Who was Britain's first Prime Minister? | A brief introduction to Robert Walpole

on the 3rd of april 1721 robert walpole was appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer it was not the first time he had held these offices but from this point he is usually thought of as the first prime minister of great britain whirlpool's appointment and subsequent emergence as the new premier minister was closely connected to the fallout from the bursting of the south sea bubble this was a financial crash caused by the collapsing share price of the south sea company which had attracted investors from all levels of society whirlpool was respected in the city of london and had promised a plan to help rebuild the economy other ministers had been implicated in the scandal and whirlpool won their support by helping to protect them his support also extended to members of the royal family gaining him the nickname of screen master general nowadays prime ministers are the leaders of political parties selected by their membership and have usually won a majority in the house of commons at a general election in the 18th century the situation was much more fluid there was no such party organization and it was much more important to secure and retain the support of the monarch walpole was not the first minister to wield commanding influence in parliament under queen anne there had been other great ministers like robert harley earl of oxford and following the accession of george the first walpole had effectively shared power with his brother-in-law vi count townsend walpole's appointment as first lord of the treasury in spring 1721 though is usually thought of as the beginning of something new he chose to remain in the house of commons which by then had emerged as the dominant chamber with regard to financial matters where oxford and stanhope had led from the lords gradually he came to control so greater command over appointment to other offices that he became in effect the most important minister in the administration whirlpool's position was strengthened by being able to rely on the support of george the first he was on much less comfortable relations with the prince of wales and when george the first died in 1727 many expected that walpole would lose power for a brief moment it looked as if he would indeed be replaced as prime minister by the speaker of the house of commons sir spencer compton but walpole succeeded in outmaneuvering his rivals and was able to remain in office soon after the accession of george ii vi count townsend decided to retire from politics leaving walpole the now undisputed prime minister from around 1730 until 1742 walpole led a successful administration surviving further crises such as that in 1733 when he tried to introduce a new excise however a central part of his program had been to keep britain out of expensive wars on the continent and by the late 1730s it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to do so walpole also faced an increasingly orchestrated opposition in parliament headed by the heir to the throne prince frederick and the powerful scots magnate the duke of argyll in 1741 the country went to the polls again in the first general election since 1734 and walpole's supporters came under significant pressure although he retained a majority in the commons it was much reduced crucially too wahpo lost control of a key committee that examined disputed election returns this was taken as a sign that walpole had lost control of the commons and steadily members of the administration began to advise him to stand down early in 1742 after 21 years as prime minister walpole agreed to resign in return for a seat in the house of lords he was replaced by his old rival compton who had also risen to the lords and was now known as earl of wilmington warpol spent his last remaining years in parliament as a member of the upper chamber as earl of orford before his death in 1745 following walpole's fall from power a number of rivals struggled to fill his shoes his technical successor wilmington was very much a figurehead but following his death after just a year in office a new clear prime minister emerged in the form of henry pelham who remained in post until his death in 1754. for the remainder of the 18th century and well into the 19th prime ministers after walpole remained enormously dependent on the personal support of the monarch in the days before the existence of the kinds of party structures familiar today prime ministers were almost invariably the leaders of loose coalitions of multiple factions and not uncommonly just one of several senior politicians vying for supremacy walpole's long tenure of power undoubtedly changed things but the evolution of the office of prime minister continued steadily for many years to come you