The history of Great Britain

Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole is now generally regarded as the first Prime Minister, from, 1719–42, and indeed he invented the role.[dubious – discuss] The term was applied to him by friends and foes alike by 1727. Historian Clayton Roberts summarizes his new functions:
He monopolized the counsels of the King, he closely superintended the administration, he ruthlessly controlled patronage, and he led the predominant party in Parliament.[16]
Walpole was a master of the effective use of patronage, as were his two disciples who succeeded him as prime minister, Henry Pelham (1743–1754) and Pelham's brother the Duke of Newcastle (1754–1762).