Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)

The Leader of the Conservative Party is the most senior politician within the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. The post is currently held by David Cameron, who succeeded Michael Howard in 2005, and who has also been the serving Prime Minister since 2010.

Background

Until 1922, there was no formal "Leader of the Conservative Party". There was a leader of the Conservative party in each of the two Houses, and they were regarded as equal unless one of them was either the Prime Minister or a former Prime Minister, or if a particular crisis (as in 1846–1847 or 1916) had resulted in one clearly asserting authority over the other. In the periods when this was not the case (1881–1885, 1911–1916, 1921–1922) there was no clear "Leader of the Conservative Party" — this contributed to some of the internal party conflict at the time. The distinction of the leaders is often overlooked by many and there are lists in circulation that assume the eventual single leader who emerged after a period of equal leadership was the leader from the outset. However this was not always the case — for example in 1881 it was widely expected that the Commons leader Sir Stafford Northcote would be the next Conservative Prime Minister, but by the time the party had returned to government in 1885 political developments had resulted in the Lords leader Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury having the stronger claim for the premiership.

When the Parliament Act 1911 reduced the power of the Lords, it seemed likely that the leader in the Commons would be preeminent. But that was not formally recognised for another eleven years, and there were several occasions when members of the Lords were strongly considered for the leadership of the whole party after this time. Since 1922 an overall leader has been formally elected by a joint meeting of MPs, peers, and prospective parliamentary candidates, even when the party is in opposition. Until 1965 this election was a rubber-stamp for the individual who had already been asked by the monarch to form a government; the leadership did not fall vacant at any time when the party was in opposition during this period. Since 1965 a succession of ballots have been held to choose between competing candidates. This was instigated by Alec Douglas-Home in 1964 after the confused circumstances of his own elevation in 1963.

Overall Leader of the Conservative Party, 1828–1922

Overall leader (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Country of birth	Constituency / Title	Took Office	Left Office	Prime Minister (term)
Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852)		Ireland	Duke of Wellington	22 January 1828	18 December 1834		himself 1828–30
							Grey 1830–34
							himself 1834
Sir Robert Peel (1788–1850)		England	Tamworth	18 December 1834	29 June 1846		himself 1834–35
							Melbourne 1835–41
							himself 1841–46
Edward Smith-Stanley 14th Earl of Derby from 1851 (1799–1869)		England	Baron Stanley until 1851 Earl of Derby from 1851	29 June 1846	27 February 1868		Russell 1846–52
							himself 1852
							Aberdeen 1852–55
							Palmerston 1855–58
							himself 1858–59
							Palmerston 1859–65
							Russell 1865–66
							himself 1866–68
Benjamin Disraeli 1st Earl of Beaconsfield from 1876 (1804–1881)		England	Buckinghamshire until 1876 Earl of Beaconsfield from 1876	27 February 1868	19 April 1881		himself 1868
							Gladstone 1868–74
							himself 1874–80
							Gladstone 1880–85
Vacant Leader of the Lords – 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Leader of the Commons – Stafford Northcote				19 April 1881	23 June 1885
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830–1903)		England	Marquess of Salisbury	23 June 1885	11 July 1902		himself 1885–86
							Gladstone 1886
							himself 1886–92
							Gladstone 1892–94
							Rosebery 1894–95
							himself 1895–1902
Arthur Balfour (1848–1930)		Scotland	Manchester East until 1906 City of London from 1906	11 July 1902	13 November 1911		himself 1902–05
							C.-Bannerman 1905–08
							Asquith 1908–16
Vacant Leader of the Lords – 5th Marquess of Lansdowne Leader of the Commons – Andrew Bonar Law				13 November 1911	10 December 1916
Andrew Bonar Law (1858–1923)		New Brunswick, Canada	Bootle until 1918 Glasgow Central from 1918	10 December 1916	21 March 1921		Lloyd George 1916–22
Vacant Leader of the Lords – Lord Curzon Leader of the Commons – Austen Chamberlain				21 March 1921	23 October 1922

Leader of the Conservative Party (1922–present)

Leader (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Country of birth	Constituency / Title	Took Office	Left Office	Prime Minister (term)
Andrew Bonar Law (1858–1923)		New Brunswick, Canada	Glasgow Central	23 October 1922 (party meeting.)	28 May 1923		himself
Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947)		England	Bewdley	28 May 1923 (party meeting.)	31 May 1937		himself 1923–24
							MacDonald 1924
							himself 1924–29
							MacDonald 1929–35
							himself 1935–37
Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)		England	Birmingham Edgbaston	31 May 1937 (party meeting.)	9 October 1940		himself 1937–40
							Churchill 1940
Winston Churchill (1874–1965)		England	Epping until 1945 Woodford from 1945	9 October 1940 (party meeting.)	21 April 1955		himself 1940–45
							Attlee 1945–51
							himself 1951–55
Anthony Eden (1897–1977)		England	Warwick and Leamington	21 April 1955 (party meeting.)	22 January 1957		himself
Harold Macmillan (1894–1986)		England	Bromley	22 January 1957 (party meeting.)	11 November 1963		himself
Alec Douglas-Home (1903–1995)		England	Earl of Home until 1963 Kinross and Western Perthshire from 1963	11 November 1963 (party meeting.)	27 July 1965		himself 1963–64
							Wilson 1964–70
Edward Heath (1916–2005)		England	Bexley until 1974 Sidcup from 1974	27 July 1965	11 February 1975
							himself 1970–74
							Wilson 1974–76
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013)		England	Finchley	11 February 1975	28 November 1990
							Callaghan 1976–79
							herself 1979–90
John Major (1943–)		England	Huntingdon	28 November 1990	19 June 1997		himself 1990–97
William Hague (1961–)		England	Richmond, Yorks	19 June 1997	13 September 2001		Blair 1997–2007
Iain Duncan Smith (1954–)		Scotland	Chingford and Woodford Green	13 September 2001	6 November 2003
Michael Howard (1941–)		Wales	Folkestone and Hythe	6 November 2003	6 December 2005
David Cameron (1966–)		England	Witney	6 December 2005	Incumbent
							Brown 2007–10
							himself 2010–present

House of Lords and Commons leaders

Leaders in the House of Lords 1834–present

Those asterisked were considered the overall leader of the party.

• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 1834–1846
• Edward Smith-Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley (14th Earl of Derby from 1851) 9 March 1846 – 27 February 1868* – elected at a party meeting – see below
• James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury 1868–1869 – appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli MP
• Hugh Cairns, 1st Baron Cairns 1869–1870 – elected at a party meeting – see below
• Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond 1870–21 August 1876 – elected at a party meeting – see below
• Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield 21 August 1876 – 19 April 1881* – became Leader on elevation to the peerage
• Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 9 May 1881 – 1902 – elected at a party meeting – see below (overall leader from 1885)
• Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire 1902–1903 – appointed by Prime Minister Arthur Balfour MP
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne 1903–1916 – appointed by Prime Minister Arthur Balfour MP
• George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston (1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston from 1921) 1916–1925 – appointed Leader of the House by Prime Minister David Lloyd George MP
• James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury 1925–1931 – appointed by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin MP
• Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham 1931–1935 – took over post 'at the request of Mr Baldwin'
• Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry 1935
• E. F. L. Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax 1935–1938
• James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope 1938–1940
• Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote 1940
• E. F. L. Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax 1940
• George Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd 1940–1941
• Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne 1941–1942
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne (5th Marquess of Salisbury from 1947) 1942–1957
• Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home 1957–1960
• Quintin Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham 1960–1963
• Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington 1963–1970
• George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe 1970–1973
• David Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham 1973–1974
• Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington 1974–1979
• Christopher Soames, Baron Soames 1979–1981
• Janet Young, Baroness Young 1981–1983
• William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw 1983–1988
• John Ganzoni, 2nd Baron Belstead 1988–1990
• David Waddington, Baron Waddington 1990–1992
• John Wakeham, Baron Wakeham 1992–1994
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne 1994–1998
• Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde 1998–2013
• Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford 2013–2014
• Tina Stowell, Baroness Stowell of Beeston 2014–present

Leaders in the House of Commons 1834–1922

Those asterisked were considered the overall leader of the party.

• Sir Robert Peel 18 December 1834–1846*
• Lord George Bentinck 1846–1847
• Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby 9 February 1848 – 4 March 1848 – elected at a party meeting – see below
• None 1848–1849
• Jointly Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby and John Charles Herries 1849–1852 – elected at a party meeting – see below
• Benjamin Disraeli 1852–21 August 1876 (overall leader from 27 February 1868)
• Sir Stafford Northcote 21 August 1876 – 24 June 1885 – appointed by Prime Minister the Earl of Beaconsfield
• Sir Michael Hicks Beach 24 June 1885 – 3 August 1886 – appointed by Prime Minister the Marquess of Salisbury
• Lord Randolph Churchill 3 August 1886 – 14 January 1887 – appointed by Prime Minister the Marquess of Salisbury
• William Henry Smith 17 January 1887 – 6 October 1891 – appointed by Prime Minister the Marquess of Salisbury
• Arthur Balfour 1891–13 January 1906 – appointed by Prime Minister the Marquess of Salisbury – (overall leader from 1902)
• Joseph Chamberlain 1906
• Arthur Balfour 1906–13 November 1911*
• Andrew Bonar Law 13 November 1911 – 21 March 1921 – elected at a party meeting – see below (overall leader from 1916)
• Austen Chamberlain 21 March 1921 – 23 October 1922 – elected at a party meeting – see below

Elections of Conservative leaders by party meeting

House of Commons

No.	Date of meeting	Name of leader elected	Category attending meeting	Location of meeting	Chair	Proposer	Seconder	Refs
1.	9 February 1848	Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby	Protectionist commoners	The residence of George Bankes MP
2.	1 February 1849	Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby, John Charles Herries		The residence of Edward Smith-Stanley, Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe
3.	13 November 1911	Andrew Bonar Law	Unionist Members of Parliament	Carlton Club, Pall Mall	Henry Chaplin, senior Privy Councillor on the Unionist benches (appointed 1885)	Walter Long	Austen Chamberlain
4.	21 March 1921	Austen Chamberlain	Unionist Members of Parliament	Carlton Club, Pall Mall	Lord Edmund Talbot, Conservative Chief Whip	Captain Ernest George Pretyman	Sir Edward Coates, 'a back bencher and one of the rank and file'
5.	23 October 1922	Andrew Bonar Law	Unionist peers, MP's and candidates	Hotel Cecil, The Strand	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston	Stanley Baldwin, 'chosen ... to be the spokesman for the House of Commons'
6.	28 May 1923	Stanley Baldwin	'Conservative Party'	Hotel Cecil, The Strand	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl of Derby	Captain Ernest George Pretyman 'a member of the House of Commons who [had] been a colleague in that House of Mr Bonar Law for something over 25 years'
7.	31 May 1937	Neville Chamberlain	'peers and M.P.s who receive the Conservative whip, ... prospective candidates who have been adopted by constituency associations, and ... members of the executive committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist associations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.'	Caxton Hall, Caxton Street	The Viscount Halifax, Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl of Derby	Winston Churchill (Privy Councillor since 1907)
8.	9 October 1940	Winston Churchill	'Peers and M.P.s who receive the Conservative whip, ... prospective candidates who have been adopted by constituency associations, and ... members of the Executive Committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.'	London	The Viscount Halifax, Leader of the House of Lords	The Viscount Halifax	Sir George Courthope 'one of the senior back benchers of the party'
9.	21 April 1955	Sir Anthony Eden	'Conservative and National Liberal members of the two Houses of Parliament, Conservative and National Liberal parliamentary candidates and members of the executive committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations'	Church House, Dean's Yard, Westminster	The Marquess of Salisbury, Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess of Salisbury	Richard Austen Butler (Privy Councillor since 1939)
10.	22 January 1957	Harold Macmillan	'Conservative and Unionist members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, ... prospective parliamentary candidates and ... members of the executive committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. National Liberal members of both Houses of Parliament and adopted prospective candidates were also present'		The Marquess of Salisbury, Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess of Salisbury	Richard Austen Butler (Privy Councillor since 1939)
11.	11 November 1963	Sir Alec Douglas-Home	'members of both Houses of Parliament taking the Conservative whip, prospective candidates who [had] been adopted by constituency associations, members of the executive of the mass party, and National Liberal MP's and adopted prospective candidates'	Church House, Dean's Yard, Westminster	The Lord Carrington, Leader of the House of Lords	The Lord Carrington	Geoffrey Lloyd, 'the senior Conservative Privy Councillor in the Commons next in line to Sir Winston Churchill' (appointed 1943)

House of Lords

No.	Date of meeting	Name of leader elected	Category attending meeting	Location of meeting	Chair	Proposer	Seconder	Notes
1.	9 March 1846	Edward Smith-Stanley, Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe	Peers	The residence of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond	Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton
2.	15 February 1869	Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns	23 peers		James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury	James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury
3.	26 February 1870	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond	Peers	The Carlton Club		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury	Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
4.	9 May 1881	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury	Conservative members of the House of Lords	The residence of William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny	William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond	Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns