Leaders of the Conservative Party

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 since 2010 is also the serving Prime Minister.

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 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.

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 in to choose 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 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) 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 (overall leader 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

Those asterisked were considered the overall leader of the party.

• 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 (overall leader 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 1891–1906 (overall leader from 1902)
• Joseph Chamberlain 1906
• Arthur James Balfour 1906–1911*
• Andrew Bonar Law 1911–1921 (overall leader from 1916)
• Austen Chamberlain 1921–1922

Overall Leader of the Conservative Party 1834–1922

Leader of the Conservative Party 1922–present