Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the wife or husband of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. To date, there have been forty-four women and two men who have been married to British prime ministers in office. There have also been four bachelor and nine widower prime ministers; the last bachelor was Edward Heath (1970–1974) and the last widower was Ramsay MacDonald (1924, 1929–1935). The Duke of Grafton (1766–1768) is the only Prime Minister to have divorced and remarried while in office. The spouse of
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom powerful than the American presidents, as the Prime Minister is part of the legislature, and unlike presidents, can directly initiate legislation. Thus, Dowding argues that adding to these powers, makes the Prime Minister less like presidents, and that what Britain is witnessing is not presidentialisation but, increase in powers overtime, can be best explained as "Prime Ministerialisation" of British politics. Regarding the thesis, Dowding writes: "The presidentialisation of the Prime Minister thesis should be expunged from political science vocabulary, to the extent that the forces identified by those who pursue the thesis exist, they do not make the British Prime