Prime Minister

The head of the British cabinet. He usually holds the office of First Lord of the Treasury, unless he is a peer, in which case he takes some other office. At the present writing the prime min-^ ister is also secretary of state for war. The office was unknown to the law until 1906, when the prime minister was accorded a place in the order of precedence. Lowell, Gov. of Engl. 68. “He is the principal executive of the British constitution, and the sovereign a cog in the mechanism.” Bagehot. See Cabinet; Premier.