Leader of the House of Commons
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United Kingdom Leader of the House of Commons | |
---|---|
since 9 May 2015 | |
Office of the Leader of the House | |
Style | The Right Honourable |
Inaugural holder | Robert Walpole |
Formation | 4 April 1721 |
Website | www |
The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. This office does not attract a ministerial salary,[1] and as such it is usually held jointly with another ministerial position (often a sinecure). Although at one time the position was usually held by the Prime Minister, in recent years, the post has usually been combined with that of Lord President of the Council (i.e., of the Privy Council); from 2003 to 2014 it had been combined with the office of Lord Privy Seal; from 2014-2015 it was combined with honorific political office of First Secretary of State. The Leader of the House of Commons is assisted by the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, both of whom are assigned as ministers in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons.
The House of Commons devotes approximately three quarters of its time to Government business, such as bills introduced by the government and ministerial statements. The Leader of the House, with the parties' chief whips ("the usual channels"), is responsible for organising Government business and providing time for non-government business to be put before the House. The Leader of the House additionally announces the next week's debate schedule in the Business Statement every Thursday.
When there is either no Deputy Prime Minister or First Secretary of State, or either the Deputy Prime Minister or First Secretary of State is unavailable, the Leader of the House may stand in for an absent Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions, although this procedure is relatively unusual.
Jointly administered by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and the Cabinet Office are the Osmotherly Rules, which set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to parliamentary select committees.[2]
Leaders of the House of Commons since 1721
At times the nominal leadership was held by the Prime Minister but the day-to-day work was done by a Deputy. At other times a Deputy was appointed merely to enhance an individual politician's standing within the government.
18th century
19th century
Name | Portrait | Concurrent office(s) | Tenure | Political Party | Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Henry Addington | Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer |
17 March 1801 – 10 May 1804 | Pittite Tory | style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | William Pitt the Younger | Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer |
10 May 1804 – 23 January 1806 (died) | style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Himself | ||
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | Charles James Fox | Foreign Secretary | February – 13 September 1806 (died) | Whig (Ministry of All the Talents) |
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | William Grenville | |
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | Charles Grey, Viscount Howick | Foreign Secretary | September 1806 – 31 March 1807 | ||||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Spencer Perceval | Chancellor of the Exchequer Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Prime Minister (from October 1809) |
April 1807 – 11 May 1812 (died) | Tory | style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland | |
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Himself | ||||||
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (inherited as 2nd Marquess of Londonderry in 1821) | Foreign Secretary | June 1812 – 12 August 1822 (died) | rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool | ||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | George Canning | Foreign Secretary (until April 1827) | 16 September 1822 – 8 August 1827 (died) | Canningite Tory | |||
Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer (both from April 1827) |
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Himself | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | William Huskisson | War & Colonial Secretary | 3 September 1827 – 21 January 1828 | style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich | ||
style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Robert Peel | Home Secretary | 26 January 1828 – 16 November 1830 | Tory | style="background-color: Template:Tory (British political party)/meta/color" | | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington | |
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | John Spencer, Viscount Althorp | Chancellor of the Exchequer | 22 November 1830 – 14 November 1834 | Whig | style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | Charles Grey | |
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne | ||||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Robert Peel | Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer |
10 December 1834 – 8 April 1835 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | John Russell | Home Secretary (until August 1839) War & Colonial Secretary (from 30 August 1839) |
18 April 1835 – 30 August 1841 | Whig | style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Robert Peel | Prime Minister | 30 August 1841 – 29 June 1846 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | John Russell | Prime Minister | 30 June 1846 – 21 February 1852 | Whig | style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Benjamin Disraeli | Chancellor of the Exchequer | 27 February – 17 December 1852 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby | |
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | John Russell | Foreign Secretary (until February 1853) Minister without Portfolio (February 1853–June 1854) Lord President of the Council (from June 1854) |
28 December 1852 – 30 January 1855 | Whig (Coalition) |
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen | |
style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston | Prime Minister | 6 February 1855 – 19 February 1858 | Whig | style="background-color: Template:Whig (British political party)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Benjamin Disraeli | Chancellor of the Exchequer | 26 February 1858 – 11 June 1859 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby | |
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston | Prime Minister | 12 June 1859 – 18 October 1865 (died) | Liberal | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | William Ewart Gladstone | Chancellor of the Exchequer | October 1865 – 26 June 1866 | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Russell | ||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Benjamin Disraeli | Chancellor of the Exchequer (until February 1868) | 6 July 1866 – 1 December 1868 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby | |
Prime Minister (from February 1868) | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | William Ewart Gladstone | Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer (from August 1873) |
3 December 1868 – 17 February 1874 | Liberal | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Benjamin Disraeli | Prime Minister | 20 February 1874 – 21 August 1876 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Stafford Northcote | Chancellor of the Exchequer | 21 August 1876 – 21 April 1880 | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield | ||
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | William Ewart Gladstone | Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer (until December 1882) |
23 April 1880 – 9 June 1885 | Liberal | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Michael Hicks-Beach | Chancellor of the Exchequer | 24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | |
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | William Ewart Gladstone | Prime Minister Lord Privy Seal |
1 February – 2 July 1886 | Liberal | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Randolph Churchill | Chancellor of the Exchequer | 3 August 1886 – 14 January 1887 | Conservative | rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | W. H. Smith | First Lord of the Treasury | 17 January 1887 – October 1891 | ||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Arthur Balfour | First Lord of the Treasury | October 1891 – 11 August 1892 | ||||
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | William Ewart Gladstone | Prime Minister Lord Privy Seal |
15 August 1892 – 2 March 1894 | Liberal | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | William Vernon Harcourt | Chancellor of the Exchequer | 2 March 1894 – 21 June 1895 | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery | ||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Arthur Balfour | First Lord of the Treasury Prime Minister (from 12 July 1902) Lord Privy Seal (14 July 1902–17 October 1903) |
29 June 1895 – 4 December 1905 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself |
Edwardian and wartime
Name | Portrait | Concurrent office(s) | Tenure | Political Party | Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Henry Campbell-Bannerman | Prime Minister | 5 December 1905 – 5 April 1908 | Liberal | style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | H. H. Asquith | Prime Minister War Secretary (30 March – 5 August 1914) |
5 April 1908 – 5 December 1916 | Liberal (Wartime coalition 1915–1916) |
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Bonar Law | Chancellor of the Exchequer (until 10 January 1919) Lord Privy Seal (from 10 January 1919) |
10 December 1916 – 23 March 1921 | Conservative (Coalition) |
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" | | David Lloyd George | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Austen Chamberlain | Lord Privy Seal | 23 March 1921 – 19 October 1922 | ||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Bonar Law | Prime Minister | 23 October 1922 – 20 May 1923 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Stanley Baldwin | Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer (until August 1923) |
22 May 1923 – 22 January 1924 | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | ||
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Ramsay MacDonald | Prime Minister Foreign Secretary |
22 January – 3 November 1924 | Labour | style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Stanley Baldwin | Prime Minister | 4 November 1924 – 4 June 1929 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | |
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Ramsay MacDonald | 5 June 1929 – 7 June 1935 | Labour | style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | ||
style="background-color: Template:National Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | National Labour (National Govt 1931–1935) |
style="background-color: Template:National Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Stanley Baldwin | 7 June 1935 – 28 May 1937 | Conservative (National Govt 1935–1937) |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | ||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Neville Chamberlain | 28 May 1937 – 10 May 1940 | Conservative (National Govt 1937–1939; War Govt 1939–1940) |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Himself | ||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Winston Churchill | Prime Minister Minister of Defence |
10 May 1940 – 19 February 1942 | Conservative (Wartime coalition) |
rowspan="4" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Winston Churchill | |
style="background-color: Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color" | | Stafford Cripps | Lord Privy Seal | 19 February – 22 November 1942 | Independent (Wartime coalition) | |||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Anthony Eden | Foreign Secretary | 22 February 1942 – 26 July 1945 | Conservative (Wartime coalition) | |||
Conservative (Caretaker coalition) |
Post-War
Name | Portrait | Concurrent office(s) | Tenure | Political Party | Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Herbert Morrison | Lord President of the Council | 27 July 1945 – 9 March 1951 | Labour | rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Clement Attlee | |
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | James Chuter Ede | File:Chuter Ede 1941.jpg | Home Secretary | 9 March 1951 – 26 October 1951 | |||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Harry Crookshank | Minister of Health (until May 1952) Lord Privy Seal (from 7 May 1952) |
28 October 1951 – 20 December 1955 | Conservative | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Winston Churchill | |
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Anthony Eden | ||||||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Rab Butler | File:RA Butler 1937.jpg | Lord Privy Seal (until October 1959) Home Secretary (from 14 January 1957) |
20 December 1955 – 9 October 1961 | |||
Home Secretary | rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Harold Macmillan | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Iain Macleod | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | 9 October 1961 – 20 October 1963 | ||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Selwyn Lloyd | Lord Privy Seal | 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964 | style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Alec Douglas-Home | ||
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Herbert Bowden | Lord President of the Council | 16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966 | Labour | rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Harold Wilson | |
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Richard Crossman | 11 August 1966 – 18 October 1968 | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Fred Peart | 18 October 1968 – 19 June 1970 | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Willie Whitelaw | File:William Whitelaw.jpg | 20 June 1970 – 7 April 1972 | Conservative | rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Edward Heath | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Robert Carr | 7 April 1972 – 5 November 1972 | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Jim Prior | 5 November 1972 – 4 March 1974 | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Edward Short | 5 March 1974 – 8 April 1976 | Labour | rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Harold Wilson | ||
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Michael Foot | 8 April 1976 – 4 May 1979 | James Callaghan | ||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Norman St John-Stevas | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for the Arts |
5 May 1979 – 5 January 1981 | Conservative | rowspan="6" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Margaret Thatcher | |
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Francis Pym | File:Zconcam61.jpg | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (until September 1981) Lord President of the Council (from 14 September 1981) |
5 January 1981 – 5 April 1982 | |||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Biffen | Lord President of the Council (until June 1983) Lord Privy Seal (from 11 June 1983) |
5 April 1982 – 13 June 1987 | ||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Wakeham | Lord Privy Seal (until January 1988) Lord President of the Council (from 10 January 1988) |
13 June 1987 – 24 July 1989 | ||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Geoffrey Howe | Lord President of the Council Deputy Prime Minister |
24 July 1989 – 2 November 1990 | ||||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John MacGregor | Lord President of the Council | 2 November 1990 – 10 April 1992 | ||||
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Major | ||||||
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Tony Newton | 10 April 1992 – 1 May 1997 | |||||
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Ann Taylor | 2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998 | Labour | rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Tony Blair | ||
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Margaret Beckett | 27 July 1998 – 8 June 2001 |
21st century
See also
- Leader of the House of Lords
- Speaker of the British House of Commons
- Minister for Parliamentary Business, the equivalent cabinet post in the Scottish Government
References
- ^ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1975/27
- ^ Gay, Oonagh (4 August 2005). "The Osmotherly Rules (Standard Note: SN/PC/2671)" (PDF). Parliament and Constitution Centre, House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
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