Leader of the House of Lords

United Kingdom Leader of the House of Lords
Incumbent Tina Stowell, Baroness Stowell of Beeston since 15 July 2014
Office of the Leader of the House
Inaugural holder	Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend
Formation	1721
Deputy	Frederick Curzon, 7th Earl Howe

The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Unless the Leader is also a departmental minister, being Leader constitutes the bulk of his or her government responsibilities, but it has never been an independent salaried office. The Office of the Leader of the House of Lords is a ministerial department.^[1]

Though the Leader of the House is a member of the cabinet and remains a partisan figure, he or she also has responsibilities to the House as a whole. In contrast to the House of Commons, where proceedings are controlled by the Speaker, proceedings in the Lords are controlled by peers themselves, under the rules set out in the Standing Orders. The Leader of the House has the responsibility of reminding the House of these rules and facilitating the Lords' self-regulation, though any member may draw attention to breaches of order or failure to observe customs. The Leader is often called upon to advise on procedures and points of order, and is required to determine the order of speakers on Supplementary Questions, subject to the wishes of the House. However, like the Lord Speaker, the Leader of the House has no power to rule on points of order or to intervene during an inappropriate speech.

Until the election of the first Lord Speaker on 4 July 2006, the Leader of the House had responsibility for making preliminary decisions on requests for Private Notice Questions, and for waiving the sub judice rule in certain cases. Those functions were transferred to the Lord Speaker.

History

The title seems to have come into use some time after 1800, as a formal way of referring to the peer who managed government business in the upper House, irrespective of which salaried position they held in the cabinet. However, it may have been used as early as 1689, applied to George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, when he was Speaker of the House of Lords during the Convention Parliament of that year.

The role developed during the first quarter of the eighteenth century, at the same time as the role of Prime Minister and the system of Cabinet government. In the wake of the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution and the succession of the Hanoverians to the throne, Britain evolved a system of government where ministers were sustained in office by their ability to carry legislation through Parliament. It was therefore necessary for a member of the government to take responsibility for steering government legislation through each House.

Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, initiated aspects of the role during the Whig Junta under Queen Anne. Sunderland and the other Whigs were dismissed from office in reaction to their co-ordination of government matters, which was taken as a threat to the power of the monarch. Sunderland returned to power under George I, as Lord Privy Seal. The first documentary evidence of the existence of the role comes from 1717, when Sunderland became Secretary of State for the Northern Department: in the form of lists of peers invited to the office of the Northern Secretary immediately before sessions of Parliament.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Prime Minister himself usually took responsibility for steering business through the House in which he sat. When the Prime Minister sat in the Commons, the position of Leader of the Lords was often held by the Foreign Secretary or Colonial Secretary. In some coalition governments, it was held by the party leader who was not Prime Minister.

Since the end of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury's last government, in 1902, the position clearly exists in its own right as a member of the cabinet. Since 1966 it has only been combined with sinecure positions and the holder has not been a departmental minister though some have held additional responsibilities such as Quintin Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham also being designated "Minister for Science" or Margaret Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington also being "Minister for Women".

The first female Leader of the Lords was Janet Young, Baroness Young in 1981–1983.

Leaders of the House of Lords

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Because the post is a parliamentary one and not a ministerial office in its own right, it is not always included in official lists of government offices, especially for earlier periods. This can make it difficult to determine who the Leader of the House of Lords was in a particular ministry.

18th century

Name		Portrait	Concurrent office(s)	Tenure	Political party	Prime Minister
	Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend		Northern Secretary	1721 – 1730	Whig		Robert Walpole
?				1730 – February 1742
	John Carteret, 2nd Baron Carteret (2nd Earl Granville from October 1744)		Northern Secretary	12 February 1742 – 24 November 1744	Whig		Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (until July 1743)
							Henry Pelham (from 27 August 1743)
	Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle			1744 – 16 November 1756
			Prime Minister (from 16 March 1754)				Himself
	William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire		Prime Minister	16 November 1756 – 25 June 1757			Himself
	Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle			2 July 1757 – 26 May 1762			Himself
	John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute			26 May 1762 – 8 April 1763	Tory		Himself
?				1763 – 1765			George Grenville
	Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham		Prime Minister	13 July 1765 – 30 July 1766	Rockingham Whig		Himself
	Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton			1766 – 28 January 1770	Chathamite Whig		William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham (until October 1768)
			Prime Minister				Himself (from 14 October 1768)
?				1770 – 1782			Frederick North
	Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham		Prime Minister	27 March – July 1782	Rockingham Whig		Himself
	William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne			14 July 1782 – April 1783			Himself
	William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland			2 April – December 1783	Whig (Fox-North Coalition)		Himself (figurehead)
	Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney		Home Secretary	December 1783 – June 1789	Whig		William Pitt the Younger
	Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds		Foreign Secretary	1789 – 1790	Tory
	William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville		Home Secretary (until June 1791) Foreign Secretary (from June 1791)	November 1790 – February 1801

19th century

Name		Portrait	Concurrent office(s)	Tenure	Political party	Prime Minister
? (Thomas Pelham, Lord Pelham?)				February – March 1801	Tory		William Pitt the Younger
	Robert Hobart, Lord Hobart[2]		Secretary of State for War and the Colonies	March – ? 1801			Henry Addington
	Thomas Pelham, Lord Pelham		Home Secretary	1801 – 1803
	Robert Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury		Foreign Secretary (until May 1804)	1803 – February 1806
			Home Secretary (from 12 May 1804)				William Pitt the Younger
	William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville		Prime Minister	11 February 1806 – March 1807	Whig		Himself (Ministry of All the Talents)
	Robert Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury (2nd Earl of Liverpool from 1808)		Home Secretary (until November 1809)	25 March 1807 – April 1827	Tory		William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
			War & Colonial Secretary (1 November 1809 – June 1812)				Spencer Perceval
			Prime Minister (from 8 June 1812)				Himself
	F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich		War & Colonial Secretary (until September 1827)	30 April 1827 – January 1828			George Canning
			Prime Minister (from 31 August 1827)				Himself
	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington		Prime Minister	January 1828 – November 1830			Himself
	Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey			22 November 1830 – 9 July 1834	Whig		Himself
	William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne			16 July – 14 November 1834			Himself
	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington		Caretaker: Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, War & Colonial Secretary	17 November 1834 – 8 April 1835	Tory		Himself (Caretaker)
			Foreign Secretary				Robert Peel
	William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne		Prime Minister	18 April 1835 – 30 August 1841	Whig		Himself
	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington		Minister without Portfolio	3 September 1841 – 27 June 1846	Conservative		Robert Peel
	Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne		Lord President of the Council	6 July 1846 – 21 February 1852	Whig		John Russell
	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby		Prime Minister	23 February – 17 December 1852	Conservative		Himself
	George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen			19 December 1852 – 30 January 1855	Peelite		Himself (Coalition)
	Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville		Lord President of the Council	8 February 1855 – 21 February 1858	Whig		Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby		Prime Minister	21 February 1858 – 11 June 1859	Conservative		Himself
	Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville		Lord President of the Council	18 June 1859 – 29 October 1865	Liberal		Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
	John Russell, 1st Earl Russell		Prime Minister	29 October 1865 – 26 June 1866			Himself
	Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby			28 June 1866 – 25 February 1868	Conservative		Himself
	James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury		Lord Privy Seal	27 February – 1 December 1868			Benjamin Disraeli
	Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville		Colonial Secretary (until July 1870) Foreign Secretary (from 6 July 1870)	9 December 1868 – 17 February 1874	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond		Lord President of the Council	21 February 1874 – 21 August 1876	Conservative		Benjamin Disraeli
	Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield		Prime Minister	21 August 1876 – 21 April 1880			Himself
	Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville		Foreign Secretary	28 April 1880 – 9 June 1885	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury		Prime Minister Foreign Secretary	23 June 1885 – 28 January 1886	Conservative		Himself
	Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville		Colonial Secretary	6 February – 20 July 1886	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury		Prime Minister Foreign Secretary (from 14 January 1887)	25 July 1886 – 11 August 1892	Conservative		Himself
	John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley		Lord President of the Council	18 August 1892 – 5 March 1894	Liberal		William Ewart Gladstone
	Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery		Prime Minister	5 March 1894 – 21 June 1895			Himself
	Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury		Prime Minister Foreign Secretary (until November 1900) Lord Privy Seal (from 12 November 1900)	25 June 1895 – 11 July 1902	Conservative		Himself

Edwardian and wartime

Name		Portrait	Concurrent office(s)	Tenure	Political party	Prime Minister
	Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire		Lord President of the Council	12 July 1902 – 13 October 1903	Liberal Unionist		Arthur Balfour (Conservative)
	Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne		Foreign Secretary	13 October 1903 – 4 December 1905
	George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon		Lord Privy Seal	10 December 1905 – 14 April 1908	Liberal		Henry Campbell-Bannerman
	Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Earl of Crewe (1st Marquess of Crewe from July 1911)		Colonial Secretary (May 1908 – November 1910) Lord Privy Seal (October 1908 – October 1911; February 1912 – May 1915) India Secretary (November 1910 – March 1911; 25 May 1911 – May 1915) Lord President of the Council (from 25 May 1915) President of the Board of Education (from 18 August 1916)	14 April 1908 – 10 December 1916			H. H. Asquith
	George Curzon, 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston (1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston from July 1921)		Lord President of the Council (until October 1919) Foreign Secretary (from 23 October 1919)	10 December 1916 – 22 January 1924	Conservative		David Lloyd George
							Bonar Law
							Stanley Baldwin
	Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane		Lord Chancellor	22 January – 3 November 1924	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston		Lord President of the Council	3 November 1924 – 20 March 1925	Conservative		Stanley Baldwin
	James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury		Lord Privy Seal	27 April 1925 – 4 June 1929
	Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor		Lord President of the Council	7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931	Labour		Ramsay MacDonald
	Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading		Foreign Secretary	24 August – 5 November 1931	Liberal		Ramsay MacDonald (Nat. Govts: I & II)
	Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham		Secretary of State for War	5 November 1931 – 7 June 1935	Conservative
	Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry		Lord Privy Seal	7 June – 22 November 1935			Stanley Baldwin (Nat. Govt)
	Edward Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax		Lord Privy Seal (until May 1937) Lord President of the Council (from 28 May 1937)	22 November 1935 – 21 February 1938
							Neville Chamberlain (Nat. Govt)
	James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope		President of the Board of Education (until October 1938) First Lord of the Admiralty (27 October 1938 – September 1939)	21 February 1938 – 14 May 1940
			Lord President of the Council (from 3 September 1939)				Neville Chamberlain (War coalition)
	Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote		Dominions Secretary	14 May – 3 October 1940			Winston Churchill (War coalition)
	Edward Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax		Foreign Secretary	3 October – 22 December 1940
	George Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd		Colonial Secretary	22 December 1940 – 4 February 1941
	Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne			8 February 1941 – 21 February 1942
	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne		Colonial Secretary (until November 1942) Lord Privy Seal (22 November 1942 – September 1943) Dominions Secretary (from 24 September 1943–45)	21 February 1942 – 26 July 1945
							Winston Churchill (Caretaker coalition)

Post-War

Name		Portrait	Concurrent office(s)	Tenure	Political party	Prime Minister
	Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison		Dominions Secretary (until July 1947) Commonwealth Secretary (7 July – October 1947) Lord Privy Seal (7 October 1947 – March 1951) Paymaster General (2 July 1948 – April 1949) Lord President of the Council (from 9 March 1951)	3 August 1945 – 26 October 1951	Labour		Clement Attlee
	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury		Lord Privy Seal (until May 1952) Commonwealth Secretary (12 March – November 1952) Lord President of the Council (from 24 November 1952)	28 October 1951 – 29 March 1957	Conservative		Winston Churchill
							Anthony Eden
	Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home		Commonwealth Secretary Lord President of the Council (until September 1957 & from 14 October 1959)	29 March 1957 – 27 July 1960			Harold Macmillan
	Quintin Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham		Lord President of the Council Minister for Science	27 July 1960 – 20 October 1963
	Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington		Minister without Portfolio	20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964			Alec Douglas-Home
	Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford		Lord Privy Seal (until December 1965 & from 6 April 1966) Colonial Secretary (23 December 1965 – April 1966)	18 October 1964 – 16 January 1968	Labour		Harold Wilson
	Edward Shackleton, Baron Shackleton		Lord Privy Seal (until April 1968 & from 18 October 1968) Paymaster-General (6 April–November 1968)	16 January 1968 – 19 June 1970
	George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe		Lord Privy Seal	20 June 1970 – 23 May 1973	Conservative		Edward Heath
	David Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham			5 June 1973 – 4 March 1974
	Malcolm Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd			7 March 1974 – 10 September 1976	Labour		Harold Wilson
							James Callaghan
	Fred Peart, Baron Peart			10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979
	Christopher Soames, Baron Soames		Lord President of the Council	5 May 1979 – 14 September 1981	Conservative		Margaret Thatcher
	Janet Young, Baroness Young		Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (until April 1982) Lord Privy Seal (from 6 April 1982)	14 September 1981 – 11 June 1983
	Willie Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw		Deputy Prime Minister Lord President of the Council	11 June 1983 – 10 January 1988
	John Ganzoni, 2nd Baron Belstead		Lord Privy Seal	10 January 1988 – 28 November 1990
	David Waddington, Baron Waddington			28 November 1990 – 11 April 1992			John Major
	John Wakeham, Baron Wakeham			11 April 1992 – 20 July 1994
	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Viscount Cranborne			20 July 1994 – 2 May 1997
	Ivor Richard, Baron Richard			2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998	Labour		Tony Blair
	Margaret Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington			27 July 1998 – 8 June 2001

21st century

Name		Portrait	Concurrent office(s)	Tenure	Political party	Prime Minister
	Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn		Lord Privy Seal	8 June 2001 – 20 September 2003	Labour		Tony Blair
	Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos		Lord President of the Council	6 October 2003 – 27 June 2007
	Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland			27 June 2007 – 2 October 2008			Gordon Brown
	Janet Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon		Lord President of the Council (until June 2009) Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (from 5 June 2009)	2 October 2008 – 11 May 2010
	Tom Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde		Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	12 May 2010 – 7 January 2013	Conservative		David Cameron (Coalition)
	Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford			7 January 2013 – 15 July 2014
	Tina Stowell, Baroness Stowell of Beeston		Lord Privy Seal	15 July 2014 – present
							David Cameron

See also

• House of Lords
• Leader of the House of Commons

References

1. http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/212617/lmr2009.pdf
2. M. W. McCahill, The House of Lords in the Age of George III (1760-1811) (2009) p. 242.

External links

• Leader of the House of Lords Official site