List of fictional prime ministers of the United Kingdom

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The portrayals of fictional prime ministers of the United Kingdom have been either completely fictional figures, or composite figures based on real-life people, or real-life figures who have never been prime minister other than in fiction.

List of fictional prime ministers

Real people on this list are marked:dagger

Prime Minister Work Medium Year(s) Actor Notes Ref.
David Love Actually Film 2003 Hugh Grant [1][2][3][4][5]
Thomas Andrews A Very British Coup Novel 1982 Harry Perkins' predecessor as Prime Minister, Andrews was the head of a Conservative-SDP Government of National Unity which suffered a landslide defeat to Labour. Thereafter, Andrews served as the Leader of the Opposition.
A Very British Coup Television 1988 Roger Brierley Andrews was the head of a Conservative majority government which lost in a landslide defeat in the 1991 general election to Labour following a banking sector crisis brought about by revelations of misconduct uncovered by Labour leader Harry Perkins. Andrews thereafter served as Leader of the Opposition. He was mentioned as representing the Surrey East constituency.
Alan B'Stard The New Statesman Television 1992 Rik Mayall In the final episode "The Irresistible Rise of Alan B'Stard", Alan B'Stard, as leader of the New Patriotic Party, became an extra-parliamentary Prime Minister as he did not contest a seat during the general election called over British membership of the European Economic Community. When his deputy leader Paddy O'Rourke suggested that he rather than B'Stard would become Prime Minister as a result, B'Stard briefly considered using his party's mandate to become a dictatorial Lord Protector instead. [1][2]
Baldrick Blackadder: Back & Forth Short film 1999 Tony Robinson After accidentally constructing a working time machine designed by Leonardo da Vinci so that his master Lord Blackadder could win £30,000 in a New Year's prank-cum-bet, Baldrick became the puppet Prime Minister to Edmund III of the United Kingdom after they used the time machine to manipulate history for their benefit. [1][6]
Lord Beaverbrookdagger Dominion Novel 2012 [7]
Lord Bellinger The Adventure of the Second Stain Short story 1904 Collected in The Return of Sherlock Holmes [8]
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Film 1922 Cecil Ward Episode: "The Second Stain" [9]
Sherlock Holmes Television 1951 J. Leslie Frith Episode: "The Second Stain" [10]
Sherlock Holmes Television 1968 Cecil Parker Episode: "The Second Stain" [11]
The Return of Sherlock Holmes Television 1986 Harry Andrews Episode: "The Second Stain" [12]
Isambard Kingdom Brunel dagger The Difference Engine Novel 1990 A member of the Industrial Radical Party, formed following Charles Babbage's successful development of a working Analytical Engine and the early arrival of the Information Revolution, Brunel succeeded Lord Byron following his death in 1855 amidst rioting during to the Great Stink. [13]
Lord Byron dagger The Difference Engine Novel 1990 A member of the Industrial Radical Party, which formed following Charles Babbage's successful development of a working Analytical Engine and the early arrival of the Information Revolution. Lord Byron became Prime Minister in 1831 following the Duke of Wellington's unsuccessful coup d'etat to keep the Tory government in power and subsequent assassination. Byron died in office in 1855 amidst rioting during to the Great Stink. [13]
Michael Callow Black Mirror Television 2011 Rory Kinnear Episode: "The National Anthem". [1][2][4]
Mortimer Chris Whoops Apocalypse Film 1986 Peter Cook [3][5]
Gladraeli Clampvulture Bleak Expectations Radio 2012 Geoffrey Whitehead In the Series 5 finale "A Loved-Up Life Potentially Totally Annihilated", he refused to assist Pip Bin in foiling Mr Benevolent's plan to destroy the universe until learning that doing so would be a "huge vote winner", but only doing so with an ineffective one-man British Isles Defence Force. He dies after an enraged Pip throws him into Benevolent's Universe Destroying Device. He was a member of the Clampvulture family, whose members suffered bizarre and violent deaths aiding either Pip or Mr Benevolent. [6]
Leighton Clarkson London Has Fallen Film 2016 Guy Williams [14]
Adam Cornwell Red Election Television 2021 James D'Arcy [15]
Mr Daubeny Phineas Redux Novel 1873 [16][17]
Alastair Davies 24: Live Another Day Television 2014 Stephen Fry Composite of David Cameron and Boris Johnson [1][2]
Tom Dawkins Secret State Television 2012 Gabriel Byrne Formerly the Deputy Prime Minister to Charles Flyte, he succeeded Flyte after his death in a plane crash. After discovering a plot to engineer a war against Iran, he calls a vote of no confidence against his own government. [18]
Hector d'Estrange Gloriana, or the Revolution of 1900 Novel 1890 Character is a pseudonym of Gloria De Lara [19][20]
Dawn Ellison Roadkill Television 2020 Helen McCrory
Tristan Evans King Charles III Film 2017 Adam James [21]
Endymion Ferrars Endymion Novel 1880 [22]
Brian Green Torchwood: Children of Earth Television 2009 Nicholas Farrell [23]
Mr Gresham Phineas Redux Novel 1873 [16]
Jim Hacker Yes, Prime Minister Television 1986–1988 Paul Eddington Previously the Minister for Administrative Affairs and Party Chairman, Hacker became Prime Minister in Party Games after the surprise retirement of his predecessor. Hacker positioned himself as a moderate candidate after learning that the Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer (the likely successors following the Home Secretary's resignation due to drink-driving) both posed serious security risks. In companion books written as published diary entries, Hacker ceased being Prime Minister after leading his party to defeat at the next general election. [1][4][6]
Yes, Prime Minister Television 2013 David Haig Depicted as the leader of a coalition government during the Eurozone Crisis, the series revolves around his efforts to secure a multi-trillion dollar interest-free loan from Kumranistan as a solution. [24]
Lord Halifaxdagger The Afrika Reich Novel 2011 [25]
Dominion Novel 2012 [26]
The Madagaskar Plan Novel 2015 [27]
John Hatcher Doomsday Film 2008 Alexander Siddig [28]
James Jaspers Comics Character in Marvel Universe [6]
Harriet Jones Doctor Who Television 2005 Penelope Wilton Episode: "The Christmas Invasion". Whilst in the two-part story "Aliens of London" / "World War Three", the Doctor states that she would serve as a successful three-term Prime Minister, having met her as a backbench MP, he manages to instigate a vote of no confidence against her as revenge for her ordering the destruction of the retreating Sycorax ship. (Yes, we know who she is.) [1][6][2]
Adam Lang The Ghost Writer Film 2010 Pierce Brosnan Based on Tony Blair [2][3]
Peter Laurence Roadkill Television 2020 Hugh Laurie Previously the Transport Secretary and the Justice Secretary, he was appointed to the latter position by Prime Minister Dawn Ellison amidst prison rioting in a bid to undermine his popularity. Laurence was embroiled in numerous scandals, including two extramarital affairs with one resulting in issue and his daughter Susan being photographed taking cocaine, and often contradicted government policy, such as supporting the decriminalisation of drugs and opposing the imprisonment of non-violent offenders. He was being investigated by journalist Charmian Pepper, against whom he had won a libel case, for his involvement with an American think tank which sought to privatise the National Health Service. Becoming Prime Minister following Ellison's resignation, Laurence's premiership was immediately jeopardised after his wife Helen's refusal to liquidate a shell company opened under her name.
Arthur Lytton Seven Days to Noon Film 1950 Ronald Adam [14][5]
David MacAdam The Kidnapped Prime Minister Short story 1923 Collected in Poirot Investigates [29]
Oswald Mosleydagger The Leader Novel 2003 [30]
Duke of Omnium The Prime Minister Novel 1876 [31]
Gwen Oxlade Henry IX Television 2017 Pippa Haywood [32]
Jo Patterson Doctor Who Television 2021 Harriet Walter Episode: "Revolution of the Daleks" [33]
Harry Perkins A Very British Coup Novel 1982 After being unsuccessfully opposed by the Civil Service, the General Staff, newspaper magnate Sir George Fison, and the United States through several plots, Perkins is forced to resign after a meltdown at a nuclear power station whose creation he supported as Secretary of State for the Public Sector. He represented the Sheffield Central constituency. The sequel novel The Friends of Harry Perkins, published in 2019 and set forty years after the events of A Very British Coup, opens with Harry Perkins' funeral. [6]
A Very British Coup Television 1988 Ray McAnally Following much of the plot of the novel, albeit with Perkins opposed to nuclear power, Perkins is presented with forged evidence of financial irregularity suggesting he accepted £300,000 from the Soviet Government as part of loan negotiations with the International State Bank of Moscow, implicating his former lover Helen Jarvis. With Fison's newspapers falsely speculating on Perkins' health, he uses a live national broadcast intended for the announcement of his resignation on grounds of ill health to reveal the blackmail conspiracy and to call an early general election. On Election Day morning, it is implied that a military coup has begun. He represented the Sheffield Central constituency. [34]
Mrs Plumber The Third World War Novel 1978 Based on Margaret Thatcher [35][36]
Keith Price Late Night Mash Television 2022 Josh Pugh During a Newsdeck report, it was announced that due to difficulties in appointing a long-term Prime Minister, members of the public were to be randomly selected and appointed to serve in the role for two week tenures, similar to jury service. During a press conference, Keith Price, formerly a plumber from Cambridge and the first Prime Minister appointed under the new system, announced his policies of banning strawberries (as his wife was allergic), prohibiting non-regular customers at the Merchant's Arms pub in Cambridge from sitting at the bar, pursuing a moon mission, and bombing France. [37]
Rosamund Jane Pritchard The Amazing Mrs Pritchard Television 2006 Jane Horrocks Originally a supermarket manager from Eatanswill, Yorkshire. After standing as an independent candidate out of anger at the state of British politics, she formed the Purple Alliance, a third-way party whose members were former Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and predominantly female. Promising never to deceive voters, her spontaneous approach to decision-making leads her proposing Green Wednesday, during which car use would be banned. [2][34]
Michael Rimmer The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer Film 1970 Peter Cook Based on David Frost. Formerly a pollster and Conservative Party advisor, Rimmer became Prime Minister after murdering his predecessor. Rimmer gained dictatorial powers in a referendum after generating extreme levels of voter apathy by requiring the electorate to engage in constant postal voting and televoting on trivial or complex matters. [38]
Vivienne Rook Years and Years Television 2019 Emma Thompson The leader of the far-right, populist Four Star Party (named after her tactic of swearing on pre-watershed television to appeal to disaffected voters). She was the first incumbent Prime Minister to be arrested, charged with murder and conspiracy to murder for the establishment of so-called 'Erstwhile Sites' for the detainment of asylum seekers and economic migrants. Although incarcerated, it is implied that she escaped with the aid of powerful sponsors and was replaced with a double. [39]
Harold Saxon Doctor Who Television 2007 John Simm Episode: "The Sound of Drums". Alias of The Master, an evil Time Lord and one of The Doctor's archenemies. [1]
Peter St John Zenith Comics 1987–2000 [6]
Michael Stevens Little Britain Television 2003 Anthony Head [6][4]
Reginald Stevens No Love for Johnnie Novel 1959 [6]
No Love for Johnnie Film 1961 Geoffrey Keen [6]
Robert Sutherland Cobra Television 2020 Robert Carlyle [40]
Adam Susan V for Vendetta Graphic novel 1982–1985 A former police chief constable, he and the Norsefire Party rose to power by exploiting poverty, chaos, and panic following a worldwide nuclear war, whereafter he adopted the title of Leader. A lifelong virgin and possibly a repressed homosexual, Susan falls in love with the super-computer Fate after the anarchistic terrorist V manipulated it to express the emotion of love to drive Susan insane.
Adam Sutler V for Vendetta Film 2006 John Hurt Based on Adam Susan from the original comic series. Formerly the Conservative Under-Secretary of Defence, he founded the Norsefire Party, whose patrons developed the St Marys virus and corresponding cure, using them to perpetrate false flag attacks and win a general election, respectively. Sutler held the title of High Chancellor following the establishment of the Norsefire dictatorship. In exchange for the surrender of the anarchistic terrorist V, Sutler is kidnapped and executed by Creedy, the leader of the Finger (the military police). [3]
Henry Tobin Party's Over Radio 2019 Miles Jupp The former Prime Minister, the series is set in the aftermath of Tobin's disastrous eight-month-long premiership and follows his misadventures as he attempts to repair his reputation and find lucrative employment. In the pilot, his time in office ended following a landslide defeat to the Opposition and the loss of his own seat in a snap general election, and his own unceremonious removal as party leader, although in later episodes it is implied that he lost a vote of no confidence. It is implied that he was a Conservative, having succeeded real-life Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May and mentioned several Conservative ministers as former colleagues. [41]
Francis Urquhart To Play the King Novel 1993 After the newly crowned king criticises many of Urquhart's policies and establishes himself as an unofficial Leader of the Opposition, Urquhart wins a majority in a snap general election, thus forcing the king to abdicate in favour of his son. [42]
To Play the King Television 1993 Ian Richardson [42]
The Final Cut Novel 1995 [42]
The Final Cut Television 1995 Ian Richardson [42]
John Vosler Bodyguard Television 2018 David Westhead Forced to resign after a kompromat originally given to Home Secretary Julia Montague was leaked following her assassination. [14]
Lawrence Wainwright A Very British Coup Novel 1982 Initially serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Wainwright was a co-conspirator in a plot to stymie the legislative agenda of Prime Minister Harry Perkins, hoping to become Prime Minister himself as a result. After his role in organising a power workers' strike designed to destroy Perkins' credibility is discovered by Perkins and his loyalists, Wainwright is demoted to Northern Ireland Secretary. After Perkins' resignation, Wainwright was elected leader by a majority of Labour MPs whilst Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House Jock Steeples was declared acting leader by the Labour Party National Executive. After the King appointed Wainwright as Prime Minister after the intervention of DI5, civil disruption and abortive legal procedings against Wainwright ensued. After replacing the entire Cabinet, Wainwright abandoned Perkins' policies of British withdrawal from NATO and nuclear disarmament.
Horace Wilsondagger Settling Accounts: In at the Death Novel 2007 In an alternate timeline in which the Confederate States won the War of Secession over the United States, the Second Great War (1941-1944) in Europe witnesses the destruction of London, Norwich and Brighton (alongside Paris and Petrograd) by German superbombs. After the ousting of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chancellor of the Exchequer Oswald Mosley, Horace Wilson was installed as a caretaker Prime Minister tasked with negotiating peace with the victorious Central Powers.
The War That Came Early Novel series 2009-2014 In an alternate timeline in which the Second World War began in 1938 due to the assassination of Konrad Henlein by a Czech nationalist, Horace Wilson succeeded Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister in 1940 (Winston Churchill having been killed by a drink-driver). As a result of his increasingly anti-democratic leadership, a relatively bloodless military coup occurred in 1941 resulting in Wilson and his Cabinet being placed in preventative detention and replaced by a military junta which respected civil liberties and voices of dissent.
Sidney Wilton Endymion Novel 1880 [43]
Unnamed Lifeforce Film 1985 Peter Porteous [5]
Unnamed North Sea Hijack Film 1980 Faith Brook [5]
Unnamed The Tunnel Film 1935 George Arliss [5]
Unnamed Stormbreaker Novel 2000 [44]
Unnamed Stormbreaker Film 2006 Robbie Coltrane [5]
Unnamed Percy's Progress Film 1974 Harry H. Corbett [5]
Unnamed Carry On Emmannuelle Film 1978 Robert Dorning [5]
Unnamed Random Harvest Film 1942 Edward Fielding [5]
Unnamed Heavens Above! Film 1963 Colin Gordon [5]
Unnamed Water Film 1985 Maureen Lipman [5]
Unnamed Mr Stink Novel 2009 [45]
Dave Mr Stink TV Film 2012 David Walliams David Walliams is the author of the original novel. Could have been named after David Cameron. [46]
Unnamed Damage Film 1992 Tony Doyle [5]
Unnamed Poirot Television 1990 Henry Moxon Episode: "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" [47]
Unnamed ICE TV Film 2011 Simon Callow [48][circular reference]

See also

References

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  48. ^ {{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_(British_TV_series)}
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