President of the Victorian Legislative Council

President of the Legislative Council
Incumbent Bruce Atkinson (Liberal) since 21 December 2010
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Elected by the Victorian Legislative Council
Inaugural holder	Sir James Frederick Palmer
Formation	21 November 1856
Website	http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/president

The President of the Victorian Legislative Council, also known as the Presiding Officer of the Council, is the presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria and equivalent to the President of the Australian Senate. The current President is Bruce Atkinson.

The role of the President

The President is always a Member of the Victorian Legislative Council, and is the ceremonial head of that Council. The President performs ceremonial duties, and represents the Council to other organisations. In conjunction with the Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the President is responsible for the administration of the Victorian Parliament. When the Council is sitting, the President enforces procedures and assists the smooth running of Council meetings. The President is assisted in their duties by a Deputy President.

Choosing the President

The President of the Legislative Council is an elected position. When a new President is required, any Member of the Legislative Council may propose, during a Council sitting, any other present Member for the position of President. If more than one Member is proposed and seconded, all Members must agree to one particular candidate. After election, the President presents his or herself as the choice of the Council to be their President.

List of Presidents of the Legislative Council

Note: where no political party is listed, this means that either the party is unknown, or that the President in question was not affiliated with any particular party. Multiple parties are listed in cases where the President represented more than one party over his career as a Member of the Legislative Council.

President	Party (if applicable)	Term in office
Sir James Frederick Palmer		21 November 1856–September 1870
Sir William Mitchell		27 October 1870–24 November 1884
Sir James MacBain		27 November 1884–8 November 1892
Sir William Zeal		10 November 1892–May 1900
Sir Henry John Wrixon		18 June 1901–28 June 1910
Sir John Mark Davies		6 July 1910–June 1919
Sir Walter Manifold	Nationalist Party of Australia	8 July 1919–28 August 1923
Sir Frank Clarke	Nationalist, UAP, Liberal	29 August 1923–June 1943
Sir Clifden Eager	Nationalist, Liberal, Liberal and Country	29 June 1943–June 1958
Sir Gordon McArthur	Liberal and Country, Liberal	8 July 1958–10 August 1965
Sir Ronald Mack	Liberal	14 September 1965–12 February 1968
Sir Raymond Garrett	Liberal	20 February 1968–June 1976
Sir William Gordon Fry	Liberal Party of Australia	29 June 1976–July 1979
Fred Grimwade	Liberal Party of Australia	18 July 1979–15 July 1985
Rod Mackenzie	Australian Labor Party	16 July 1985–24 October 1988
Alan Hunt	Liberal Party of Australia	25 October 1988–26 October 1992
Bruce Chamberlain	Liberal Party of Australia	27 October 1992–24 February 2003
Monica Gould	Australian Labor Party	25 February 2003–18 December 2006
Bob Smith	Australian Labor Party	19 December 2006–20 December 2010
Bruce Atkinson	Liberal Party of Australia	21 December 2010–present