Four of the ten shortest-serving Prime Ministers in British history since 1900 held office in the last seven years alone. 

In the visualization above, we ranked Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom with the fewest days in office from 1900 to 2026. 

It is based on data published by The Independent in July 2026.

TL;DR

• Four of Britain’s ten shortest-serving Prime Ministers since 1900 held office in the last seven years, a concentration with no parallel in 126 years of recorded political history
• Liz Truss holds the all-time record at just 49 days, while Keir Starmer’s confirmed 745-day tenure places him sixth on the shortest list after resigning following a Labor Party revolt.

Andy Burnham became the UK’s Prime Minister on July 20, 2026, after succeeding Sir Keir Starmer as the leader of the Labor Party and accepting an invitation from King Charles III to form a government. 

The Record That Defines the Era

Liz Truss served 49 days in 2022, the shortest tenure in 126 years of British political history.

 The second-shortest entry in the entire dataset is Andrew Bonar Law at 211 days, recorded in 1922-23. 

The gap between first and second place is 162 days. 

Truss set one record so extreme that the next closest entry is more than four times longer. 

Her 49 days ended before a standard parliamentary recess would have concluded, removed by her own party following a market crisis triggered by her government’s mini-budget.

One party, One term, Three entries

Between 2019 and 2024, the Conservative Party produced three separate entries on the all-time shortest list within a single parliamentary term. 

Boris Johnson served 1,089 days before resigning under pressure from his own MPs in 2022. Truss followed at 49 days. 

Rishi Sunak then served 619 days before losing the 2024 general election. 

Starmer’s Entry: the Mandate That Didn’t Hold

Keir Starmer entered office in July 2024 with one of the largest parliamentary majorities in modern British political history.

He exits with a confirmed tenure of 745 days, placing him sixth on the all-time shortest list.

His removal came not through an election but through a Labor Party revolt, the same internal mechanism that ended Johnson’s tenure three years earlier. 

Three of the four modern entries on this list ended through party revolt rather than electoral defeat. 

It’s a structural shift in how British Prime Ministers now lose power.

Seven Leaders, One Decade

Since 2016, Britain has had David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, and now Andy Burnham. 

The combined tenure of the four modern entries is approximately 2,502 days, roughly 6.85 years, across four separate governments with four separate policy agendas on tax, spending, energy, and trade. 

Markets watch each transition closely because policy direction can shift with every new occupant of Downing Street. 

ELI5

Britain has had seven different Prime Ministers in the last ten years, which is unusually fast even by historical standards. 

Four of those seven already appear on the list of the shortest-serving UK leaders since 1900. Liz Truss holds the record at just 49 days, and Keir Starmer lasted 745 days before being forced out by his own party. 

Andy Burnham is now in charge and has promised to bring stability back.

Source: 

The Independent