List of House of Cards trilogy characters

House of Cards is a British political drama television series created by Andrew Davies and is based on the 1989 novel by Michael Dobbs.

A Conservative and the government Chief Whip with roots in the Scottish aristocracy, Urquhart manoeuvres himself through blackmail, manipulation and murder to the post of prime minister.

By the time of The Final Cut, Urquhart has been in power for 11 years, and refuses to relinquish his position until he has beaten Margaret Thatcher's record as longest serving post-war Prime Minister.

Thought to be based on Richard III and Macbeth, Urquhart is characterised by his habitual breaking of the fourth wall, his quoting of Shakespeare, and his usage of the catchphrase, "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment", or a variation thereon, as a plausibly deniable way of agreeing with people and/or leaking information.

In series one episode two, she also suggests Francis begin an affair with Mattie Storin so that he may further secure her trust and loyalty, and thus better use his position to feed information to her, thereby influencing her articles.

However, she appears to truly love her husband and kills him to spare him the disgrace of exposure, resignation, trial, life imprisonment, and eternal historical damnation.

Stamper appeared to have unfortunate delusions of grandeur; his plan was to force Urqhuart's resignation and replace him as prime minister, albeit with a deal of sadness at having to do it.

[1] Lord Theodore "Teddy" Billsborough (Nicholas Selby; named "Williams" in the novel) is the Chairman of the Conservative Party, acting as an unofficial right hand to Henry Collingridge.

However, he lost the election when an anonymous source (secretly Urquhart) leaks that Samuels, whilst at university, was near to the Communist Party and supported denuclearization and gay rights.

Corder is responsible for the assassinations of Tim Stamper and Sarah Harding, two people who had originally been Prime Minister Urquhart's most loyal supporters but who had decided to expose him with a tape implicating him in the murders of Mattie Storin and Roger O'Neill.

At the unveiling of Margaret Thatcher's statue, Corder has Urquhart and Evanghelos Passolides killed by a sniper on a balcony above Parliament Square, just after the memorial is honoured with the song "God Save the King".

Corder assassinates her via a car bomb on the day after the election, on her way to meet one of the king's advisers in order, it is implied, to hand over a tape which implicates Urquhart in Mattie Storin's death.

Having recently succeeded his mother as monarch, he is determined to play a more active role in government, but Urquhart thwarts the new king's initial attempts.

Sir Bruce Bullerby (David Ryall), known as the pit bull, is proprietor and editor-in-chief of The Clarion, a UK tabloid newspaper, who appears in To Play The King and The Final Cut.

He failed to win the first ballot but managed to force a second one, and planned to use recently obtained evidence of Urquhart's criminal activities to undermine his position.

Collingridge is portrayed as being a decent man and a passive, indecisive leader who relies heavily on the support of his Cabinet Ministers and trusted cronies like Francis Urquhart and Lord "Teddy" Billsborough.

At the start of the novel (and TV adaptation) he has just led his party to victory in a general election (albeit with a very reduced majority, losing at least 70 seats).

Collingridge's brief time in office proves difficult for him thanks to Urquhart, who embarrasses his boss by leaking delicate information to the press and one of the Labour Party backbenchers, Stephen Kendrick.

He then fabricates a scandal concerning Collingridge's alcoholic brother and insider trading, which forces the prime minister to resign after a short period in office, never once suspecting Urquhart's betrayal.

In the first contest, he loses to Collingridge; in the second, Urquhart anonymously blackmails Woolton into withdrawing by sending him an audio cassette of him having loud sex with Penny Guy, Roger O'Neill's assistant and mistress.

Geoffrey Booza-Pitt (Nickolas Grace) is a lesser member of Urquhart's Cabinet (mentioned at one stage as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) in The Final Cut.

He has a reputation as Urquhart's "glove-puppet" (as Tom Makepeace calls him in his statement of resignation) and is consequently nicknamed "Sooty" by both the Opposition and other Members of the Cabinet and Parliamentary Party.

Claire Carlsen (Isla Blair) is a backbencher whose ability and intelligence prompts Urquhart to appoint her Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, even though he knows she is having an affair with his rival, Tom Makepeace.