Editing Prime minister (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of parliamentarism}}

===Origins===
{{Further|Chief Minister of England|Chief minister of France|Grand vizier}}

The position of a head of government separate from the head of state, or as the most important government administrator or minister after the monarch in rank developed in multiple countries separate from each other. The names given could be "prime minister", although other terms were also used such as "chief minister", "grand chancellor", "chancellor", "grand vizier", "counselor", and others. 

The literal title itself can be traced back to the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid caliphate]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]] . They both had an official title of [[Grand vizier|Grand Vizier]] simply the [[Head of government|Head of the Government]] which is called [[Prime Minister]] nowadays. The Grand Vizier was the most powerful person after [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|sultan]] but sometimes the [[Grand vizier|Grand Vizier]] of Ottoman Empire was more powerful than sultan himself.<ref>{{Cite web |title= The Ottoman Empire's No 2 man|date=17 February 2014 |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-ottoman-empires-no-2-man-62481}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= (The Root of the Great Vizier in the Ottoman Empire Until the Era of Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh 1429-1481)|url=https://www.rimakjournal.com/the-root-of-the-great-vizier-in-the-ottoman-empire-until-the-era-of-sultan-muhammad-al-fateh-1429-1481_963#:~:text=Among%20the%20positions%20that%20the,shrines%20within%20the%20Ottoman%20Empire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= What role did the vizier play in 'Abbasid administration? &#124; TutorChase|url=https://www.tutorchase.com/answers/ib/history/what-role-did-the-vizier-play-in--abbasid-administration}}</ref> The position of'[[Chancellor]] is the same or comparable in some countries as a prime minister, even if the label is different. The term goes back to ancient Roman times as head of the chancellery. This title as head of government or the administration existed in ancient China as [[Grand chancellor (China)|Grand Chancellor]] (Chinese: 宰相; pinyin: ''Zǎixiàng''), sometimes translated as "prime minister", existed since 685 BCE and ancient Japan [[Chancellor of the Realm]] (太政大臣 ''Daijō-daijin'') since the 7th century CE. In the [[Holy Roman Empire]] the position of [[Archchancellor]] was the highest dignitary and traces to 860 CE, out of which later derived the positions of head of government such as the modern [[Chancellor of Germany]], who is head of the federal government and an executive prime minister. 

The power of these ministers depended entirely on the personal favour of the monarch. Although managing the parliament was among the necessary skills of holding high office, they did not depend on a parliamentary majority for their power. Although there was a [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]], it was appointed entirely by the monarch, and the monarch usually presided over its meetings.

The monarch could dismiss the minister at any time, or worse: Cromwell was executed and Clarendon driven into exile when they lost favour. Kings sometimes divided power equally between two or more ministers to prevent one minister from becoming too powerful. Late in Anne's reign, for example, the [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] ministers [[Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer|Harley]] and [[Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke|Viscount Bolingbroke]] shared power.

===Development===
[[File:CommonwealthPrimeMinisters1944.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|The prime ministers of five members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] at the 1944 [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting|Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference]].]]
In the mid 17th century, after the [[English Civil War]] (1642–1651), Parliament strengthened its position relative to the monarch then gained more power through the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 and passage of the [[Bill of Rights 1689|Bill of Rights]] in 1689.<ref>{{cite web|title=Britain's unwritten constitution|url=http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/britains-unwritten-constitution|publisher=British Library|access-date=27 November 2015|quote=The key landmark is the Bill of Rights (1689), which established the supremacy of Parliament over the Crown.... The Bill of Rights (1689) then settled the primacy of Parliament over the monarch’s prerogatives, providing for the regular meeting of Parliament, free elections to the Commons, free speech in parliamentary debates, and some basic human rights, most famously freedom from ‘cruel or unusual punishment’.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208232341/http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/britains-unwritten-constitution|archive-date=8 December 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The monarch could no longer establish any law or impose any tax without its permission and thus the House of Commons became a part of the government. It is at this point that a modern style of prime minister begins to emerge.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Institution of Prime Minister|url=https://history.blog.gov.uk/2012/01/01/the-institution-of-prime-minister/|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom: History of Government Blog|access-date=15 April 2016|date=1 January 2012|author=Dr Andrew Blick and Professor George Jones — No 10 guest historian series, Prime Ministers and No. 10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310152512/https://history.blog.gov.uk/2012/01/01/the-institution-of-prime-minister/|archive-date=10 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=Byrum E.|title=Office of the Prime Minister|date=2015|orig-year=1955|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400878260|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ez7WCgAAQBAJ|chapter=The Historical Development of the Office of Prime Minister|access-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601045620/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ez7WCgAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s|archive-date=1 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

A tipping point in the evolution of the prime ministership came with the death of Anne in 1714 and the accession of [[George I of Great Britain|George I]] to the throne. George spoke no English, spent much of his time at his home in [[Hanover]], and had neither knowledge of, nor interest in, the details of British government. In these circumstances it was inevitable that the king's first minister would become the ''de facto'' head of the government.

From 1721, this was the [[British Whig Party|Whig]] politician [[Robert Walpole]], who held office for twenty-one years. Walpole chaired cabinet meetings, appointed all the other ministers, dispensed the royal patronage and packed the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] with his supporters. Under Walpole, the doctrine of cabinet solidarity developed. Walpole required that no minister other than himself have private dealings with the king, and also that when the cabinet had agreed on a policy, all ministers must defend it in public, or resign. As a later prime minister, [[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|Lord Melbourne]], said, "It matters not what we say, gentlemen, so long as we all say the same thing."

Walpole always denied that he was "prime minister", and throughout the 18th century parliamentarians and legal scholars continued to deny that any such position was known to the Constitution. [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] and [[George III of Great Britain|George III]] made strenuous efforts to reclaim the personal power of the monarch, but the increasing complexity and expense of government meant that a minister who could command the loyalty of the Commons was increasingly necessary. The long tenure of the wartime prime minister [[William Pitt the Younger]] (1783–1801), combined with the mental illness of George III, consolidated the power of the post. The title "prime minister" was first referred to on government documents during the administration of [[Benjamin Disraeli]] but did not appear in the formal British [[Order of precedence]] until 1905.

The prestige of British institutions in the 19th century and the growth of the [[British Empire]] saw the British model of cabinet government, headed by a prime minister, widely copied, both in other European countries and in British colonial territories as they developed self-government.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Seidle|first1=F. Leslie|last2=Docherty|first2=David C.|title=Reforming parliamentary democracy|date=2003|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=9780773525085|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6je60BF-3sC&pg=PA3|access-date=23 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623171013/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=i6je60BF-3sC&pg=PA3&&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0uK-cq6XMAhXGC8AKHaq8B-EQ6AEIMDAE|archive-date=23 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnston|first1=Douglas M.|last2=Reisman|first2=W. Michael|title=The Historical Foundations of World Order|date=2008|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|location=Leiden|isbn=978-9047423935|page=571|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA571|access-date=27 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222248/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dVuwCQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA538&ots=IyjxeR16Zk&pg=PA571|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fieldhouse|first1=David|last2=Madden|first2=Frederick|title=Settler self-government, 1840–1900 : the development of representative and responsible government|date=1990|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=New York|isbn=9780313273261|page=xxi|edition=1. publ.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZHdAZDr-kYC&pg=PR21|access-date=27 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304015800/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nZHdAZDr-kYC&lpg=PR20&ots=B0fgbjHVp4&pg=PR21|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In some places alternative titles such as "premier", "chief minister", "first minister of state", "president of the council" or "chancellor" were adopted, but the essentials of the office were the same.

===Modern usage===
[[File:Royal Decree no 08231772 of 07.08.2023 (Cambodia).jpg|thumb|Royal decree appointing the Prime Minister of Cambodia in 2023]]
In the late 20th century,<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Arjomand|editor1-first=Saïd Amir|title=Constitutionalism and political reconstruction|date=2007|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004151741|pages=92–94|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYmmnYKEvE0C&pg=PA94|author1=Julian Go|chapter=A Globalizing Constitutionalism?, Views from the Postcolony, 1945-2000|access-date=27 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306121536/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kYmmnYKEvE0C&lpg=PA93&ots=nOUN11pmfK&pg=PA94|archive-date=6 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How the Westminster Parliamentary System was exported around the World|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/how-the-westminster-parliamentary-system-was-exported-around-the-world|publisher=University of Cambridge|access-date=16 December 2013|date=2 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216190945/http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/how-the-westminster-parliamentary-system-was-exported-around-the-world|archive-date=16 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> many of the world's countries had prime ministers or equivalent ministers, holding office under either [[constitutional monarchies]] or ceremonial presidents. The main exceptions to this system include Switzerland and the United States, as well as the presidential republics in Latin America, such as Chile and Mexico, modelled on the U.S. system in which the president directly exercises executive authority.

[[Bahrain]]'s former prime minister, [[Sheikh]] [[Khalifah bin Sulman Al Khalifah]], occupied the post for about 50 years, from 1970 to November 2020, making him the longest serving non-elected prime minister.