British Isles Politics Flashcards
Who is regarded as the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the modern sense taking office in 1721?
ROBERT WALPOLE
What is the address of the terraced house that is the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer?
11 DOWNING STREET
The Prime Minister at the outbreak of World War II in 1939 who attempted to maintain “peace for our time” through appeasement of Germany?
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN
Which Prime Minster made the “white heat of technology” speech at the 1963 Labour Party conference?
HAROLD WILSON
Who served as MP for Oldham Manchester North West Dundee Epping and Woodford between 1900 and 1964?
WINSTON CHURCHILL
Serving from 1809 to 1812 who is the only Prime Minister to be assassinated?
SPENCER PERCEVAL
Which parliamentary constituency has been represented since its 1997 creation by Theresa May?
MAIDENHEAD
Who served as Prime Minister four separate times between 1868 and 1894?
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE
Gwynfor Evans was the first MP to represent which political party at Westminster?
PLAID CYMRU
Which former leader of the Liberal Democrats served as a Royal Marine and Special Boat Service officer and as an intelligence officer in the UK security services?
PADDY ASHDOWN
In 1924 who became the first Labour Party Prime Minister?
RAMSAY MACDONALD
Margaret Thatcher served as MP for which parliamentary constituency from 1959 to 1992?
FINCHLEY
Who was Prime Minister at the start of World War I in 1914?
HERBERT HENRY ASQUITH
The House of Commons consists of how many Members of Parliament?
650
After winning the seat of Plymouth Sutton in 1919 who became the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat?
NANCY ASTOR
In 1793 who became the youngest person to serve as Prime Minister aged 24?
WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER
Who is to date the only politician in history to have served in all four of the ‘Great Offices of State’ (Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary)?
JAMES CALLAGHAN
In which city was Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson born in 1964?
NEW YORK CITY
After John Smith died in 1994 who took over as interim leader of the Labour Party?
MARGARET BECKETT
Which First Lord of the Treasury was the first person to be officially called ‘Prime Minister’ serving from 1905 to 1908?
HENRY CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN
Tony Blair was MP for which parliamentary constituency from 1983 to 2007?
SEDGEFIELD
John Swinney was the leader of which political party from 2000 to 2004?
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
What is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of the House of Commons?
BABY OF THE HOUSE
Who said “I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole” when he became Prime Minister for the first time in 1868?
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
Born in the colony of New Brunswick (now in Canada) who is the only British Prime Minister to have been born outside the British Isles?
ANDREW BONAR LAW
Which Minister of Transport introduced the breathalyser and also made permanent the 70mph speed limit?
BARBARA CASTLE
Who did Winston Churchill describe as “a modest little man who has a great deal to be modest about” and as “a sheep in sheep’s clothing”?
CLEMENT ATTLEE
Which Labour Chancellor claimed that an attack from Geoffrey Howe was “like being savaged by a dead sheep”?
DENNIS HEALEY
The Parliament Act of 1911 reduced the maximum term of a parliament from how many years to five years?
SEVEN
Which political party was founded by Eamon de Valera in 1926?
FIANNA FAIL
In which city did Harold Macmillan make the famous “wind of change” speech in1960?
CAPE TOWN
Which Chancellor of the Exchequer remarked in 1907 that the Lords had become “not the watchdog of the Constitution but Mr. Balfour’s poodle”?
DAVID LLOYD GEORGE
The Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 was signed by Margaret Thatcher and Garret fitzgerald at which building in County Down?
HILLSBOROUGH CASTLE
What is the name of the directly elected lower branch of Tynwald the parliament of the Isle of Man?
HOUSE OF KEYS
Who is considered to have been Britain’s second Prime Minister serving from 1742 until his death in 1743?
SPENCER COMPTON (1ST EARL OF WILMINGTON)
What was the name of the document signed by the “Gang of Four” in 1981 which signalled their intent to leave the Labour Party?
LIMEHOUSE DECLARATION
Edward Heath described events at which company run by Tiny Rowland as “the unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism”?
LONRHO
The National Assembly for Wales is composed of how many members known as ams or Assembly Members?
60
What was the name of the father of David and Ed Miliband who was a sociologist known as a prominent Marxist thinker?
RALPH MILIBAND
Appointed Minister of Labour in the Labour government of 1929–31 who was the first female cabinet minister?
MARGARET BONDFIELD
Which Welsh Labour Party politician said at a party rally in 1948: “no amount of cajolery can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party….They are lower than vermin”?
ANEURIN (NYE) BEVAN
In 1782 the Earl of Shelburne became the first person to hold which political office?
HOME SECRETARY
What was the name of the political party formed by Oswald Mosley in 1931?
NEW PARTY
Who succeeded Mary Robinson as president of Ireland in 1997 becoming the world’s first woman to succeed another as president?
MARY MCALEESE
Which department store’s name was given to the list of expenses that mps could claim before 2010 after which the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) was set up to administer mps’ business expenses?
JOHN LEWIS
Serving as MP for Montgomery from 1997 to 2010 which Liberal Democrat has been described as “the minister for anagrams” and “the walking Scrabble hand”?
LEMBIT OPIK
What name was given to the national unity government formed by William Grenville on his appointment as Prime Minister in 1806?
MINISTRY OF ALL THE TALENTS
Who served as Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1960 then as Chancellor of the Exchequer until 1962?
SELWYN LLOYD
Which political manifesto issued by Robert Peel in 1834 is widely credited as having laid down the principles upon which the modern British Conservative Party is based?
TAMWORTH MANIFESTO
Who was elected as MP for Enfield Southgate in 1997 defeating Michael Portillo after a 17% swing to Labour?
STEPHEN TWIGG
