11 May 1812: Britain's prime minister is assassinated

Today in 1812, Spencer Perceval became the only British prime minister to be assassinated, when a businessman with a grudge gunned him down in the House of Commons.

At first glance, there is nothing much out of the ordinary about Spencer Perceval, a Tory MP from the early 1800s. He was from an aristocratic family, was educated at Harrow and Cambridge, and went on to become a lawyer. It's a well-worn path to power that is still trodden by what seems to be half the Houses of Parliament today.

But his name really ought to be more well-known. For poor old Perceval holds the dubious honour of being Britain's only serving prime minister to be assassinated.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.