Prime Minister of the United Kingdom century as a convention of the constitution, the position of Leader of the Opposition was given statutory recognition in 1937 by the Ministers of the Crown Act. British Prime Ministers have never been elected directly by the public. A Prime Minister need not be a party leader; David Lloyd George was not a party leader during his service as prime Minister during World War I, and neither was Ramsay MacDonald from 1931 to 1935. Prime Ministers have taken office because they were members of either the Commons or Lords, and either inherited a majority in the Commons or won more
House of Commons of the United Kingdom Mandelson was appointed Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in October 2008; he was also briefly a member of neither the Lords nor the Commons while serving in this capacity. The elected status of members of the Commons, as opposed to the unelected nature of members of the Lords, is seen to lend more legitimacy to ministers. It is also considered important for ministers, and especially senior ministers, to be responsible to the elected house. The prime minister chooses the ministers, and may decide to remove them at any time; the formal appointment or dismissal, however, is