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.

File:Andrew Bonar Law 02.jpg|Andrew Bonar Law (23 October 1922)
File:Stanley Baldwin ggbain.35233.jpg|Stanley Baldwin (22 May 1923)
File:Sir Winston Churchill - 19086236948 (cropped2).jpg|Winston Churchill (9 October 1940)
File:Anthony Eden (retouched).jpg|Anthony Eden (7 April 1955)
File:Harold Macmillan (cropped).jpg|Harold Macmillan (10 January 1957)
File:Alec Douglas-Home (c1963) (cropped).jpg|Alec Douglas-Home (19 October 1963)
File:Edward Heath (cropped).jpg|Edward Heath (27 July 1965)
File:Margaret Thatcher (1983).jpg|Margaret Thatcher (11 February 1975)
File:Prime Minister John Major (cropped).jpg|John Major (27 November 1990)
File:William Hague (2010).jpg|William Hague (19 June 1997)
File:Official portrait of Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP crop 2.jpg|Iain Duncan Smith (13 September 2001)
File:Official portrait of Lord Howard of Lympne crop 2, 2023.jpg|Michael Howard (6 November 2003)
File:David Cameron official.jpg|David Cameron (6 December 2005)
File:Theresa_May_official_portrait_(cropped).jpg|Theresa May (11 July 2016)
File:Boris Johnson official portrait (cropped).jpg|Boris Johnson (23 July 2019)
File: Liz Truss official portrait (cropped)2.jpg|Elizabeth Truss (5 September 2022)

File:Portrait of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (cropped).jpg|Rishi Sunak (24 October 2022)
File:Official portrait of Kemi Badenoch MP crop 3, 2024 (cropped).jpg|Kemi Badenoch (2 November 2024)