Page "Prime Minister of the United Kingdom" Paragraph 40

For these reasons there was a reluctance to use the title.

Although Walpole is now called the " first " Prime Minister, the title was not commonly used during his tenure.

Walpole himself denied it.

In 1741, during the attack that led to Walpole's downfall, Samuel Sandys declared that " According to our Constitution we can have no sole and prime minister.

" In his defence, Walpole said " I unequivocally deny that I am sole or Prime Minister and that to my influence and direction all the affairs of government must be attributed.

" George Grenville, Prime Minister in the 1760s, said it was " an odious title " and never used it.

Lord North, the reluctant head of the King's Government during the American War of Independence, " would never suffer himself to be called Prime Minister, because it was an office unknown to the Constitution.