Q 01/05

Britain's first prime minister rose to power in the aftermath of which financial crash?

A) The Mississippi Bubble

B) Tulip mania

C) The South Sea Bubble

D) The Panic of 1825

Answer · why

C) The South Sea Bubble

The South Sea Bubble: helping ministers escape punishment over the scandal is said to have earned him the nickname 'Screen-Master General'.

Q 02/05

Which prime minister holds the record for the longest tenure, at more than 20 years?

A) Robert Walpole

B) William Pitt the Younger

C) Lord Liverpool

D) William Gladstone

Answer · why

A) Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole: he survived a change of king in 1727, in an age when a new monarch usually meant a new government.

Q 03/05

Which tax did the youngest prime minister in British history introduce to help pay for the wars with France?

A) Window tax

B) Income tax

C) Stamp duty

D) Land tax

Answer · why

B) Income tax

Income tax: it was one of his emergency measures to fund the war, and it was repealed once the fighting was over.

Q 04/05

Which prime minister is the only one to have been assassinated?

A) George Canning

B) Spencer Perceval

C) Lord Palmerston

D) Robert Peel

Answer · why

B) Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval: John Bellingham shot him in the Commons lobby in 1812, blaming the government for refusing him compensation after jail in Russia.

Q 05/05

Which vegetable did the Daily Star livestream in 2022 to see whether it would outlast the prime minister?

A) A cabbage

B) A lettuce

C) A turnip

D) A cucumber

Answer · why

B) A lettuce

A lettuce: the Tesco iceberg, later given a blond wig, was crowned the winner when the prime minister resigned days later.