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.
