Leader of the Opposition (UK) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the United Kingdom (more commonly known as the Leader of the Opposition) is the politician who leads the Official Opposition (Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition) in the United Kingdom. There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. At one time the leaders in the two Houses were of equal status, unless one was the most recent Prime Minister from the party forming the official opposition. However since early in the twentieth century there has been little dispute that the leader in the House of Commons was pre-eminent.

The Leader of the Opposition is normally the leader of the largest party not within the government, which is usually the second largest political party in the House of Commons. He or she is normally viewed as an alternative Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

, and is a member of the Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

.

The Leader of the Opposition is entitled to a salary in addition to their salary as Member of Parliament. In 2010, this additional entitlement was available up to a maximum of £73,617.

The current Leader of the Opposition is Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband

Edward Samuel Miliband is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition...

, leader of the Labour Party.

Early developments 1807–1830

For there to be a recognised Leader of the Opposition, it was necessary for there to be a sufficiently cohesive opposition to need a formal leader. The first time this situation developed was in the Parliament of 1807–1812, when the members of the Grenvillite and Foxite Whig factions decided to formalise a joint leadership for the whole Whig Party.

The Ministry of all the Talents

Ministry of All the Talents

The Ministry of All the Talents was a national unity government formed by William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville on his appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 11 February 1806 after the death of William Pitt the Younger...

, in which both Whig factions participated, fell before the United Kingdom general election, 1807

United Kingdom general election, 1807

The election to the 4th Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1807 was the third general election to be held after the Union of Great Britain and Ireland....

. The Whigs then re-adopted the traditional type of factional leadership, of an opposition rather than the opposition. The Prime Minister of the Talents ministry, Lord Grenville

William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville

William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville PC, PC was a British Whig statesman. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807 as head of the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background :...

, led his faction from the House of Lords. The former government Leader of the House of Commons, Viscount Howick

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC , known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 22 November 1830 to 16 July 1834. A member of the Whig Party, he backed significant reform of the British government and was among the...

(the political heir of Charles James Fox

Charles James Fox

Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...

who had died in 1806), led his faction from the House of Commons.

Howick's father, the 1st Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, KB PC was one of the most important British generals of the 18th century. He was the fourth son of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet, of Howick in Northumberland. He served in the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence and French Revolutionary War...

died on 14 November 1807. The new Earl Grey automatically vacated his seat in the House of Commons and moved to the House of Lords. This left no obvious Whig leader in the House of Commons.

Grenville's article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography confirms that he was considered the Whig leader in the House of Lords between 1807 and 1817, despite Grey leading the larger faction.

Grenville and Grey, whom Foord described as being "the duumvirs

Duumvirate

A duumvirate is an alliance between two equally powerful political or military leaders. The term can also be used to describe a state with two different military leaders who both declare themselves to be the sole leader of the state....

of the party from 1807 to 1817", consulted about what was to be done. Grenville was at first reluctant to name a Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, commenting "... all the elections in the world would not have made Windham or Sheridan leaders of the old Opposition while Fox was alive ...".

In the end Grenville and Grey made a joint recommendation to the Whig MPs of George Ponsonby

George Ponsonby

George Ponsonby PC , was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background and education:...

, who was accepted as the first Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. Ponsonby, an Irish lawyer who was the uncle of Grey's wife, had been Lord Chancellor of Ireland

Lord Chancellor of Ireland

The office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament.-13th century:...

during the Ministry of all the Talents and had only just been re-elected to the House of Commons in 1808 when he became leader.

Ponsonby was a weak leader, but as he could not be persuaded to resign and the duumvirs did not want to depose him, he remained in place until he died in 1817.

Lord Grenville retired from active politics in 1817, leaving Grey as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. Grey was not a former Prime Minister in 1817, unlike Grenville, so under the convention that developed later in the century he would have been in theory of equal status to whoever was leader in the other House. However there was little doubt that if a Whig ministry was to be formed, Grey rather than the less distinguished Commons leaders would have been invited to form that government. In this respect Grey's position was like that of the Earl of Derby in the Protectionist Conservative opposition of the late 1840s and early 1850s.

There was a delay of about a year, until 1818, before a new Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons was chosen. This was George Tierney

George Tierney

George Tierney PC was an English Whig politician.-Background and education:Born in Gibraltar, Tierney was the son of Thomas Tierney, a wealthy Irish merchant of London, who was living in Gibraltar as prize agent. He was sent to Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he took the degree of Law in 1784...

. He was reluctant to accept the leadership and had weak support from his party. On 18 May 1819, Tierney moved a motion in the House of Commons for a committee on the state of the nation. This motion was defeated by 357 to 178, which was a division involving the largest number of MPs until the debates over the Reform bill in the early 1830s. Foord comments that "this defeat put an effective end to Tierney's leadership ... Tierney did not disclaim the leadership till 23 Jan. 1821 ..., but he had ceased to exercise its functions since the great defeat".

Between 1821 and 1830 the Whig Commons leadership was left vacant. The leadership in the House of Lords was not much more effective. In 1824 Grey retired from active leadership, asking the party to follow the Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman...

"as the person whom his friends were to look upon as their leader". Lansdowne disclaimed the title of leader, although in practice he performed the function.

Following the retirement of Lord Liverpool

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool KG PC was a British politician and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since the Union with Ireland in 1801. He was 42 years old when he became premier in 1812 which made him younger than all of his successors to date...

from the Prime Ministership in 1827, the party political situation changed. The principal opposition between April 1827 and January 1828 followed the Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

and Robert Peel

Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...

, although Earl Grey and a section of the Whigs were also in opposition to the coalition government.

Neither Peel nor Wellington agreed to serve under George Canning

George Canning

George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...

and they were followed by five other members of the former Cabinet as well as forty junior members of the previous government. The Tory Party was heavily split between the "High Tories" (or "Ultras", nicknamed after the contemporary party

Ultra-royalist

Ultra-Royalists or simply Ultras were a reactionary faction which sat in the French parliament from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration...

in France) and the moderates supporting Canning, often called 'Canningites'. As a result Canning found it difficult to form a government and chose to invite a number of Whigs to join his Cabinet, including Lord Lansdowne

Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman...

. After Canning's death, Lord Goderich continued the coalition for a few more months.

The Duke of Wellington formed a ministry in January 1828 and after it adopted a policy of Catholic Emancipation

Catholic Emancipation

Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...

, the opposition was composed of Whigs, Canningites and some ultra-Tories. Lord Lansdowne, in the absence of any alternative, remained the leading figure in the Whig opposition.

In 1830 Grey returned to the front rank of politics. On 30 June 1830 he denounced the government in the House of Lords. He rapidly attracted the support of opponents of the ministry. The renewal of organised opposition was also marked earlier in the year by the election of a new Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, the heir of Earl Spencer, Viscount Althorp

John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer

John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer PC, FRS , styled Viscount Althorp from 1783 to 1834, was a British statesman...

. In November 1830 Grey was invited to form a government and resumed the formal leadership of the party.

Wellington and Peel again became the Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses, from November 1830.

Leaders of the Opposition 1830–1937

In the period of 1830–1937 the normal expectation was that there would be two leading parties (often with smaller allied groups), of which one would form the government and the other the opposition. Both these parties were expected to have recognised leaders in the two Houses, so there was normally no problem in identifying who was the Leader of the Opposition in each House.

The constitutional convention developed in the nineteenth century was that if one of the leaders was the last Prime Minister of the party, then he would be considered the overall leader of his party. If that was not the case then the leaders of both Houses were of equal status. As the monarch retained some discretion as to which leader should be invited to form a ministry, it was not always obvious in advance which one would be called upon to do so.

However as the Leadership of the Opposition only existed by custom, the normal expectations and conventions were modified by political realities from time to time.

From 1830 until 1846 the Tory/Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

Party and the Whig Party (increasingly often described with its Radical and other allies as the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

) alternated in power and provided clear Leaders of the Opposition.

In 1846 the Conservative Party split into Protectionist Conservative and Peelite

Peelite

The Peelites were a breakaway faction of the British Conservative Party, and existed from 1846 to 1859. They were called "Peelites" because they were initially led by Sir Robert Peel, who was the British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846....

(or Liberal Conservative) factions. The Protectionists being the larger group, the recognised Leaders of the Opposition were drawn from their ranks. In the House of Lords, Lord Stanley (subsequently the Earl of Derby

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby

Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...

) was the Protectionist leader. He was the only established front rank political figure in the faction and thus a very strong candidate to form the next Conservative ministry.

The leadership in the House of Commons was more problematic. Lord George Bentinck

Lord George Bentinck

Lord George Frederick Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck , better known as simply Lord George Bentinck, was an English Conservative politician and racehorse owner, best known for his role in unseating Sir Robert Peel over the Corn Laws.Bentinck was a younger son of the 4th Duke of Portland, and elected a...

, the leader of the Protectionist revolt against Sir Robert Peel, initially led the party in the Commons. He resigned in December 1847. The party was then faced with the problem of how to produce a credible leader, who was not Benjamin Disraeli.

The first attempt to square the circle, was made in February 1848, when the young Marquess of Granby

Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland

Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland KG , styled Marquess of Granby before 1857, was an English Conservative politician.-Background and education:...

was installed as the leader. He gave up the post in March 1848. The leadership then fell vacant until February 1849.

The next experiment was to entrust the leadership to a triumvirate

Triumvirate

A triumvirate is a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals, each a triumvir . The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case...

of Granby, Disraeli and the elderly John Charles Herries

John Charles Herries

John Charles Herries PC , known as J. C. Herries, was a British politician and financier and a frequent member of Tory and Conservative cabinets in the early to mid 19th century.-Background and education:...

. In practice Disraeli ignored his co-triumvirs. In 1851 Granby resigned and the party accepted Disraeli as the sole leader. The Protectionists by then were clearly the core of the Conservative Party and Derby was able to form his first government in 1852.

The Liberal Party was formally founded in 1859, replacing the Whig Party as one of the two leading parties. With increasing party discipline it became easier to define the principal opposition party and the Leaders of the Opposition.

The last overall Leader of the Opposition, in the House of Lords, was the Earl of Rosebery

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who...

. He had been Liberal Prime Minister from 1894 to 1895 and served as Leader of the Opposition until he resigned in November 1896.
In 1915 the Liberal, Conservative and Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

parties formed a coalition. The Irish Parliamentary Party

Irish Parliamentary Party

The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...

did not join the government, but were not in opposition to it. As almost nobody in the Parliament could be said to be in opposition to the coalition, the Leaderships of the Opposition fell vacant.

Sir Edward Carson

Edward Carson, Baron Carson

Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...

, the leading figure amongst the Irish Unionist part of the Conservative and Unionist Party, resigned from the coalition ministry on 19 October 1915. He then became the leader of those Unionists who were not members of the government, effectively Leader of the Opposition in the Commons.

The situation changed in December 1916. A leading Liberal, David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

, formed a coalition with the support of a section of the Liberals and the Conservative and Labour parties. The Liberal leader, Herbert Henry Asquith and most of his leading colleagues, left the government and took up seats on what was traditionally the opposition side of the House of Commons. Asquith was recognised as the Leader of the Opposition. He retained that post until he was defeated in the United Kingdom general election, 1918

United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

. Although Asquith continued to be the leader of the Liberal Party, as he was not a member of the House of Commons he was not eligible to be Leader of the Opposition.

The Parliament elected in 1918, which sat from 1919 until 1922, represents the most significant deviation from the principle that the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the party not in government with the greatest numerical support in the House of Commons. The largest opposition party (disregarding Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

, whose MPs did not take their seats at Westminster), was the Labour Party which had left the continuing Lloyd George coalition and won 57 seats at the general election. Thirty six Liberals had been elected without coalition support, but not all of those were opponents of Lloyd George. The Labour Party did not have a leader before 1922. The Parliamentary Labour Party annually elected a Chairman, but the party did not seriously assert a claim that the Chairman was the Leader of the Opposition. Although the issue of who was entitled to be Leader of the Opposition was never formally resolved, in practice the Opposition Liberal leader performed the Parliamentary functions associated with the office.

The small group of Opposition Liberals met in 1919. They resolved that they were the Liberal Parliamentary Party. They elected Sir Donald Maclean as Chairman of the Parliamentary Party. Liberal Party practice at the time, when the overall Leader of the Party was not a member of the House of Commons, was for the Chairman to function as the Leader in the House. Maclean therefore took on the role of Leader of the Opposition, until Asquith returned to the House after a by-election in 1920 and took over.

From 1922 the Labour Party had a recognised leader and took over from the Liberal Party the role of being one of the two largest parties, alternating in government and as the principal opposition party. From this point, all Leaders of the Opposition in the House of Commons were overall Leaders of the Opposition. There were three instances of peers being seriously considered for the Prime Ministership, during the twentieth century (Curzon of Kedleston

George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...

in 1923, Halifax

E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, , known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s, during which he held several senior ministerial posts, most notably as...

in 1940 and Home

Alec Douglas-Home

Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...

in 1963), but these were all cases where the Conservative Party was in government and do not affect the List of Leaders of the Opposition.

In 1931–32 the Leader of the Labour Party was Arthur Henderson

Arthur Henderson

Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and he served three short terms as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1908–1910, 1914–1917 and 1931-1932....

. He was Leader of the Opposition for a short period in 1931, but was ineligible to continue when he lost his seat in the 1931 general election. George Lansbury

George Lansbury

George Lansbury was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935....

was Leader of the Opposition before he also became the Leader of the Labour Party in 1932.

Statutory Leaders of the Opposition from 1937

Leaders of the Opposition, in the two Houses of Parliament, had been generally recognised and given a special status in Parliament for more than a century before they were mentioned in legislation.

Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice confirms that the office of Leader of the Opposition was first given statutory recognition in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1937.

Section 5 states that "There shall be paid to the Leader of the Opposition an annual salary of two thousand pounds".

Section 10(1) includes a definition (which codifies the usual situation under the previous custom) -" "Leader of the Opposition" means that member of the House of Commons who is for the time being the leader in that House of the party in opposition to His Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in that House".

The 1937 Act also contains an important provision to decide who is the Leader of the Opposition, if this is in doubt. Under section 10(3) "If any doubt arises as to which is or was at any material time the party in opposition to His Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons, or as to who is or was at any material time the leader in that House of such a party the question shall be decided for the purposes of this Act by the Speaker of the House of Commons, and his decision, certified in writing under his hand, shall be final and conclusive".

Subsequent legislation also gave statutory recognition to the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords.

Section 2(1) of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, provides that "In this Act "Leader of the Opposition" means, in relation to either House of Parliament, that member of that House who is for the time being the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to Her Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons".

Section 2(2) is in exactly the same terms as section 10(3) of the 1937 Act (apart from substituting Her Majesty's for His Majesty's).

Section 2(3) is a corresponding provision for the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

(since 2005, the Lord Speaker
Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.Until July 2006, the role of...

) to decide about the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords.

The legislative provisions confirm that Leader of the Opposition is, strictly, a Parliamentary office; so that to be Leader a person must be a member of the House in which he or she leads.

Since 1937, the Leader of the Opposition has received a state salary in addition to their salary as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

(MP), now equivalent to a Cabinet Minister. The holder also receives a chauffeur-driven car for official business of equivalent cost and specification to the vehicles used by most cabinet ministers

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

.

In 1940 the three largest parties in the House of Commons formed a coalition government to continue to prosecute the Second World War. This coalition continued in office until shortly after the defeat of Germany in 1945. As the former Leader of the Opposition had joined the government the issue arose of who was to hold the office or perform its functions. Keesing's Contemporary Archives 1937–1940 (at paragraph 4069D) reported the situation, based on Hansard
Hansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...

:

The Prime Minister replying to Mr Denman in the House of Commons on 21 May, said that in view of the formation of an Administration embracing the three main political parties, H.M. Government was of the opinion that the provision of the Ministers of the Crown Act, 1937, relating to the payment of a salary to the Leader of the Opposition was in abeyance for the time being, as there was no alternative party capable of forming a Government. He added that he did not consider amending legislation necessary.

The Daily Herald reported that the Parliamentary Labour Party

Parliamentary Labour Party

In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party is the parliamentary party of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body....

met on 22 May 1940 and unanimously elected Dr H.B. Lees-Smith as Chairman of the PLP (an office normally held by the party leader at that time) and as spokesman of the Party from the opposition front bench.

After the death of Lees-Smith, on 18 December 1941, the PLP held a meeting on 21 January 1942. F. Pethick-Lawrence was unanimously elected Chairman of the PLP and the official spokesman of the party in the House of Commons while the party leader was serving in the government. After the deputy leader of the party (Arthur Greenwood) left the government on 22 February 1942 he took over these roles from Pethick-Lawrence until the end of the coalition and the resumption of normal party politics.

List of Leaders of the Opposition

The table lists the people who were, or who acted as, Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses of Parliament since 1807.

The leaders of the two Houses were of equal status, before 1922, unless one was the most recent Prime Minister for the party. Such a former Prime Minister was considered to be the overall Leader of the Opposition. From 1922 the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons was considered to be the overall Leader of the Opposition. Overall leaders names are bolded. Acting leaders names are in italics, unless the acting leader subsequently became a full leader during a continuous period as leader.

Due to the fragmentation of both principal parties in 1827–30, the Leaders and principal opposition parties suggested for those years are provisional.

A "+" after the name indicates that the Leader died in office.

Date	Principal Opposition Party	Leader of the Opposition House of Commons	Leader of the Opposition House of Lords
March 1807	Whig	vacant	The Lord Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville PC, PC was a British Whig statesman. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807 as head of the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background :... ¹
1808		George Ponsonby George Ponsonby George Ponsonby PC , was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background and education:... +
8 July 1817		vacant
1817		vacant	The Earl Grey Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC , known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 22 November 1830 to 16 July 1834. A member of the Whig Party, he backed significant reform of the British government and was among the... ²
1818		George Tierney George Tierney George Tierney PC was an English Whig politician.-Background and education:Born in Gibraltar, Tierney was the son of Thomas Tierney, a wealthy Irish merchant of London, who was living in Gibraltar as prize agent. He was sent to Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he took the degree of Law in 1784...
23 January 1821		vacant
1824		vacant	The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman... ^A
April 1827	High Tory	Robert Peel Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846... ²	The Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century... ²
January 1828	Whig	vacant	The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman... ^A
February 1830	Whig	Viscount Althorp John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer PC, FRS , styled Viscount Althorp from 1783 to 1834, was a British statesman...
November 1830	Tory	Sir Robert Peel, Bt Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846... ²	The Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century... ³
November 1834	Whig	Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century.... ²	The Viscount Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics... ³
April 1835	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Sir Robert Peel, Bt Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846... ³	The Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century... ¹
August 1841	Whig	Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century.... ²	The Viscount Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics... ¹
October 1842	Whig		The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman...
June 1846	Protectionist Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Lord George Bentinck Lord George Bentinck Lord George Frederick Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck , better known as simply Lord George Bentinck, was an English Conservative politician and racehorse owner, best known for his role in unseating Sir Robert Peel over the Corn Laws.Bentinck was a younger son of the 4th Duke of Portland, and elected a...	The Lord Stanley of Bickerstaffe (The Earl of Derby from 1851) ²
10 February 1848		Marquess of Granby Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland KG , styled Marquess of Granby before 1857, was an English Conservative politician.-Background and education:...
4 March 1848		vacant
February 1849		Marquess of Granby Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland KG , styled Marquess of Granby before 1857, was an English Conservative politician.-Background and education:... ; John Charles Herries John Charles Herries John Charles Herries PC , known as J. C. Herries, was a British politician and financier and a frequent member of Tory and Conservative cabinets in the early to mid 19th century.-Background and education:... ; and Benjamin Disraeli ²
1851		Benjamin Disraeli ²
February 1852	Whig	Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century.... ³	The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Henry Petty from 1784 to 1809 and then as The Earl of Kerry to 1818, was a British statesman...
December 1852	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Benjamin Disraeli ²	The Earl of Derby ³
February 1858	Whig	The Viscount Palmerston Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century... ³ ^B	The Earl Granville Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville Granville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman...
June 1859	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Benjamin Disraeli ²	The Earl of Derby ³
June 1866	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...	William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time... ²	The Earl Russell (formerly Lord John Russell) John Russell, 1st Earl Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century.... ¹
December 1868			The Earl Granville Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville Granville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman...
December 1868	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Benjamin Disraeli ³	The Earl of Malmesbury
February 1869			The Lord Cairns
February 1870			The Duke of Richmond Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, and 1st Duke of Gordon KG PC , styled Lord Settrington until 1819 and Earl of March between 1819 and 1860, was a British Conservative politician.-Background and education:Born at Richmond House, London, he was the son of Charles...
February 1874	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...	William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time... ³	The Earl Granville Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville Granville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman...
February 1875		Marquess of Hartington Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire KG, GCVO, PC, PC , styled Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1834 and 1858 and Marquess of Hartington between 1858 and 1891, was a British statesman...
April 1880	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh GCB, PC , known as Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt, from 1851 to 1885, was a British Conservative politician...	The Earl of Beaconsfield (formerly Benjamin Disraeli) + ¹
May 1881			The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years... ²
June 1885	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...	William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time... ³	The Earl Granville Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville Granville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman...
February 1886	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt	The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years... ³
July 1886	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...	William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time... ³	The Earl Granville Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville Granville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman... +
April 1891			The Earl of Kimberley John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley KG , PC , known as the Lord Wodehouse from 1846 to 1866, was a British Liberal politician...
August 1892	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Arthur James Balfour ²	The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years... ³
June 1895	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...	Sir William Harcourt William Vernon Harcourt (politician) Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of... ^C	The Earl of Rosebery Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who... ¹ ^D
January 1897			The Earl of Kimberley John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley KG , PC , known as the Lord Wodehouse from 1846 to 1866, was a British Liberal politician... +
6 February 1899		Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as Secretary of State for War twice, in the Cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery... ²
1902			The Earl Spencer John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer KG, PC , known as Viscount Althorp from 1845 to 1857 , was a British Liberal Party politician under and close friend of British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone...
1905			The Marquess of Ripon George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon KG, GCSI, CIE, PC , known as Viscount Goderich from 1833 to 1859 and as the Earl de Grey and Ripon from 1859 to 1871, was a British politician who served in every Liberal cabinet from 1861 until his death forty-eight years later.-Background...
5 December 1905	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Arthur James Balfour ¹ ^E	The 5th Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC was a British politician and Irish peer who served successively as the fifth Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs... (Liberal Unionist Party Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule... until 1912)
1906		Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University.... (Liberal Unionist Party Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule... )
1906		Arthur James Balfour ¹
13 November 1911		Andrew Bonar Law ²
25 May 1915		vacant ^F	vacant ^F
19 October 1915	Opposition Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Sir Edward Carson Edward Carson, Baron Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland... (Irish Unionist Party Irish Unionist Party The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton... ) ^F	vacant ^F
6 December 1916	Opposition Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...	Herbert Henry Asquith ¹ ^G	The Marquess of Crewe Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe KG, PC , known as The Lord Houghton from 1885 to 1895 and as The Earl of Crewe from 1895 to 1911, was a British statesman and writer....
3 February 1919		Sir Donald Maclean ^H
1920		Herbert Henry Asquith ¹
21 November 1922	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Ramsay MacDonald Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms.... ²	vacant ^I
22 January 1924	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars... ³	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
4 November 1924	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Ramsay MacDonald Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms.... ³	The Viscount Haldane Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane KT, OM, PC, KC, FRS, FBA, FSA , was an influential British Liberal Imperialist and later Labour politician, lawyer and philosopher. He was Secretary of State for War between 1905 and 1912 during which time the "Haldane Reforms" were implemented... +
1928			The Lord Parmoor Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor KCVO, PC, QC was a British politician who crossed the floor from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England causes....
5 June 1929	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars... ³	The 4th Marquess of Salisbury James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, CB, PC , known as Viscount Cranborne from 1868 to 1903, was a British statesman.-Background and education:...
1930			The Viscount Hailsham Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham PC was a British lawyer and Conservative politician.-Background:...
August 1931	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and he served three short terms as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1908–1910, 1914–1917 and 1931-1932.... ^J	The Lord Parmoor Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor KCVO, PC, QC was a British politician who crossed the floor from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England causes....
November 1931		George Lansbury George Lansbury George Lansbury was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935.... ^K	The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede Arthur Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede was a British politician, writer, and social activist. He was the third son of Sir Henry Ponsonby, Private Secretary to Queen Victoria, and the great-grandson of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough...
25 October 1935		Clement Attlee Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955... ² ^L	The Lord Snell Harry Snell, 1st Baron Snell Henry Snell, 1st Baron Snell CH, PC , was a British socialist politician and campaigner. He served in government under Ramsay MacDonald and Winston Churchill, and as the Labour Party's leader in the House of Lords in the late 1930s.-Background:Born in Sutton-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, the son of...
22 May 1940		Hastings Lees-Smith Hastings Lees-Smith Hastings Bertrand Lees-Smith PC was a British Labour politician who was briefly in the cabinet as President of the Board of Education in 1931... + ^M	The Lord Addison Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison Sir Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison KG, PC was a British medical doctor and politician. By turns a liberal and a socialist, he served as Minister of Munitions during the first World War, and was later Minister of Health under David Lloyd George and Leader of the House of Lords under... ^N
21 January 1942		Frederick Pethick-Lawrence ^M
February 1942		Arthur Greenwood Arthur Greenwood Arthur Greenwood CH was a prominent member of the Labour Party from the 1920s until the late 1940s. He rose to prominence within the party as secretary of its research department from 1920 and served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health in the short-lived Labour government of 1924... ^M
23 May 1945		Clement Attlee Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955... ²
26 July 1945	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice... ³	Viscount Cranborne (The 5th Marquess of Salisbury from 1947) Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury, KG, PC , known as Viscount Cranborne from 1903 to 1947, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:... ^O
26 October 1951	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Clement Attlee Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955... ¹	The Viscount Addison Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison Sir Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison KG, PC was a British medical doctor and politician. By turns a liberal and a socialist, he served as Minister of Munitions during the first World War, and was later Minister of Health under David Lloyd George and Leader of the House of Lords under... +
1952			The Earl Jowitt William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt PC, KC , was a British Labour politician and lawyer, who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.-Background and education:...
November 1955		Herbert Morrison Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in... ^P
14 December 1955		Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE was a British Labour politician, who held Cabinet office in Clement Attlee's governments, and was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955, until his death in 1963.-Early life:He was born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest... +	The Viscount Alexander of Hillsborough (The Earl Alexander of Hillsborough from 1963) A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough Albert Victor Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough KG, CH, PC was a British Labour Co-operative politician. He was three times First Lord of the Admiralty, including during the Second World War, and then Minister of Defence under Clement Attlee.-Background:Born in Weston-super-Mare and...
18 January 1963		George Brown George Brown, Baron George-Brown George Alfred Brown, Baron George-Brown, PC was a British Labour politician, who served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970, and served in a number of positions in the Cabinet, most notably as Foreign Secretary, in the Labour Government of the 1960s... ^P
14 February 1963		Harold Wilson Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the... ²
16 October 1964	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Sir Alec Douglas-Home Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last... ¹	The Lord Carrington Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
28 July 1965		Edward Heath Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party .... ²
19 June 1970	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...	Harold Wilson Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the... ³	The Lord Shackleton Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, KG AC OBE PC FRS , was a British geographer and Labour Party politician....
4 March 1974	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...	Edward Heath Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party .... ¹	The Lord Carrington Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
11 February 1975		Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990... ²
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Notes:-

¹ Formerly Prime Minister
² Subsequently Prime Minister
³ Formerly and subsequently Prime Minister
^A Foord suggests that Lansdowne was, in effect, acting Whig leader in 1824–27. This may possibly have also been the case in 1828–30. Grey's article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography suggests "... though he called on Lansdowne to take up the leadership of the opposition he was still unwilling to give it up altogether". Grey was in opposition in 1827–28, when Lansdowne was in government. Given the confusion of the politics of the period, particularly after 1827 when both principal parties were fragmented, it is possible that Grey should be considered Leader of the Opposition 1824–1830. However the definite statements (by Foord) that Grey resigned the leadership in 1824 and (by Cook & Keith) that Grey did not resume the leadership until November 1830 leads to a different conclusion.
^B An alternative interpretation is that Palmerston (the immediate past Prime Minister) and Lord John Russell (a previous Prime Minister) were joint leaders. Cook & Keith have Palmerston as the sole leader.
^C Harcourt resigned 14 December 1898.
^D Rosebery resigned 6 October 1896.
^E Balfour lost his seat in the House of Commons in January 1906.
^F During Asquith's coalition government of 1915–1916, there was no formal opposition in either the Commons or the Lords. The only party not in Asquith's Liberal, Conservative, Labour Coalition was the Irish Nationalist Party led by John Redmond
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...

. However, this party supported the government and did not function as an Opposition.

Sir Edward Carson

Edward Carson, Baron Carson

Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...

, the leading figure amongst the Irish Unionist allies of the Conservative Party, resigned from the coalition ministry on 19 October 1915. He then became the de facto leader of those Unionists who were not members of the government, effectively Leader of the Opposition in the Commons.

^G Asquith lost his seat in the House of Commons in December 1918.
^H Douglas in The History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970 observes that "The technical question whether the Leader of the Opposition was Maclean or William Adamson
William Adamson
William Adamson was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour politician. He was Leader of the Labour Party between 1917 and 1921 and served as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the first two Labour administrations headed by Ramsay MacDonald.-Background:Adamson was...

, Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, was never fully resolved ... The fact that Adamson did not press his claim for Opposition leadership is of more than technical interest, for it shows that the Labour Party was still not taking itself seriously as a likely alternative government".
^I The Labour Party did not appoint a Leader in the Lords, until it formed its first government in 1924.
^J Henderson lost his seat in the House of Commons on 27 October 1931.
^K Lansbury was acting as Leader, in the absence from the House of Commons of Henderson, in 1931–1932; before becoming party leader himself in 1932.
^L Attlee was acting as Leader, after the resignation of Lansbury on 25 October 1935, before being elected party leader himself on 3 December 1935.
^M During World War II a succession of Labour politicians acted as Leader of the Opposition for the purpose of allowing the House of Commons to function normally. However, because the Government 1940–45 was a coalition government in which Labour politicians functioned fully as members of the Government, from Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee downwards, none of them received the salary for the post of Leader of the Opposition.

The largest party that opposed the war and was not part of the coalition - and therefore, in theory, the opposition was the Independent Labour Party led by James Maxton

James Maxton

James Maxton was a Scottish socialist politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as one of the leading figures of the Red Clydeside era.-Early years:...

. With only three MPs, it tried to take over the opposition frontbench but was widely opposed in this venture.

^N Lord Addison was not a member of the wartime coalition government. When Labour was part of the government from May 1940 until May 1945, Addison presumably functioned as a technical Leader of the Opposition, in the same way as the acting Leaders of the Opposition in the House of Commons.

^O Viscount Cranborne is the courtesy title of the heir to the Marquess of Salisbury. Two Lords Cranborne have been Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. They sat in the House of Lords because of a writ of acceleration

Writ of acceleration

A writ in acceleration, commonly called a writ of acceleration, was a type of writ of summons to the British House of Lords that enabled the eldest son and heir apparent of a peer with multiple peerage titles to attend the British House of Lords or Irish House of Lords, using one of his father's...

affecting one of the family Baronies.

^P Commonly the acting leader, following the death or immediate resignation of the leader, but according to the Labour Party constitution the actual leader until the next leader is selected. Before 1981 the leader, in opposition, was elected annually by the Parliamentary Labour Party. After 1981 the leader is elected by an electoral college at a party conference.

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