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prime minister
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Walpole, Robert Cardinal de Richelieu Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher speaks at a podium with microphones and an open folder at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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Margaret Thatcher at the Tory Party Conference in Blackpool, Oct. 14, 1981. British Conservative politician and first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Great Britain (1979-90).
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Walpole, Robert
Walpole, Robert Robert Walpole, detail of an oil painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, c. 1710–15; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

prime minister

government official
Also known as: premier
Written by
Patrick Dunleavy
Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. Coeditor of Prime Minister, Cabinet and Core Executive, Developments in British...
Patrick Dunleavy
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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prime minister, the head of government in a country with a parliamentary or semipresidential political system. In such systems, the prime minister—literally the “first,” or most important, minister—must be able to command a continuous majority in the legislature (usually the lower house in a bicameral system) to remain in office. Most countries with prime ministers have two executives, a head of government (the prime minister) and a head of state (generally either a non-executive president...

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