Page "Prime Minister of the United Kingdom" Paragraph 49

From this time, there was a growing acceptance of the position of Prime Minister and the title was more commonly used, if only unofficially.

Associated initially with the Whigs, even the Tories started to accept it.

Lord North, for example, who had said the office was " unknown to the constitution ", reversed himself in 1783 when he said, " In this country some one man or some body of men like a Cabinet should govern the whole and direct every measure.

" In 1803, William Pitt the Younger, also a Tory, suggested to a friend that " this person generally called the first minister " was an absolute necessity for a government to function, and expressed his belief that this person should be the minister in charge of the finances.