All the Prime Ministers who have served throughout the Queen’s reign

The Queen is not in for a gentle start back to work having returned from holiday to a collapsed government.

Boris Johnson has quit as prime minister after some 50 ministers and MPs called for him to resign in the wake of the Chris Pincher affair, partygate and multiple other scandals.

Her Majesty enjoyed a five-day break on her Sandringham estate in Norfolk and returned to Windsor Castle yesterday.

Thrown right back in the deep end, the Queen will now be will preparing to welcome her 15th prime minister as Mr Johnson, the 14th, is forced out.

Here is a look at every PM the Queen has worked with throughout her 70-year reign.

1. Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was the first prime minister to head the country after Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1952.

The World War Two leader met the Queen as she arrived back from Kenya after the sudden death of her dad King George VI.

When he retired in 1955, the Queen sent him a hand-written letter telling him how much she missed him and how no successor ‘will ever be able to hold the place of [her] first prime minister’.

2. Anthony Eden

Sir Winston was succeeded by Tory leader Anthony Eden who was in power for less than two years – between April 1955 to January 1957.

Not as many details are known about Mr Eden’s relationship with Her Majesty but it was said to be much more formal.

3. Harold Macmillan

Mr Macmillan was in office from January 1957 to October 1963.

He was reportedly very different to the Queen, being a city enthusiast in contrast to Her Majesty who is most at home in the country.

The pair were famously seen together while they listened to radio announcements about US astronaut John Glenn going to space in 1962.

4. Alec Douglas-Home

Mr Douglas-Home only led for a year – October 1963 and October 1964.

However, he still managed to strike up a relationship with the Queen in that short time, reportedly bonding over their shared love of dogs.

An aide once said: ‘He was an old friend. They talked about dogs and shooting together. They were both Scottish landowners, the same sort of people, like old schoolfriends.’

5. Harold Wilson

Like Sir Winston, Labour’s Harold Wilson won the Queen over as the two reportedly ‘got on like a house on fire’.

The leader would often join members of the Royal Family for riverside picnics at Balmoral.

Mr Wilson held office in Number 10 twice – between October 1964 and June 1970 and again between March 1974 and April 1976.

6. Sir Edward Heath

Sir Edward, a Tory, led the country between Mr Wilson’s two stints – from June 1970 and March 1974.

Conversely, he reportedly struggled to make small talk with the Queen and their relationship was described as ‘frosty’.

7. James Callaghan

The complete opposite was true for Mr Callaghan, a Labour politician who served between April 1976 and May 1979.

He once said about the Queen: ‘One of the great things about her is that she always seems able to see the funny side of life.

‘All the conversations were very enjoyable.’

8. Margaret Thatcher

The extremely divisive prime minister was said to find the traditional September weekend at Balmoral ‘painful’.

One observer wrote: ‘A weekend in the country with aristocrats who enjoy riding, shooting, sports and games is Thatcher’s idea of torture.

‘But her dread of the weekend receded as the two women became somewhat more comfortable with one another.’

When Baroness Thatcher died in April 2013, the Queen took the unusual step of attending her ceremonial funeral – a personal decision and an indication of the Queen’s respect for her first female prime minister.

9. Sir John Major

Sir John, who was leader from November 1990 to May 1997, was believed to have won over the hearts of all the Royals.

This is because he showed genuine concern for Prince William and Prince Harry after their parents’ divorce and after their mum Diana died.

10. Sir Tony Blair

The prime minister who led the UK into war with Iraq had a long leadership of 10 years – from May 1997 and June 2007. 

The Labour politician was not enormously popular with royalists as he was seen as an advocate of a ‘people’s monarchy’.

Sir Tony revealed some of his conversations with the Queen in his memoirs and once described a weekend in Balmoral as ‘a vivid combination of the intriguing, the surreal and the utterly freaky’.

Their relationship was thought to be fairly formal.

11. Gordon Brown

Similarly Mr Brown was said to keep his relationship with the Queen formal.

The Labour leader served from June 2007 and May 2010.

Neither Sir Tony nor Mr Brown were invited to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding in 2011.

12. David Cameron

Mr Cameron, who occupied Number 10 from May 2010 to July 2016, famously had to apologise to the Queen in 2014.

He was caught on camera telling the then New York mayor Michael Bloomberg that the monarch had ‘purred down the line’ when he told her the result of the Scottish independence referendum.

The implication that Her Majesty was happy Scotland would stay in the UK would have been seen as a betrayal given that she has previously refused to disclose her political position.

13. Theresa May

The second ever female prime minister led the country in the wake of the Brexit vote from July 2016.

Her Majesty was reportedly sad to see Ms May go after she resigned in July 2019.

Ahead of the Platinum Jubilee, Mrs May told the House of Commons: ‘She has seen prime ministers come and go, I was number 13.

‘She has greeted us all with charm and consideration and with an impressive knowledge and understanding of the issues of the day.’

14. Boris Johnson

Her Majesty has typically not given away any clues on how she feels about the current prime minister. Mr Johnson, however, has not hidden his affection.

Within a few hours of accepting his leadership role, he spoke about the Queen’s sense of humour and revealed she had told him: ‘I don’t know why anyone would want the job’.

During a Parliamentary tribute to the Queen in her Jubilee year, Mr Johnson said that his regular meetings with the monarch were always ‘immensely comforting, because she has seen the sweep of it’.

However, Mr Johnson has had to formally apologise to the Queen twice – when the Supreme Court ruled his and Jacob Rees-Mogg’s advice to prorogue Parliament for five weeks ‘unlawful’.

And also when Downing Street was busted for having two staff leaving events the night before Covid rules forced the Queen to sit alone at Prince Philip’s funeral.

What next?

It is likely the Tories, and the country, should have a new leader before the next party conference in October.

But others within the Conservative Party believe it would be better if Mr Johnson went now, while a caretaker Prime Minister – potentially the deputy PM Dominic Raab – holds the fort.

If this happens, it would mean Mr Johnson would have served for less time than his predecessor Theresa May.

Once the logistics of this are decided, a leadership contest will take place. Her Majesty will then welcome her 15th prime minister.

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