Leader of the House of Lords
United Kingdom Leader of the House of Lords | |
---|---|
Office of the Leader of the House | |
Appointer | David Cameron |
Inaugural holder | The Viscount Townshend |
Formation | 1721 |
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the United Kingdom |
Foreign policy |
Politics portal |
The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Unless the Leader is also a departmental minister, being Leader constitutes the bulk of his government responsibilities, but it has never been an independent salaried office. The Office of the Leader of the House of Lords is a ministerial department.[1]
Though the Leader of the House is a member of the cabinet and remains a partisan figure, he also has responsibilities to the House as a whole. In contrast to the House of Commons, where proceedings are controlled by the Speaker, proceedings in the Lords are controlled by peers themselves, under the rules set out in the Standing Orders. The Leader of the House has the responsibility of reminding the House of these rules and facilitating the Lords' self-regulation, though any member may draw attention to breaches of order or failure to observe customs. The Leader is often called upon to advise on procedures and points of order, and is required to determine the order of speakers on Supplementary Questions, subject to the wishes of the House. However, like the Lord Speaker, he has no power to rule on points of order or to intervene during an inappropriate speech.
Until the election of the first Lord Speaker on 4 July 2006, the Leader of the House had responsibility for making preliminary decisions on requests for Private Notice Questions, and for waiving the sub judice rule in certain cases. Those functions were transferred to the Lord Speaker.
History
The title seems to have come into use some time after 1800, as a formal way of referring to the peer who managed government business in the upper House, irrespective of which salaried position they held in the cabinet. However, it may have been used as early as 1689, applied to George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, when he was Speaker of the House of Lords during the Convention Parliament of that year.
The role developed during the first quarter of the eighteenth century, at the same time as the role of Prime Minister and the system of Cabinet government. In the wake of the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution and the succession of the Hanoverians to the throne, Britain evolved a system of government where ministers were sustained in office by their ability to carry legislation through Parliament. It was therefore necessary for a member of the government to take responsibility for steering government legislation through each House.
Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, initiated aspects of the role during the Whig Junta under Queen Anne. Sunderland and the other Whigs were dismissed from office in reaction to their co-ordination of government matters, which was taken as a threat to the power of the monarch. Sunderland returned to power under George I, as Lord Privy Seal. The first documentary evidence of the existence of the role comes from 1717, when Sunderland became Secretary of State for the Northern Department: in the form of lists of peers invited to the office of the Northern Secretary immediately before sessions of Parliament.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Prime Minister himself usually took responsibility for steering business through the House in which he sat. When the Prime Minister sat in the Commons, the position of Leader of the Lords was often held by the Foreign Secretary or Colonial Secretary. In some coalition governments, it was held by the party leader who was not Prime Minister.
Since the end of Lord Salisbury's last government, in 1902, the position clearly exists in its own right as a member of the cabinet. Since 1966 it has only been combined with sinecure positions and the holder has not been a departmental minister though some have held additional responsibilities such as Lord Hailsham also being designated "Minister of Science" or Lady Jay of Paddington also being "Minister for Women".
The first female Leader of the Lords was Lady Young in 1981–1983.
Leaders of the House of Lords
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Because the post is a parliamentary one and not a ministerial office in its own right, it is not always included in official lists of government offices, especially for earlier periods. This can make it difficult to determine who the Leader of the House of Lords was in a particular ministry.
18th century
Name | Portrait | Political party | Prime Minister | Offices held in conjunction | Took office | Left office | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Viscount Townshend | Whig | Robert Walpole | Northern Secretary | 1721 | 1730 | ||
? | 1730 | 1742 | |||||
The Lord Carteret | Whig | The Earl of Wilmington 1742–43 | Northern Secretary | 1742 | 1744 | ||
Henry Pelham 1743–54 | |||||||
The Duke of Newcastle | Whig | Prime Minister 1754–56 | 1744 | 1756 | |||
Himself 1754–56 | |||||||
The Duke of Devonshire | Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 1756 | 1757 | ||
The Duke of Newcastle | Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 1757 | 1762 | ||
The Earl of Bute | Tory | Himself | Prime Minister | 1762 | 1763 | ||
? | George Grenville | 1763 | 1765 | ||||
The Marquess of Rockingham | Rockingham Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 1765 | 1766 | ||
The Duke of Grafton | Chathamite Whig | The Earl of Chatham 1766–68 | Prime Minister 1768–70 | 1766 | 1770 | ||
Himself 1768–70 | |||||||
? | Lord North | 1770 | 1782 | ||||
The Marquess of Rockingham | Rockingham Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 1782 | 1782 | ||
The Earl of Shelburne | Rockingham Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 1782 | 1783 | ||
The Duke of Portland | Whig (Fox-North Coalition) |
Himself | Prime Minister | 1783 | 1783 | ||
The Viscount Sydney | Whig | William Pitt the Younger | Home Secretary | 1783 | 1789 | ||
The Duke of Leeds | Tory | Foreign Secretary | 1789 | 1790 | |||
The Lord Grenville | Tory | Home Secretary until 1791 Foreign Secretary 1791–1801 |
1790 | 1801 |
19th century
Name | Portrait | Political party | Prime Minister | Offices held in conjunction | Took office | Left office | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Lord Hobart[2] | Tory | Henry Addington 1801–04 | Secretary of State for War and the Colonies | 1801 | 1801 | ||
The Lord Pelham | Tory | Home Secretary | 1801 | 1803 | |||
The Lord Hawkesbury | Tory | Foreign Secretary until 1804 Home Secretary 1804–06 |
1803 | 1806 | |||
William Pitt the Younger 1804–06 | |||||||
The Lord Grenville | Whig (Ministry of All the Talents) |
Himself | Prime Minister | 1806 | 1807 | ||
The Lord Hawkesbury (Earl of Liverpool from 1808) |
Tory | The Duke of Portland 1807–09 | Home Secretary 1807–09 Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1809–12 Prime Minister 1812–27 |
1807 | 1827 | ||
Spencer Perceval 1809–12 | |||||||
Himself 1812–27 | |||||||
The Viscount Goderich | Tory | George Canning 1827 | Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1827 Prime Minister 1827–28 |
1827 | 1828 | ||
Himself 1827–28 | |||||||
The Duke of Wellington | Tory | Himself | Prime Minister | 1828 | 1830 | ||
The Earl Grey | Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 22 November 1830 | 9 July 1834 | ||
The Viscount Melbourne | Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 16 July 1834 | 14 November 1834 | ||
The Duke of Wellington | Tory | Himself 1834 | Prime Minister and other offices 1834 |
17 November 1834 | 8 April 1835 | ||
Sir Robert Peel (Conservative) 1834–35 |
Foreign Secretary | ||||||
The Viscount Melbourne | Whig | Himself | Prime Minister | 18 April 1835 | 30 August 1841 | ||
The Duke of Wellington | Conservative | Sir Robert Peel, Bt | Minister without Portfolio | 3 September 1841 | 27 June 1846 | ||
The Marquess of Lansdowne | Whig | Lord John Russell | Lord President of the Council | 6 July 1846 | 21 February 1852 | ||
The Earl of Derby | Conservative | Himself | Prime Minister | 23 February 1852 | 17 December 1852 | ||
The Earl of Aberdeen | Peelite | Himself | Prime Minister | 19 December 1852 | 30 January 1855 | ||
The Earl Granville | Whig | Viscount Palmerston | Lord President of the Council | 8 February 1855 | 21 February 1858 | ||
The Earl of Derby | Conservative | Himself | Prime Minister | 21 February 1858 | 11 June 1859 | ||
The Earl Granville | Liberal | Viscount Palmerston | Lord President of the Council | 18 June 1859 | 29 October 1865 | ||
The Earl Russell | Liberal | Himself | Prime Minister | 29 October 1865 | 26 June 1866 | ||
The Earl of Derby | Conservative | Himself | Prime Minister | 28 June 1866 | 25 February 1868 | ||
The Earl of Malmesbury | Conservative | Benjamin Disraeli | Lord Privy Seal | 27 February 1868 | 1 December 1868 | ||
The Earl Granville | Liberal | William Ewart Gladstone | Colonial Secretary 1868–70 Foreign Secretary 1870–74 |
9 December 1868 | 17 February 1874 | ||
The Duke of Richmond | Conservative | Benjamin Disraeli | Lord President of the Council | 21 February 1874 | 21 August 1876 | ||
The Earl of Beaconsfield | Conservative | Himself | Prime Minister | 21 August 1876 | 21 April 1880 | ||
The Earl Granville | Liberal | William Ewart Gladstone | Foreign Secretary | 28 April 1880 | 9 June 1885 | ||
The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | Himself | Prime Minister Foreign Secretary |
23 June 1885 | 28 January 1886 | ||
The Earl Granville | Liberal | William Ewart Gladstone | Colonial Secretary | 6 February 1886 | 20 July 1886 | ||
The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | Himself | Prime Minister Foreign Secretary 1887–92 |
25 July 1886 | 11 August 1892 | ||
The Earl of Kimberley | Liberal | William Ewart Gladstone | Lord President of the Council | 18 August 1892 | 5 March 1894 | ||
The Earl of Rosebery | Liberal | Himself | Prime Minister | 5 March 1894 | 21 June 1895 | ||
The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | Himself | Prime Minister Foreign Secretary 1895–1900 Lord Privy Seal 1900–02 |
25 June 1895 | 11 July 1902 |
20th century
Name | Portrait | Political party | Prime Minister | Offices held in conjunction | Took office | Left office | Honours | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Duke of Devonshire | Liberal Unionist | Arthur Balfour (Conservative) |
Lord President of the Council | 12 July 1902 | 13 October 1903 | KG, GCVO, PC, PC (Ire) | ||
The Marquess of Lansdowne | Liberal Unionist | Foreign Secretary | 13 October 1903 | 4 December 1905 | KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC | |||
The Marquess of Ripon | Liberal | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman | Lord Privy Seal | 10 December 1905 | 14 April 1908 | KG, GCSI, CIE, PC | ||
The Earl of Crewe (Marquess of Crewe from 1911) |
Liberal | H. H. Asquith | Colonial Secretary 1908–10 Lord Privy Seal 1908–11, 1912–15 India Secretary 1910–15 Lord President of the Council 1915–16 |
14 April 1908 | 10 December 1916 | KG, PC | ||
The Earl Curzon of Kedleston (Marquess Curzon of Kedleston from 1921) |
Conservative | David Lloyd George (Liberal) 1916–22 |
Lord President of the Council 1916–19 Foreign Secretary 1919–24 |
10 December 1916 | 22 January 1924 | KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC | ||
Andrew Bonar Law 1922–23 | ||||||||
Stanley Baldwin 1923–24 | ||||||||
The Viscount Haldane | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | Lord Chancellor | 22 January 1924 | 3 November 1924 | KT, OM, PC, KC, FRS, FSA | ||
The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston | Conservative | Stanley Baldwin | Lord President of the Council | 3 November 1924 | 20 March 1925 | KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC | ||
The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | Lord Privy Seal | 27 April 1925 | 4 June 1929 | KG GCVO CB PC | |||
The Lord Parmoor | Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | Lord President of the Council | 7 June 1929 | 24 August 1931 | KCVO PC QC | ||
The Marquess of Reading | Liberal (National Govt) |
Ramsay MacDonald (National Labour) |
Foreign Secretary | 24 August 1931 | 5 November 1931 | GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC | ||
The Viscount Hailsham | Conservative (National Govt) |
Secretary of State for War | 5 November 1931 | 7 June 1935 | PC | |||
The Marquess of Londonderry | Conservative | Stanley Baldwin | Lord Privy Seal | 7 June 1935 | 22 November 1935 | KG, MVO PC, PC (Ire) | ||
The Viscount Halifax | Conservative | Lord Privy Seal 1935–37 Lord President of the Council 1937–38 |
22 November 1935 | 21 February 1938 | ||||
Neville Chamberlain | KG OM GCSI GCMG GCIE PC TD | |||||||
The Earl Stanhope | Conservative | President of the Board of Education until 1938 First Lord of the Admiralty 1938–39 Lord President of the Council 1939–40 |
21 February 1938 | 14 May 1940 | KG PC DSO MC | |||
The Viscount Caldecote | Conservative | Winston Churchill | Dominions Secretary | 14 May 1940 | 3 October 1940 | CBE PC KC | ||
The Viscount Halifax | Conservative | Foreign Secretary | 3 October 1940 | 22 December 1940 | KG OM GCSI GCMG GCIE PC TD | |||
The Lord Lloyd | Conservative | Colonial Secretary | 22 December 1940 | 4 February 1941 | GCSI, GCIE, PC, DSO | |||
The Lord Moyne | Conservative | Colonial Secretary | 8 February 1941 | 21 February 1942 | DSO & Bar PC | |||
Viscount Cranborne | Conservative | Colonial Secretary 1942 Lord Privy Seal 1942–43 Dominions Secretary 1943–45 |
21 February 1942 | 26 July 1945 | KG PC | |||
The Viscount Addison | Labour | Clement Attlee | Dominions Secretary 1945–47 Lord Privy Seal 1947–51 |
3 August 1945 | 26 October 1951 | KG PC | ||
The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | Winston Churchill | Lord Privy Seal 1951–52 Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations 1952 Lord President of the Council 1952–57 |
28 October 1951 | 29 March 1957 | KG PC | ||
Anthony Eden | ||||||||
The Earl of Home | Conservative | Harold Macmillan | Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations until 1960 Lord President of the Council 1957, 1959–60 |
29 March 1957 | 27 July 1960 | KT PC | ||
The Viscount Hailsham | Conservative | Lord President of the Council 1960–63 Minister for Sport 1962–63 |
27 July 1960 | 20 October 1963 | KG CH PC QC | |||
The Lord Carrington | Conservative | Alec Douglas-Home | Minister without Portfolio | 20 October 1963 | 16 October 1964 | KG GCMG CH MC PC DL | ||
The Earl of Longford | Labour | Harold Wilson | Lord Privy Seal 1964–65, 1966–68 Colonial Secretary 1965–66 |
18 October 1964 | 16 January 1968 | KG PC | ||
The Lord Shackleton | Labour | Lord Privy Seal 1968, 1968–70 Paymaster-General 1968 |
16 January 1968 | 19 June 1970 | KG AC OBE PC | |||
The Earl Jellicoe | Conservative | Edward Heath | Lord Privy Seal | 20 June 1970 | 23 May 1973 | KBE, DSO, MC, PC, FRS | ||
The Lord Windlesham | Conservative | Lord Privy Seal | 5 June 1973 | 4 March 1974 | CVO, PC, FBA | |||
The Lord Shepherd | Labour | Harold Wilson | Lord Privy Seal | 7 March 1974 | 10 September 1976 | PC | ||
James Callaghan | ||||||||
The Lord Peart | Labour | Lord Privy Seal | 10 September 1976 | 4 May 1979 | PC | |||
The Lord Soames | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | Lord President of the Council | 5 May 1979 | 14 September 1981 | GCMG GCVO CH CBE PC | ||
The Baroness Young | Conservative | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1981–82 Lord Privy Seal 1982–83 |
14 September 1981 | 11 June 1983 | PC | |||
The Viscount Whitelaw | Conservative | Deputy Prime Minister Lord President of the Council |
11 June 1983 | 10 January 1988 | KT CH MC PC | |||
The Lord Belstead | Conservative | Lord Privy Seal | 10 January 1988 | 28 November 1990 | PC | |||
The Lord Waddington | Conservative | John Major | Lord Privy Seal | 28 November 1990 | 11 April 1992 | GCVO DL QC PC | ||
The Lord Wakeham | Conservative | Lord Privy Seal | 11 April 1992 | 20 July 1994 | PC DL | |||
Viscount Cranborne | Conservative | Lord Privy Seal | 20 July 1994 | 2 May 1997 | PC DL | |||
The Lord Richard | Labour | Tony Blair | Lord Privy Seal | 2 May 1997 | 27 July 1998 | PC | ||
The Baroness Jay of Paddington | Labour | Lord Privy Seal | 27 July 1998 | 8 June 2001 | PC |
21st century
Name | Portrait | Political party | Prime Minister | Offices held in conjunction | Took office | Left office | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Lord Williams of Mostyn | Labour | Tony Blair | Lord Privy Seal | 8 June 2001 | 20 September 2003 | ||
The Baroness Amos | Labour | Lord President of the Council | 6 October 2003 | 27 June 2007 | |||
The Baroness Ashton of Upholland | Labour | Gordon Brown | Lord President of the Council | 27 June 2007 | 2 October 2008 | ||
The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | Labour | Lord President of the Council 2008–09 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2009–10 |
2 October 2008 | 11 May 2010 | |||
The Lord Strathclyde | Conservative | David Cameron | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | 12 May 2010 | 7 January 2013 | ||
The Lord Hill of Oareford | Conservative | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | 7 January 2013 | 15 July 2014 | |||
The Baroness Stowell of Beeston | Conservative | Lord Privy Seal | 15 July 2014 | Incumbent |
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/212617/lmr2009.pdf
- ↑ M. W. McCahill, The House of Lords in the Age of George III (1760-1811) (2009) p. 242.