul 1766 | William Pitt ‘the Elder’, Earl of Chatham, elected Prime Minister |
| 14 Oct 1768 | Augustus FitzRoy, Duke of Grafton, elected Prime Minister |
| 28 Jan 1770 | Frederick North, Lord North, elected Prime Minister |
| 4 Jul 1776 | American colonies declare independence |
| 27 Mar 1782 | Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham, elected Prime Minister |
| 4 Jul 1782 | William Petty, Earl of Shelburne, elected Prime Minister |
| 2 Apr 1783 | William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland, elected Prime Minister |
| 19 Dec 1783 | William Pitt ‘the Younger’ elected Prime Minister |
| 9 Jan 1799 | William Pitt introduces income tax |
| 17 Mar 1801 | Henry Addington elected Prime Minister |
| 30 Apr 1803 | The Louisiana Purchase |
| 10 May 1804 | William Pitt ‘the Younger’ elected Prime Minister |
| 11 Feb 1806 | William Wyndham Grenville, Baron Grenville, elected Prime Minister |
| 31 Mar 1807 | William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland, elected Prime Minister |
| 4 Oct 1809 | Spencer Perceval elected Prime Minister |
| 11 May 1812 | Prime Minister Spencer Perceval assassinated |
| 8 Jun 1812 | Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool, elected Prime Minister |
| 10 Apr 1827 | George Canning elected Prime Minister |
| 31 Aug 1827 | Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich, elected Prime Minister |
| 22 Jan 1828 | Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, elected Prime Minister |
| 22 Nov 1830 | Charles Grey, Earl Grey, elected Prime Minister |
| 16 Jul 1834 | William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, elected Prime Minister |
| 14 Nov 1834 | Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, elected Prime Minister |
| 10 Dec 1834 | Sir Robert Peel elected Prime Minister |
| 18 Apr 1835 | William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, elected Prime Minister |
| 30 Aug 1841 | Sir Robert Peel elected Prime Minister |
| 30 Jun 1846 | Lord John Russell elected Prime Minister |
| 21 Feb 1848 | Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto |
| 23 Feb 1852 | Edward Smith-Stanley, Earl of Derby, elected Prime Minister |
| 19 Dec 1852 | George Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, elected Prime Minister |
| 6 Feb 1855 | Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, elected Prime Minister |
| 20 Feb 1858 | Edward Smith-Stanley, Earl of Derby, elected Prime Minister |
| 12 Jun 1859 | Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, elected Prime Minister |
| 29 Oct 1865 | John Russell, Earl Russell, elected Prime Minister |
| 28 Jun 1866 | Edward Smith-Stanley, Earl of Derby, elected Prime Minister |
| 27 Feb 1868 | Benjamin Disraeli elected Prime Minister |
| 3 Dec 1868 | William Ewart Gladstone elected Prime Minister |
| 20 Feb 1874 | Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, elected Prime Minister |
| 1 Jan 1877 | Victoria proclaimed Empress of India |
| 23 Apr 1880 | William Ewart Gladstone elected Prime Minister |
| 23 Jun 1885 | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, elected Prime Minister |
| 1 Feb 1886 | William Ewart Gladstone elected Prime Minister |
| 25 Jul 1886 | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, elected Prime Minister |
| 15 Aug 1892 | William Ewart Gladstone elected Prime Minister |
| 5 Mar 1894 | Archibald Primrose, Earl of Rosebery, elected Prime Minister |
| 25 Jun 1895 | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, elected Prime Minister |
| 27 Feb 1900 | Formation of the Labour Party |
| 2 Oct 1900 | Keir Hardie elected 1st Labour MP |
| 18 Feb 1901 | Churchill’s Maiden Speech |
| 11 Jul 1902 | Arthur Balfour elected Prime Minister |
| 8 Apr 1904 | The ‘Entente Cordiale’ is signed by Britain and France |
| 5 Dec 1905 | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman elected Prime Minister |
| 21 Apr 1907 | Sinn Fein Formed |
| 7 Apr 1908 | Herbert Henry Asquith elected Prime Minister |
| 7 Dec 1916 | David Lloyd George elected Prime Minister |
| 2 Nov 1917 | The Balfour Declaration |
| 6 Feb 1918 | Women get the Vote |
| 23 Oct 1922 | Andrew Bonar Law elected Prime Minister |
| 23 May 1923 | Stanley Baldwin elected Prime Minister |
| 22 Jan 1924 | Ramsay MacDonald elected Britain's first Labour Prime Minister |
| 4 Nov 1924 | Stanley Baldwin elected Prime Minister |
| 5 Aug 1925 | Plaid Cymru Formed |
| 5 Jun 1929 | Ramsay MacDonald elected Prime Minister |
| 7 Jun 1935 | Stanley Baldwin elected Prime Minister |
| 28 May 1937 | Neville Chamberlain elected Prime Minister |
| 29 Sep 1938 | Chamberlain & Hitler sign the Munich Agreement |
| 10 May 1940 | Winston Churchill elected Prime Minister |
| 10 May 1940 | Winston Churchill elected Prime Minister |
| 26 Jul 1945 | Clement Attlee elected Prime Minister |
| 4 Apr 1949 | Foundation of NATO |
| 18 Apr 1949 | Republic of Ireland established |
| 26 Oct 1951 | Winston Churchill elected Prime Minister |
| 6 Apr 1955 | Sir Anthony Eden elected Prime Minister |
| 10 Jan 1957 | Harold Macmillan elected Prime Minister |
| 19 Oct 1963 | Sir Alec Douglas-Home elected Prime Minister |
| 16 Oct 1964 | Harold Wilson elected Prime Minister |
| 19 Jun 1970 | Edward Heath elected Prime Minister |
| 4 Mar 1974 | Harold Wilson elected Prime Minister |
| 5 Apr 1976 | James Callaghan elected Prime Minister |
| 4 May 1979 | Margaret Thatcher elected Prime Minister |
| 28 Nov 1990 | John Major elected Prime Minister |
| 2 May 1997 | Tony Blair elected Prime Minister |
| 1999 | Welsh National Assembly and Scottish Parliament formed |
UK Political Timeline 