Has any serving UK PM never faced an election?

[VHG]

IF Gordon Brown resigns before the next general election it means he will have been Prime Minister, but never actually been part of a General Election as a party leader or PM.

Has any other recent serving PM never faced an election?

Callaghan took over from Wilson mid-term and lost in the next election to Thatcher.

Major took over from Thatcher mid-term and then won the next election.

Alec Douglas Hume faced an election after he took over from Macmillan mid term and lost to Labour.

So any recent PM not face an election?

[jake-the-peg]

Not that I can think of.

But Ian Duncan-Smith was Tory leader and back-stabbed before he could fight an election.

So there's an analogy in opposition

[Quinlad]

I don't think it's happened before. I wouldn't be surprised if it happens more often though.

Part of the reason is that with 24-hour mass media, instant communications and a greater number of channels, opinions change far more quickly. And with newspapers now offering more views than news, dissatisfaction can develop a head of steam very quickly. We'll see greater swings in opinion polls and shorter tenures for party leaders.

[Kromovaracun]

Chamberlain never faced an election, but I'm not sure if he fits in your definition of 'recent'.

[Kromovaracun]

Oh, Callaghan did lose a Vote of No Confidence, but this was shortly before the election he had to call anyway. If he'd have lost it earlier, it's conceivable he might not have faced election, but we can't be sure.

[VHG]

I have watched two Prime Minsters Question times from parliament recently.

Even though I am a tory supporter I have to say I felt Brown came across much better than Cameron did in both Question Times.

In both of them Cameron went on about how Brown's cabinet was collapsing around him (but did not say much more or offer any Tory solutions)

Brown mentioned about how Labour were helping people in this recession, and that all Cameron could do was critisize because his party had no policies.

I know it is all posturing in front of the cameras, but I feel Cameron is not taking enough advantage of Brown's position and because of that Brown came across better in both sessions.

[jno]

VHG I think Cameron has responded very much better than Brown to the expenses affair; Brown looks as if he has no idea what is going on.

But although both main parties appear on the surface to have been hit by it in Britain, there's no doubt that it's the Tories and their moats who have been played up more in media overseas, and I suspect many here still feel the same: flipping houses is one thing, but getting the taxpayer to clean your moat really is trying it on.

Also as you say, Cameron still hasn't got a policy except to say 'We would do it better'. This will probably be sufficient to get him into office. But if he did find himself facing a general election tomorrow, as he keeps calling for, he'd go into it with virtually no manifesto.