Welcome to Prime Factors where we review each UK Prime Minister from Robert Walpole to Keir Starmer. We discuss their biography, highs and lows, and then rate them on a scale designed by a 10-year old before awarding the ultimate prize: Are they ”Known” or an ”Ice Cream Cone”? Some dads build a treehouse with their kid. We’re doing a history podcast.
In our podcast, most of our Prime Ministers came from well-established families. To keep track of how much of a leg up they get in politics, we have a point system entitled "Silver Spoons". The calculation is based on a sum of points (awarded for things like being a member of parliament, having a military rank, etc.) per each major relative as of the day the person is born. We define major relatives as siblings, aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents, and each "blue linked" great grandfather down the line.
Our currently awarded silver spoon points: