LEADERS OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY

:''This article is about leaders of the Conservative Party (UK). For leaders of the Conservative Party in Canada, see Leaders of Canadian federal conservative parties.
'Leaders of the UK Conservative Party since 1834.

Contents

Background

Leaders in the House of Lords 1834-present

Leaders in the House of Commons 1834-1922

Leader of the Conservative Party 1922-present

Background

Until 1922 there was no formal "Leader of the Conservative Party". The leaders of Conservative MPs and Conservative peers were regarded as coequal 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 coequal 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 claimant for the premiership.
In 1911 the Parliament Act reduced the power of the Lords and it seemed likely that the leader in the Commons would be preeminent. However, this 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. From 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 been already asked by the monarch to form a government. The leadership did not fall vacant at any time when the party was in opposition in this period. Since 1965, a succession of ballots have been held in order to chose between competing candidates. This was instigated by Alec Douglas-Home in 1964 after the confused circumstances of his own elevation in 1963.

Leaders in the House of Lords 1834-present

''Those asterisked considered the overall leader of the party.''

★ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 1828-1846 (
★ until 1834)

★ Edward Smith-Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe ''(14th Earl of Derby from 1851)'' 1846 - 1868
★

★ James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury 1868-1869

★ Hugh Cairns, 1st Baron Cairns 1869-1870

★ Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond 1870-1876

★ Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield 1876 - 1881
★

★ Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1881 - 1902 (
★ from 1885)

★ Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire 1902-1903

★ Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne 1903-1916

★ George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston ''(1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston from 1921)'' 1916-1925

★ James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury 1925-1931

★ Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham 1931-1935

★ 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-

Leaders in the House of Commons 1834-1922

★ Sir Robert Peel 1834 - 1846
★

★ Lord George Bentinck 1846-1847

★ Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby 1848

★ ''None'' 1848-1849

★ ''Jointly'' Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby and John Charles Herries 1849-1852

★ Benjamin Disraeli 1852 - 1876 (
★ from 1868)

★ Sir Stafford Northcote 1876-1885

★ Sir Michael Hicks Beach 1885-1886

★ Lord Randolph Churchill 1886-1887

★ William Henry Smith 1887-1891

★ Arthur James Balfour 1891 - 1911 (
★ from 1902)

★ Andrew Bonar Law 1911-1921 (
★ from 1916)

★ Austen Chamberlain 1921-1922

Leader of the Conservative Party 1922-present

	Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Date of Birth and Death
Andrew Bonar Law		23 October 1922	22 May 1923	16 September 1858 - 30 October 1923
Stanley Baldwin		22 May 1923	28 May 1937	3 August 1867 - 14 December 1947
Neville Chamberlain		27 May, 1937	9 October 1940	18 March, 1869 - 9 November, 1940
Winston Churchill		9 October 1940	7 April 1955	30 November 1874 - 24 January 1965
Anthony Eden		7 April 1955	9 January 1957	12 June 1897 - 14 January 1977
Harold Macmillan		11 January 1957	19 October 1963	10 February 1894 - 29 December 1986
Alec Douglas-Home		19 October 1963	27 July 1965	2 July 1903 - 9 October 1995
Edward Heath		27 July 1965	11 February 1975	9 July 1916 - 17 July 2005
Margaret Thatcher		11 February, 1975	28 November, 1990	13 October 1925 - present
John Major		28 November, 1990	19 June, 1997	29 March 1943 - present
William Hague		19 June, 1997	13 September, 2001	26 March, 1961 - present
Iain Duncan Smith		13 September, 2001	6 November 2003	9 April, 1954 - present
Michael Howard		6 November 2003	6 December, 2005	7 July 1941 - present
David Cameron		6 December 2005		9 October, 1966 - present