The public man and his career Spencer Perceval's career as a public figure lasted from 1796 when he became a King's Counsel and MP for Northampton until his murder sixteen years later at the age of 49. He was shot in the lobby of the House of Commons at 5.15pm on Monday 11 May 1812. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.

Perceval had become Prime Minister two and a half years earlier at the age of 46. This made him older than Tony Blair and William Pitt on becoming Prime Minister, but much younger than most who have held this office before or since. Like Pitt, he had already been Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons.

Perceval's initial career was as a lawyer. His income from private practice kept slightly ahead of the expenses of his growing family. He was first widely noticed as a junior prosecuting counsel for the government in the trials of Thomas Paine and Horne...