general elections. Age at losing a general election The youngest person to be on the losing side at a general election was Charles James Fox, who led his Whig Party to defeat in the 1784 general election when aged 35. The youngest prime minister to be on the losing side at a general election was Lord Rosebery, who, having resigned his ministry in May 1895, led his Liberal Party to defeat in the general election the following month when aged 48. Since peers ceased to hold this office (1902), the youngest losing prime minister was John Major, at 54 years and 33 days when the Conservative Party lost the 1997 general election. William Ewart Gladstone, was the oldest, at 76 years, when his party lost the 1886 general election, although he returned to office in 1892. The oldest prime minister to be defeated without returning to office was Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, who was 75 when the Conservative Party lost the 1880 general election. Aged , Jeremy Corbyn is the oldest person to be on the losing side of a general election without ever becoming prime minister when the Labour Party lost the 2019 general election. Age at winning a general election The youngest prime minister to be on the winning side at a general election was William Pitt the Younger, who led the Tory Party to victory in the 1784 general election when aged 25. In recent years, the youngest prime minister to be on the winning side at a general election was David Cameron, who was 43 years and 209 days old when he led the Conservative Party to victory as the largest party in the 2010 general election. William Ewart Gladstone, was the oldest. He was 82 years of age when he returned to office after his Liberal Party was successful in the 1892 general election. The oldest prime minister to be victorious at a general election for the first time was Lord Palmerston, who was 72 years of age when his Whig Party won the 1857 general election. In office without a general election 16 prime ministers never fought a general election while they held office (or to gain office), usually by serving terms sandwiched between the victors of elections and the prime ministers who faced the next elections. Chronologically they were: PMs who served from (or later entered) the House of Lords John