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List of nicknames of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This is a list of nicknames of prime ministers of the United Kingdom. Since Sir Robert Walpole, most prime ministers have had a nickname which was in common usage at the time they were in office. Many nicknames can be perceived as disparaging although others are complimentary or affectionate.

18th century

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Robert Walpole

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Earl of Wilmington

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  • George II's Favourite Nonentity[3]

Henry Pelham

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  • King Henry the Ninth[4]

Duke of Newcastle

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  • Hubble-Bubble[5]

Earl of Bute

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George Grenville

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  • Gentle Shepherd[7]

William Pitt the Elder

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  • The Great Commoner,[8] in reference to his continued refusal of a peerage whilst in office, though he later accepted the title Earl of Chatham

Duke of Grafton

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  • Royal Oak[9]
  • The Turf Macaroni[9]

Lord North

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Earl of Shelburne

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William Pitt the Younger

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  • Pitt the Younger,[12] to distinguish him from his father, Pitt the Elder.
  • Three-bottle man, in reference to his heavy consumption of port wine.[13]

19th century

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Henry Addington

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Lord Grenville

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Spencer Perceval

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George Canning

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  • The Cicero of the British Senate[17]
  • The Zany of Debate[17]

Viscount Goderich

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  • Prosperity Robinson[18]
  • Goody Goderich[18]
  • The Blubberer[18]

Duke of Wellington

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Main article: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington § Nicknames

Robert Peel

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Earl Russell

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Earl of Derby

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  • Scorpion Stanley[22]
  • The Rupert of Debate[22]

Earl of Aberdeen

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Lord Palmerston

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Benjamin Disraeli

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William Gladstone

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  • Grand Old Man or its acronym GOM[25]
  • The People's William
  • God's Only Mistake, used by Disraeli as a mocking alternative to Gladstone's preferred nickname (Grand Old Man).[25]
  • Murderer of Gordon, a scathing inversion of Gladstone's preferred nickname (Grand Old Man) following the death of General Gordon at Khartoum. Gladstone had delayed sending Gordon military reinforcements, so was blamed for Gordon's subsequent defeat and execution by the Mahdists of the Sudan.[26]

20th century

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Arthur Balfour

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  • Pretty Fanny, a reference to his delicacy of appearance and manners.[27]
  • Bloody Balfour[28]
  • Tiger Lily[29]
  • Miss Nancy[30]

Henry Campbell-Bannerman

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H. H. Asquith

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David Lloyd George

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  • The Welsh Wizard[35]
  • The Man Who Won The War[35]
  • The Welsh Goat[36]

Bonar Law

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  • The Unknown Prime Minister[37]

Stanley Baldwin

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Ramsay MacDonald

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Neville Chamberlain

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  • The Coroner,[41] for dressing in black.
  • Monsieur J'aime Berlin, French nickname meaning "Mr. I Love Berlin". Pun and referring to Chamberlain's policy of appeasement towards Germany.[42]

Winston Churchill

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  • Winnie[43]
  • (British) Bulldog;[44] first given to him by the Russians,[45] it was a reference to his ferocity and focus.[46]
  • Colonel Warden was his favourite code name or nom-de-guerre.[47][48]
  • Former Naval Person and Naval Person; this was how Churchill signed many of his telegrams to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, first choosing the code name "Naval Person" and later changing it to "Former Naval Person" after he became prime minister.[49]
  • Pig, an affectionate name used by his wife, Clementine.[50]

Clement Attlee

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  • Clem[51]
  • A sheep in sheep's clothing,[52] an adaptation of wolf in sheep's clothing, derived from his mild-mannered, equable style which contrasted with Churchill.

Anthony Eden

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Harold Macmillan

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Alec Douglas-Home

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  • Home Sweet Home, Churchill's nickname for him.[54]
  • Baillie Vass, from a miscaptioned photo of Douglas-Home referring to a bailie named Vass; popularised by Private Eye magazine.[55][56]

Harold Wilson

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Edward Heath

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James Callaghan

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  • Big Jim[59]
  • Sunny Jim,[59] a homonym of "Sonny Jim", used to patronise an inexperienced person,[60] and to refer to his optimism. Particularly used in the media during the Winter of Discontent of 1978–79, when Callaghan appeared out of touch with the issues facing the nation at the time, such as when the most widespread industrial action since the 1926 general strike was taking place, and he arrived back from a summit in the Caribbean and talked about his swimming activities.
  • Uncle Jim[61][62]

Margaret Thatcher

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John Major

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  • Grey Man;[81] Major "had been considered a decent but uninspiring person who was known as the 'grey man' of politics", with his caricature Spitting Image puppet portraying him as such.

21st century

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Tony Blair

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Tony Blair's Special Relationship with the president of the United States, George W. Bush, gained him the nickname "America's Poodle".

Gordon Brown

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David Cameron

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  • Dave, Cameron is reported to be known to friends and family as "Dave" rather than David, although he invariably uses the latter name in public.[100]
  • DVD Dave, Cameron was reportedly known as DVD Dave because of his love of DVD boxed sets which he enjoyed with his wife Samantha.[101]
  • Flashman, a reference to fictional upper-class bully Harry Flashman, used by Ed Miliband during a PMQs debate on reform to the NHS.[102]
  • Call Me Dave,[103] used since the publishing of his 2015 biography Call Me Dave.
  • Hameron,[104] in reference to the "Piggate" allegations.
  • Dodgy Dave,[105][106] a nickname trending on social media with the #DodgyDave hashtag after Labour MP Dennis Skinner was sent out of the House of Commons in April 2016 for referring to Cameron as "Dodgy Dave" and repeating it after being instructed to withdraw it by Speaker John Bercow. This came about during the Panama Papers scandal.[106]
  • DC,[107][108] a shorthand form he signs off his messages with.

Theresa May

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  • Mummy or Mummy May,[109][110] affectionately used by Conservative activists to make reference to her matriarchal powers, although she had no children.
  • Bloody Difficult Woman,[111][112][113] originally used by Kenneth Clarke to describe May while preparing for an interview with Sky News, not realising that he was being recorded.
  • Submarine May,[114] originally used by Downing Street aides to describe May hiding away "like a submarine" during the EU referendum campaign.
  • Theresa Maybe,[115] used to describe her apparent indecisiveness and vagueness, such as her use of the phrase 'Brexit means Brexit'.[116]
  • Theresa the Appeaser,[117][118] originally used to describe her relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, particularly after Trump's signing of Executive Order 13769 known as the 'travel ban'. It has also been used since to describe her relationships with other world leaders.
  • Maybot,[119][120] used to describe her 'robotic' nature, particularly during the 2017 general election campaign, from which she gained notoriety for frequently repeating campaign slogans such as "strong and stable leadership".[121]
  • Teflon Theresa,[122] used to describe her ability to avoid scandals whilst in the politically sensitive position of Home Secretary.
  • Lino,[123][124] short for "Leader in name only", used during the Brexit process in reference to May's difficulty in passing her negotiated withdrawal agreement through the House of Commons and her perceived lack of authority as prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party.

Boris Johnson

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  • Al, used by his friends and family as a shortening of his legal first name Alexander.[125]
  • Boris, Johnson has been described as one of the few politicians to be more commonly referred to by his given name than his last name.[126]
  • BoJo, a portmanteau of his forename and surname. Often used by the press internationally.[127][128]
  • BoJo the Clown, a pun on Bozo the Clown, a more pejorative form of the nickname "BoJo".[129][130][131][132]
  • BoZo, a pejorative variation of BoJo (see bozo).[133]
  • Bozza, an affectionate name used by his friends.[134]
  • Beano Boris or Boris the Menace, coined by the satirical magazine Private Eye which depicted Johnson as a blond-haired version of Dennis the Menace from The Beano.[135]
  • British Trump or Britain Trump, used to refer to his perceived similarities with former U.S. President Donald Trump.[136]
  • Buffoon Boris, a pejorative reference to Johnson's supposed ability to provide amusement through inappropriate appearance or behaviour.[137]
  • The Blonde Bombshell, a reference to Johnson's hair colour.[138]
  • Greased piglet, a term used to describe him by David Cameron and subsequently by print media.[139]

Liz Truss

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  • Liz, a shortening of Truss's middle name Elizabeth, this is a nickname Truss uses in an official capacity. Truss has been known by her middle name from an early age, rather than her forename Mary.[140]
  • Disruptor-in-Chief, a nickname coined by Truss herself in 2018, describing how she would work as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in tackling bureaucracy in the civil service.[141][142][143]
  • Haggis Basher, a term used by her schoolmates, making fun of her Paisley Glaswegian accent after she moved from Scotland to England.[144]
  • Human hand grenade, supposedly coined by Dominic Cummings as "she does tend to blow things up".[145]
  • Queen of Instagram, a nickname used to describe her frequent use of social media, and particularly Instagram, in creating her public image. While international trade secretary, the department was nicknamed by her aides as the 'Department for Instagramming Truss'.[141][146]
  • Radon Liz, a nickname used by opponents, with the explanation that "she’s a gas [i.e. humorous, or insubstantial], but she’s inert".[147]
  • The Iron Weathercock, a nickname likely coined by French newspaper Les Echos, comparing her changing views on Brexit to a weathercock turning with the wind. Truss supported the Remain side before the Brexit referendum but became a staunch advocate of Brexit afterwards.[148][149]
  • The Truss, a nickname Truss is reported to have used for herself.[150][151]
  • Lettuce Liz/Lettuce, a reference to a joke in the Daily Star asking whether her premiership and leadership would outlast the shelf life of a lettuce, which she did not.[152][153][154]

Rishi Sunak

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Keir Starmer

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  • Keith, a nickname used by those on the left of the Labour Party to refer to Starmer's shift to the centre, to disassociate him with Labour's first leader Keir Hardie, whom Starmer is thought to have been named after. The nickname has also been used to refer to Starmer's image and perceived lack of personality.[164][165]
  • Special K, a personal nickname which was from his visit to a Kellogg's factory.[166]
  • Sir Beer Korma, a name originally used by Boris Johnson, in reference to the Beergate controversy.[167]
  • Sir Kid Starver, used to refer to Labour's refusal to scrap the two-child benefit cap, which had been made under Starmer's leadership.[168][169]
  • Sir Softy/Softie, coined by Rishi Sunak to refer to Starmer's apparent "softness" on crime, with Labour under his leadership having voted against Conservative sentencing reforms.[170][171]
  • Captain Hindsight, a reference to the South Park character of the same name, frequently used by Johnson. The nickname was first used by Johnson in response to Starmer accusing him of blaming care workers for the spread of COVID-19, with Johnson joking that Starmer had an advanced knowledge on how the disease could be transmitted.[172][173] The nickname was later used by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.[171][174]
  • Queer Harmer, used by those opposed to his stance on LGBT and particularly transgender rights.[175][176]
  • Two-tier Keir, a nickname given to Starmer in response to claims of two-tier policing, later popularised by Twitter owner Elon Musk.[177][178]
  • Free Gear Keir, a nickname given to Starmer by Reform UK MP Lee Anderson in reference to the controversy involving gifts to the Prime Minister and his wife from wealthy businessman Waheed Alli.[179]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 130–3.
  2. ^ a b Englefield, Dermot; Seaton, Janet; White, Isobel. Facts about the British Prime Ministers. Mansell, 1995, p. 2.
  3. ^ Leonard, Dick (2011). "Spencer Compton, First Earl of Wilmington — 'George II's Favourite Nonentity'". Eighteenth-Century British Premiers. pp. 31–39. doi:10.1057/9780230304635_3. ISBN 978-0-230-28478-4.
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