List of nicknames of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
This is a list of nicknames of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. Since Sir Robert Walpole, most Prime Ministers have had a nickname which was in common usage at the time they were in office. Many nicknames can be perceived as disparaging although others are complimentary or affectionate.
List of nicknames
Robert Walpole
Full name: Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford
Earl of Wilmington
Full name: Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington
· Wilmo
Henry Pelham
Full name: Henry Pelham
Duke of Newcastle
Full name: Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Hubble-Bubble[3]
Duke of Devonshire
Full name: William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire
Earl of Bute
Full name: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
- Jack Boot[4]
George Grenville
Full name: George Grenville
Marquess of Rockingham
Full name: Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
Earl of Chatham
Full name: William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
- The Great Commoner[6]
Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
Full name: Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
Lord North
Full name: Frederick North, Lord North
Earl of Shelburne
Full name: William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Duke of Portland
Full name: William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
William Pitt the Younger
Full name: William Pitt the Younger
Henry Addington
Full name: Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
- The Doctor[12]
Baron Grenville
Full name: William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
- Bogey[13]
Spencer Perceval
Full name: Spencer Perceval
- Little P[14]
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
Full name: Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
George Canning
Full name: George Canning
Viscount Goderich
Full name: Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich
Duke of Wellington
Full name: Duke of Wellington
Earl Grey
Full name: Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
Viscount Melbourne
Full name: William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Robert Peel
Full name: Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet
- Orange Peel,[18] a reference to his views on Ireland.
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Full name: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Earl of Derby
Full name: Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Earl of Aberdeen
Full name: George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
Viscount Palmerston
Full name: Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Benjamin Disraeli
Full name: Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
- Dizzy[22]
William Ewart Gladstone
Full name: William Ewart Gladstone
- Grand Old Man[23]
- The People's William
- God's Only Mistake Used by Disraeli as a mocking alternative to Gladstone's preferred nickname (Grand Old Man).[23]
Marquess of Salisbury
Full name:Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
- Bob's your uncle In reference to Salisbury's appointment of his nephew, Arthur Balfour to the position of Chief Secretary of Ireland. Balfour would later become Prime Minister.
Earl of Rosebery
Full name: Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian
- Puddin
Arthur Balfour
Full name: Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
- Pretty Fanny: A reference to his delicacy of appearance and manners.[24]
- Bloody Balfour[25]
- Tiger Lily[26]
- Miss Balfour
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Full name: Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
- CB[27]
H. H. Asquith
Full name: Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith
David Lloyd George
Full name: David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor
Bonar Law
Full name: Andrew Bonar Law
- The Unknown Prime Minister[33]
Stanley Baldwin
Full name: Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
- The Ironmonger
- Honest Stan
- Stanz B
Ramsay MacDonald
Full name: James Ramsay MacDonald
Neville Chamberlain
Full name: Arthur Neville Chamberlain
- The Coroner[36]
Winston Churchill
Full name: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill
- ""Sherlock""
- Winnie[37]
- (British) Bulldog:[38] First given to him by the Russians,[39] it was a reference to his ferociousness and focus.[40]
- Former Naval Person and Naval Person: How Churchill signed many of his telegrams to Franklin D. Roosevelt, first choosing the code name "Naval Person" and later changing it to "Former Naval Person" after he became Prime Minister.[41]
Clement Attlee
Full name:Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee
- Clem[42]
Anthony Eden
Full name: Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon
- The Glamour Boy In reference to his neat appearance.
Harold Macmillan
Full name: Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton
- Supermac[43]
- Mac the Knife,[43] in reference to the Night of the Long Knives.
Alec Douglas-Home
Full name: Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel
Harold Wilson
Full name: James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx
- Wislon[46]
Edward Heath
Full name: Sir Edward Richard George Heath
- Grocer Heath[47]
James Callaghan
Full name: Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff
- Big Jim[48]
- Sunny Jim,[48] a homonym of "Sonny Jim", used to patronise an inexperienced person,[49] and to refer to his optimism.
Margaret Thatcher
Full name: Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (née Roberts)
- Attila the Hen[50]
- The Great She-Elephant,[51][52] an allusion to Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
- The Grocer's Daughter,[53] a double meaning in that she was literally the daughter of a grocer, but also the successor to Edward Heath, "The Grocer".
- The Iron Lady[54]
- Madame Frit, derived from her use of the dialect word frit in the House.[55]
- Maggie[56]
- Milk Snatcher, from her policy as Secretary of State for Education to remove the supply of free milk to young schoolchildren.[57]
John Major
Full name: Sir John Major
- Grey Man[58]
- Honest John
- Prince of Greyness
Tony Blair
Full Name: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair
- Bambi[59]
- Bliar[59]
- America's Poodle: A reference to his Special Relationship with the President of the United States, George W. Bush[60]
- Teflon Tony[61]
Gordon Brown
Full name: James Gordon Brown
- Flash Gordon[62]
- Big Clunking Fist: First used by Tony Blair during his final Queen's Speech debate;[63] later used by columnists throughout the British media.[64][65]
- Bottler Brown: Used in relation to Brown not calling an election in 2007 after previously suggesting he would.[70]
- Golden Brown: Used by Terry Wogan and the TOGs, normally followed by Wogan saying "Never a frown with Golden Brown", a reference to the song "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.[71]
- Gordo[72]
- Great Leader and Stalin: Often sarcastically used by Andrew Neil on This Week in relation to Lord Turnbull's description of Brown as a man who operates with "Stalinist ruthlessness"[73][74] The fortnightly satirical magazine Private Eye also had a mock Stalinist decree each issue, Prime Ministerial Decree.
- Squatter in No. 10 [75][76][77][78]
David Cameron
Full name: David William Donald Cameron
- Dave: Cameron is reported to be known to friends and family as 'Dave' rather than David, although he invariably uses 'David' in public.[79]
- Dave the Chameleon: Dave the Chameleon was the British Labour Party's advertising slogan, and the basis of its political campaign, for the 2006 elections to local government.
- Flashman: a reference to fictional upper-class bully Harry Flashman, used by Ed Miliband during a PMQs debate on reform to the NHS.[80][81]
- Call me Dave[82]
- Hameron:[83][84] In reference to the Piggate scandal.
- Dodgy Dave:[85][86] This nickname was trending on social media with the #DodgyDave hashtag after Labour MP Dennis Skinner was sent out of the House of Commons in April 2016 for referring to Cameron as "Dodgy Dave" and repeating it after being instructed to withdraw it by Speaker John Bercow.[86] This came about during the Panama Papers scandal.[86]
Theresa May
Full name: Theresa Mary May (née Brasier)
- Bloody Difficult Woman:[87][88][89] Originally used by Kenneth Clarke to describe May while preparing for an interview with Sky News, not realising he was being recorded.
- The Steel Lady[90]
- Submarine May[91][92]
- Jackboot May[93] In reference to May's history of pursuing authoritarian policies, such as with the Draft Communications Data Bill.
- Miss Brexit Means Brexit
See also
References
- 1 2 Englefield, Dermot; Seaton, Janet; White, Isobel. Facts about the British Prime Ministers. Mansell, 1995, p. 2.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: Henry Pelham". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Duke of Newcastle". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Bute". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: George Grenville". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Chatham". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: Duke of Grafton". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History Lord North". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Shelburne". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: William Pitt". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ Hague, William (31 August 2004). "He was something between God and man". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Henry Addington". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Lord Grenville". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Spencer Perceval". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: George Canning". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 3 "Prime Ministers in History: Viscount Goderich". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 3 "Prime Ministers in History: Duke of Wellington". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Sir Robert Peel". number-10.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: Earl Russell". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: Earl of Derby". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: Viscount Palmerston". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Benjamin Disraeli". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: William Ewart Gladstone". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ Pearce, Malcolm; Stewart, Geoffrey (1992). British Political History, 1867-1990: Democracy and Decline. Routledge. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
His delicacy of appearance and manners earned him the nickname 'pretty Fanny'.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Arthur James Balfour". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Andrew Marr: The Making of Modern Britain". BBC Television. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Henry Campbell-Bannerman". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Last of the Romans?". The Spectator. London. 6 November 1964. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Herbert Henry Asquith". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "The politics of drinking in power". BBC News. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2006.
Prime Minister Herbert "squiffy" Asquith used to sway on his feet when speaking or answering questions in the House of Commons.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: David Lloyd George". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ Howard, Anthony (30 April 2006). "The first rule of the politician's wife should be: Never leave your husband on his own". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
And the best case ever to be made for that most notorious philanderer of them all, David Lloyd George (not for nothing known as "the Welsh Goat") has always seemed to me to lie in the fact that his wife, Margaret, was asking for trouble when, from the moment of his election for Caernarvon Boroughs in 1890, she insisted on staying in north Wales and not accompanying her husband to London.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Andrew Bonar Law". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Appearance of Evil". Time. New York. 22 September 1924. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ AJP Taylor, English History 1914-1945.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Neville Chamberlain". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Sir Winston Churchill". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ Moynahan, Brian (30 October 2005). "Guarding the bulldog". The Times. London. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
- ↑ Pukas, Anna (2 Nov 2012). "The moment Winston Churchill thought he was finished". express.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ↑ Valaparla, Sneha. "Winston Churchill – The British Bulldog". Read & Digest. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ↑ "The "Special Relationship" : Churchill, Roosevelt and the emergence of the Anglo-American Alliance, 1939-1945". The British Diplomatic Files. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
Churchill responded with alacrity and mild humor, choosing the transparent code name "Naval Person," that he would later change to "Former Naval Person" once he had left the Admiralty and moved to the Prime Minister's Residence at number 10 Downing Street.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Clement Attlee". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: Harold Macmillan". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ Patrick Marnham, "The Private Eye Story", Fontana/Collins, 1983, p. 74.
- ↑ "Exclusive Private Eye audio recordings: a 50-year comedy tradition". The Guardian. London. 5 November 2011.
Arising from a mistaken photo caption in a Scottish newspaper, the Eye decided to dub PM Sir Alex Douglas-Home as Baillie Vass.
- ↑ Popularised by the fornightly satirical magazine Private Eye.
- ↑ MacShane, Denis (25 July 2005). "Held in misguided contempt". New Statesman. London. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
I had grown up with the Grocer Heath image from Private Eye, and marched against his industrial relations reforms in the 1970s - although his proposals would have left unions legally stronger than they are today under the EU Social Charter.
- 1 2 "Prime Ministers in History: James Callaghan". number-10.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ "Sonny Jim". Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ↑ Rifkind, Malcolm (8 May 2000). "Attila the Hen". New Statesman. London. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
Denis Healey, with characteristic charm, once referred to her as "Attila the Hen".
- ↑ Rentoul, John (13 May 2007). "Blair the betrayed: Labour will be oh-so-sorry when he's gone". The Independent. London. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
And it is why he will tender his resignation from the office of Prime Minister on 27 June this year rather than at the end of next year, which would have given him a longer stretch at the top than the Great She-Elephant herself.
- ↑ Rawnsley, Andrew (1 July 2007). "The new Prime Minister is master of his universe". The Observer. London. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
A Spitting Image sketch had a waiter asking her what she wanted for dinner. 'Steak,' replied the Great She Elephant. 'And what about the vegetables?' Withering the cabinet, she delivered the punchline: 'They'll have the same.'
- ↑ Beckman, Jonathan (30 December 2007). "Margaret Thatcher, Volume One: The Grocer's Daughter by John Campbell". The Observer.
- ↑ "Prime Ministers in History: Margaret Thatcher". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/04/margaretthatcher/
- ↑ Walker, Tim (21 July 2008). "Maggie Thatcher speaks out in defence of Gordon Brown". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
- ↑ "The truth about Thatcher Thatcher milk snatcher". BBC News. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
Years before she entered Number 10 as prime minister was the one that left her dubbed "Thatcher, Thatcher Milk Snatcher".
- ↑ "John Major - The grey man of British politics?". Oxford University Press. OALD Online. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
Major had been considered a decent but uninspiring person who was known as the "grey man" of politics.
- 1 2 "A decade of Tony Blair: From Bambi to Bliar". The Economist. London. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
Mr Blair walked into Downing Street as the youngest prime minister since 1812. His political nickname, at the time, was "Bambi".... The suspicion that Mr Blair misled voters over Iraq has become an accusation of bad faith that has been impossible to shake off. By now a common nickname for the prime minister was "Bliar".
- ↑ Rob Watson (31 January 2003). "Tony Blair: The US poodle?". BBC News. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
"America's Poodle" is the insult of choice hurled by critics of Tony Blair for his support for President Bush.
- ↑ Riddell, Peter (10 November 2005). "The collapse of Teflon Tony.". The Times. London. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
TONY BLAIR no longer commands. Teflon Tony is dead. [...] Yesterday's defeat in the Commons is a serious blow for Labour's credibility as a governing party.
(subscription required) - ↑ "PM downplays 'saving world' gaffe". BBC News. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
Some detractors have jokingly compared him to the fantasy film hero - and partial namesake - Flash Gordon, who rescued earth from attack by Martians.
- ↑ Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (15 November 2006). "Commons Debates". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 6th series. 453. House of Commons (United Kingdom). col. 29.
The next election will be a flyweight versus a heavyweight. However much the right hon. Gentleman may dance around the ring beforehand, at some point, he will come within the reach of a big clunking fist, and you know what, he will be out on his feet, carried out of the ring
- ↑ Kettle, Martin (18 March 2009). "'Clunking fist' - down but not out". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
- ↑ Ashley, Jackie (8 January 2007). "Control freaks beware, the big clunking fist is after you". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ↑ Assinder, Nick (19 September 2014). "Was It Gordon Brown's 'Great Clunking Fist' That Won It For the No Campaign?". International Business Times. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ Hitchens, Peter (22 February 2010). "The great clunking fist". Daily Mail. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ Muir, Hugh (9 July 2013). "A happy landing for the great clunking fist of Gordon Brown". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ↑ Kellner, Peter (12 September 2014). "The power of Brown's clunking fist". The Times. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
Shortly before Tony Blair stepped down as prime minister, he warned David Cameron to beware Gordon Brown’s "great clunking fist"
Hitchens, Peter (22 February 2010). "The great clunking fist". Daily Mail. Retrieved 29 June 2015. - ↑ Rawnsley, Andrew (7 November 2007). "They will call him Bottler Brown and it is going to hurt". The Observer. London. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
The Tories will try to stick him with the nickname 'Bottler Brown'. That's a soubriquet he is going to hate, not least because it is a label with history.
- ↑ "Golden Brown". The Guardian. London. 11 March 1999. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ↑ Parris, Matthew (30 May 2009). "Let's go. We can't. We're waiting for Gordo". The Times. London. Retrieved 23 November 2009. (subscription required)
- ↑ Gimson, Andrew (29 November 2007). "Gordon Brown: From Stalin to Mr Bean". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
- ↑ "Brown accused of 'ruthlessness'". BBC News. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
The chancellor has a Macavity quality. He is not there when there is dirty work to be done.... You can choose whether you are impressed or depressed by that, but you cannot help admire the sheer Stalinist ruthlessness of it all.
- ↑ Boden, Nicola (10 May 2010). "From green-eyed Chancellor to the 'squatter of No10, Gordon Brown finally admits he can't hang on to job he coveted for so long". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
- ↑ Rentoul, John (14 December 2010). "Gordon the Squatter". The Independent. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ↑ Newton Dunn, Tom (8 May 2010). "Gordon Brown squatting in No 10". The Sun. London. Retrieved 3 September 2010. (subscription required)
- ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo060420/debtext/60420-05.htm
- ↑ Rumbelow, Helen (21 May 2005)."The gilded youth whose son steeled him in adversity". The Times (London). Retrieved 4 September 2007.
- ↑ Letts, Quentin (12 May 2011). "'Flashman' just makes Cameron sound more sexy and swaggery". Daily Mail. London.
- ↑ "Cameron like bully Flashman, says Miliband". BBC News. 11 May 2011.
- ↑ Evans, Lloyd (25 July 2014). "Call Me Dave still has much to learn from The Master". spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ↑ McTague, Tom (21 September 2015). "'NOW I understand why Miliband didn't like that bacon sandwich: David HAMERON ridiculed on Twitter over #piggate". Daily Mail.
- ↑ Grierson, Jamie (21 September 2015). "From #piggate to #Hameron: how Twitter reacted to David Cameron claims". The Guardian.
- ↑ Metro.co.uk, Nicholas Reilly for (2016-04-11). "Dennis Skinner booted from Commons after calling David Cameron 'dodgy Dave'". Metro. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- 1 2 3 "Twitter picked up where Dennis Skinner left off after his "dodgy Dave" jibe". BT.com. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
- ↑ Gayle, Damien (9 July 2016). "'Britain needs 'bloody difficult women', says Theresa May". The Guardian.
- ↑ Malone, Carole (9 July 2016). "If Theresa May is a 'bloody difficult woman' she'll make a good PM". The Mirror.
- ↑ "Ken Clarke recorded criticising Tory hopefuls". BBC News. 5 June 2016.
- ↑ "The Steel Lady strikes". The Times. 17 July 2016.
- ↑ "How Theresa torpedoed Cameron and Boris Johnson said Leave would LOSE: Explosive new book by No10 spin chief reveals the inside story of Brexit". Daily Mail. 25 September 2016.
- ↑ "David Cameron 'let down' by Theresa May, says former PM aide". BBC News. 25 September 2016.
- ↑ "Jackboot May bans Tyler the Creator from UK in latest free speech clampdown". The Right Dishonourable. Retrieved 21 November 2016.