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Tue 5 Jun, 2007 04:06 am
Gordon Brown, the likely next Prime Minister of the UK, is Scottish. Is he the first non-English PM of Britain, or have there been others?
He would be the eighth Scottish, and the ninth non-English Prime Minister out of 52 altogether.
Lloyd George (1916-1922) was Welsh.
The seven previous Scottish Prime Ministers...
Stuart 1762-1763 (3rd Earl Of Bute)
Hamilton-Gordon 1852-1855 (4th Earl of Aberdeen)
Primrose 1894-1895 (5th Earl of Rosebery)
Balfour 1902-1905
Campbell-Bannerman 1905-1908
Bonar Law 1922-1923
Ramsay MacDonald Jan-Nov 1924
Douglas-Home 1963-1964
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Tony Blair Born Edinburgh 1953 !
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Although Tony Blair was born in Edinburgh, that does not make him Scottish. He is English with one Irish parent.
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"Non-English" British Prime Ministers
Here are some British PMs not born in England.
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute / PM - May 26, 1762 - Apr. 16, 1763 / Born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne / PM - July 4, 1782 - Apr. 2, 1783 / Born in Dublin, Ireland.
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen / PM - Dec. 19, 1852 - Jan. 30, 1855 / Born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Arthur Balfour / PM - July 11, 1902 - Dec. 5, 1905 / Born in Whittingehame, Scotland
Henry Campbell-Bannerman / PM - Dec. 5, 1905 - Apr. 3, 1908 / Born in Glasgow.
Ramsay MacDonald / Pm - June 5, 1929 - June 7, 1935 / Born in
Lossiemouth, Scotland.
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Actually, Andrew Bonar Law was born in New Brunswick, Canada and moved to Scotland at the age of 12.
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Pene wrote:Actually, Andrew Bonar Law was born in New Brunswick, Canada and moved to Scotland at the age of 12.
Yes, but he was a "Scotsman" and Tony Blair isn't.
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I'm not the one who mentioned Tony Blair in the first place. I was the one who gave the examples of PMs not born in England.
While we are on the subject of Blair, he was born in Edinburgh, lived 3 1/2 years in Australia and then returned to Scotland for a brief time. The remainder of his chilhood was spent in Durham, England. However, in his teens, he returned to Edinburgh, and boarded at Fettes College before going to Oxford. His mother was indeed Irish and his father, though born of British actors, was adopted by a Scottish couple when he was a baby. I don't think it would be accurate to say Blair is English.
I guess the definitive response would have to come from him.
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Quote:I guess the definitive response would have to come from him.
Hardly. Anyway, there is no such thing as a "definitive response" to such a question. The point I was trying to make is that "what defines a Scotsman" is an exceedingly elastic topic. A lot depends on who you ask. Unlike the concept of "Britishness" there is no legal definition you can turn to.
I mean, if Hitler had been born in Shotts of parents from Dumfries with ancestry back to Robert The Bruce's spider and gone tae school with Pa Broon and loved his tatties and neeps, and got all the jokes in "Still Game", many people would say "He's nae a Scot", whereas Mother Theresa could once have handled a tin of shorties and they'll say, "Aye, she's a braw Scots lass".
That's why Tony Blair is not a Scotsman.
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On that basis, Tony Blair is British but not English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh because I am sure none of us want to claim him.
He's probably American!
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You forgot William Gladstone, who was most certainly a Scot. Bonar Law does not qualify as a Scot to me, but that's a matter of opinion.
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Scottish Prime Ministers
Tony Blair was born and educated in Scotland. So, how come he is not Scottish?
Also, what about Harold Macmillan - erstwhile prime minister of the famous publishing family?
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