A mobile game developed in Manchester has achieved the unlikely feat of surpassing global hits like Minecraft on the UK App Store’s paid games chart. Titled No 10: Full Confidence, the simulator places players in the role of a British prime minister, forcing them to navigate a series of parliamentary crises while attempting to cling to power for as long as possible. Its success is perhaps even more surprising given its subject matter—UK politics.
Created by developer Benjamin Brewis, the game requires players to balance the competing interests of four distinct factions: the cabinet, backbenchers, the media, and the public. Success depends on managing these relationships across more than 300 handwritten scenarios. The success of Brewis’s app, and the creation of others like it, suggests the dramatic recent ebb and flow of Westminster may have inspired a popular new sub-genre of gaming.
Each scenario asks players to pick one action from three choices on the screen, with each potentially upsetting or pleasing the different factions. Much like in real life, if one side completely turns against you, your political career is finished. The storylines range from the mundane, such as addressing GP appointment waiting times, to the absurd. “I have a two or three-part storyline where a dog is let loose into the House of Lords by a lobbyist during a vet bill and that spirals out of control,” Brewis explained.
While some situations may sound farcical, Brewis said he had plenty of real-life examples to draw on as inspiration. “I’d remember that MP who had a spider that he’d threaten MPs with, or when Boris Johnson walked into a fridge. I’m frantically writing them all down,” he added. Despite the success of his venture, which recently ranked 5th in Apple’s UK paid games charts—placing it above Monopoly Go—Brewis noted he does not know if any actual politicians have played the game, though some users have remarked that the simulation feels “exactly like this, but worse.”
My own experience as a player, taking on the role of candidate Verity Grimshaw, proved that surviving in Downing Street is no easy feat. I managed to survive a crisis involving A-level grading errors, but I only stayed in the post for one year and nine months. My downfall was a complete lack of trust from the press, triggered after a cabinet minister resigned and published a three-page-long letter containing the phrase “the PM was warned” four times. When this letter was read out in full on Radio 4, my career ended.
Brewis notes that some users have fared significantly better than my attempt. “Someone has stayed in for 1,885 months, which is 157 years,” he says. “I’m not sure if that’s a democracy any more.” The developer was inspired to begin the project around December 2025, when the political climate under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was particularly volatile and talk of leadership challenges was mounting. “I remember thinking at the time, someone should just start taking the mick out of this,” he said. “We’ve had so many prime ministers—it’s funny now.”
The historical context for the game is significant, as five different people have occupied No 10 since 2016, including three in the space of just over three years and one for just 49 days. Dr. Russell Foster, a lecturer in British and International Politics at King’s College London, suggests that this “churn of prime ministers” and the growing presence of politics on social media help explain why Westminster is suddenly appearing on our devices.
No 10: Full Confidence is not the only game based around Westminster’s wheeling and dealing. Fantasy Parliament, a browser-based game by developer Evan Roberts, lets players draft their own fantasy league of real-world MPs, scoring points based on their media coverage. Meanwhile, UK Politics Simulator, which is built on real UK data down to the ward level, is reportedly due out later this year for PC from the Scarborough-based company Black Cannon Games.
With the strategy game’s Policy Tester, players can even type in proposals to a ChatGPT-style AI model, which then replies in the style of how it believes different groups of voters might react. As these titles gain traction, it is clear that the chaotic nature of modern British governance has provided a fertile, if unpredictable, ground for developers looking to capture the public’s imagination.
No 10: Full Confidence by Benjamin Brewis sees players take on the role of prime minister, making decisions through a wave of parliamentary scenarios and trying to remain in power for as long as possible.
In No 10: Full Confidence, external, players who take on the precarious position of prime minister must balance the moods of four factions – their cabinet, backbenchers, the media, and the public – to remain in the gam
My first attempt at playing prime minister in No 10: Full Confidence hasn’t left me considering a Westminster career.
This letter being read out in full on Radio 4 turns out to be the last straw for poor Verity.
My final choice in the game of “respond directly, address every point, don’t let it sit unanswered”, seemingly does not go down very well.
One scenario players must navigate in No 10: Full Confidence raises big questions about livestock
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