In this episode, we take a look at George Canning — one of the most brilliant parliamentary speakers of his age, a man of sharp wit and even sharper ambition, and a Prime Minister whose time in office lasted just 119 days.

William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, served as Prime Minister for just over a year — from February 1806 to March 1807 — during one of the most turbulent periods in British history. Leading the country at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, Grenville headed the so-called Ministry of All the Talents, a fragile coalition brought together in a time of national crisis.

Though his government was short-lived, Grenville oversaw one of the most important moral decisions ever taken by Parliament: the passage of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act (1807). Ending Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, the Act would become the defining achievement of his premiership.

In this episode of The British Prime Ministers, we`ll explore Grenville’s rise from political insider and close ally of William Pitt the Younger, to reluctant prime minister; the challenges his divided government faced; and why his legacy rests not on longevity, but on impact.

A story of principle, political compromise, and a brief moment when reform triumphed over tradition.

History often remembers the dramatic figures — the war heroes, the great reformers, the prime ministers who changed everything overnight.

But sometimes, the most important leaders are the ones who simply kept the country standing.

Welcome to The British Prime Ministers. I’m Neil Funnell, and on this episode we’re taking a closer look at Robert Banks Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool — Britain’s longest-serving prime minister of the nineteenth century, and a man who governed through one of the most turbulent periods in British history.

Lord Liverpool was in office for nearly fifteen years, guiding Britain through the final stages of the Napoleonic Wars, the trauma of post-war economic collapse, and the rising pressure for political reform at home. He was cautious, methodical, and deeply conservative — a prime minister more concerned with stability than popularity.

Yet under his leadership, Britain defeated Napoleon, navigated mass unrest, and laid the foundations of the modern Conservative Party.

So who was Lord Liverpool really? A steady hand in a time of crisis — or a leader who held back necessary change?

That’s what we’re exploring in this episode.