Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom
Hostess of 10 Downing Street
To date, forty-seven women and three men have been married to a British prime minister in office. There have also been four bachelor and nine widower prime ministers; the last bachelor was Edward Heath (1970–1974) and the last widower was Ramsay MacDonald (1924, 1929–1935). The Duke of Grafton (1768–1770) and Boris Johnson (2019–2022) are the only prime ministers to have divorced and remarried while in office.
The current prime minister, Andy Burnham, has been married to Marie-France van Heel since 2000.
Role and duties
The role of the British prime minister's spouse is not an official one, and as such, they are not given a salary or official duties. Over time the position has evolved, and spouses such as Cherie Blair have gained public attention through their own independent careers and achievements, as well as attending engagements such as the African First Ladies Summit.
Cherie Blair, with Cate Haste, wrote a book about recent prime ministerial spouses, The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister, 1955–1997, in 2005.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom” is hostess of 10 Downing Street. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Spouse, prime and minister, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “hostess of 10 Downing Street” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q921439. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1974, 1924 and 1929.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom primary sources, Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom archive and Spouse research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.