Records of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom The tallest Prime Minister is believed to be Lord Salisbury, who was around in height, although Downing Street's own website lists James Callaghan as the tallest. The longest personal name held by a British Prime Minister was that of Lord Derby whose three forenames and double-barreled surnameEdward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanleytotal 32 letters. The shortest baptismal names, each 10 letters long, were held by Lord Bute who was plain John Stuart, and Sir Robert Peel. John Major was baptised "John Roy Major" but his birth certificate simply read "John Major", and so his legal name has only nine letters. (He used
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Government below). British governments (or Ministries) are generally formed by one party. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are usually all members of the same political party, almost always the one that has a majority of seats in the House of Commons. Coalition governments (a ministry that consists of representatives from two or more parties) and minority governments (a one-party ministry formed by a party that does not command a majority in the Commons) were relatively rare before the 2010 election, since 2010 there has been both a coalition and minority government. "One party government", as this system is sometimes called,