Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)

The Leader of the Conservative Party is the most senior politician within the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. The post is currently held by Kemi Badenoch since 2 November 2024. There was no proper leader of the Conservative Party until 1922:

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

Leaders of the Conservative Party 1922-Present

Date in brackets shows when each person became leader.


*