Leader of the Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was formally established in 1859 and existed until merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to create the Liberal Democrats.

Leadership selection 1859–1969

Before the adoption of the 1969 constitution of the party, the party was led by the prime minister or the most recent politically active prime minister from the party. In the absence of one of these, the leaders in the House of Lords and House of Commons were of equal status and jointly led the party.

When a new leader was required, with the party in government, the monarch selected him by appointing someone as Prime Minister. However, in 1916 David Lloyd George, with the support of a minority of the Liberal MPs, formed a coalition government. H. H. Asquith, the former Prime Minister, remained as Liberal Party leader. Asquith retained the leadership until his health failed in 1926, including periods when he was not in Parliament or was a peer. He was the last leader of the whole party under the original arrangements for leadership.

When no overall party leader was a member of a House and a new leader was required in opposition, a leader emerged and was approved by party members in that House. From 1919 the Chairman of the Liberal Parliamentary Party, elected by MPs, functioned as the leader in the House of Commons. This required all the leaders after Asquith to retain their seat, to continue as leader. After 1926 the leader in the House of Commons was clearly pre-eminent over the leader in the House of Lords.

In 1931 Lloyd George was leader in the House of Commons, but he was ill when negotiations led to the formation of the National Government. Sir Herbert Samuel, who had been the deputy leader, was effectively the leader of the mainstream party from the time when he entered the government. This was made formal after the 1931 election.

Leadership selection 1969–1988

Under the original provisions of the 1969 party constitution, the MPs elected one of their number to be Leader of the Liberal Party. This was the same system as that used for the last MP only contested leadership election in 1967, when Jeremy Thorpe became leader after a vote split between three candidates of 6-3-3.

As the number of Liberal MPs was very small (between 6 and 14 in the period the MPs retained the sole power of election) party members argued for a wider franchise. Before the leadership election of 1976, all members were given a vote in an electoral college based on allocating electoral votes to constituency associations (which were then divided proportionately to the votes of the members of the association). The candidates were required to be members of the House of Commons, nominated by a quarter of the MPs. The electoral college system was only used once, when David Steel was elected leader.

Lists of Liberal Party Leaders

Leaders of the Liberal Party

Name	Constituency/Title	Took Office	Left Office
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston^[1]	Tiverton	12 June 1859	18 October 1865	himself
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell	1st Earl Russell	29 October 1865	3 December 1868	himself 1865–66
				Earl of Derby 1866–68
				Benjamin Disraeli 1868
William Ewart Gladstone	Greenwich	3 December 1868	3 February 1875	himself 1868–74
William Ewart Gladstone	Greenwich	3 December 1868	3 February 1875	Benjamin Disraeli 1874–80
VACANT^[2] Leader of Lords 2nd Earl Granville Leader of Commons Marquess of Hartington		3 February 1875	23 April 1880	Benjamin Disraeli 1874–80
William Ewart Gladstone	Midlothian	23 April 1880	2 March 1894	himself 1880–85
				Marquess of Salisbury 1885–86
				himself 1886
				Marquess of Salisbury 1886–92
				himself 1892–94
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery	5th Earl of Rosebery	5 March 1894	6 October 1896	himself 1894–95
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery	5th Earl of Rosebery	5 March 1894	6 October 1896	Marquess of Salisbury 1895–1902
VACANT^[3] Leader of Lords 1st Earl of Kimberley 1895–1902; 5th Earl Spencer 1902–05 Leader of Commons William Vernon Harcourt 1896–98; Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1898–1905		6 October 1896	3 December 1905	Marquess of Salisbury 1895–1902
		6 October 1896	3 December 1905	Arthur Balfour 1902–05
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Stirling Burghs	5 December 1905	3 April 1908	himself
Herbert Henry Asquith	East Fife	5 April 1908	25 November 1918	himself 1908–16
Herbert Henry Asquith	East Fife	5 April 1908	25 November 1918	David Lloyd George 1916–22
Sir Donald Maclean^[4] (interim leader)	Peebles and South Midlothian	3 February 1919	12 February 1920
Herbert Henry Asquith	Paisley (1920–1924); 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1925–1926)	12 February 1920	15 October 1926
				Andrew Bonar Law 1922–23
				Stanley Baldwin 1923–24
				Ramsay MacDonald 1924
				Stanley Baldwin 1924–29
Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons^[5]
David Lloyd George^[6]	Caernarvon Boroughs	2 December 1924	7 October 1931
David Lloyd George^[6]	Caernarvon Boroughs	2 December 1924	7 October 1931	Ramsay MacDonald 1929–35
Sir Herbert Samuel^[7]	Darwen	4 November 1931	25 October 1935	Ramsay MacDonald 1929–35
Sir Archibald Sinclair, Bt^[8]	Caithness and Sutherland	26 November 1935	15 June 1945	Stanley Baldwin 1935–37
				Neville Chamberlain 1937–40
				Winston Churchill 1940–45
Clement Davies	Montgomery	2 August 1945	5 November 1956	Clement Attlee 1945–51
				Winston Churchill 1951–55
				Anthony Eden 1955–57
Jo Grimond	Orkney and Shetland	5 November 1956	17 January 1967	Anthony Eden 1955–57
				Harold Macmillan 1957–63
				Alec Douglas-Home 1963–64
				Harold Wilson 1964–70
Jeremy Thorpe	North Devon	18 January 1967	1969
Leaders of the Liberal Party elected under the 1969 Constitution^[9]
Jeremy Thorpe	North Devon	1969	10 May 1976
				Edward Heath 1970–74
				Harold Wilson 1974–76
Jo Grimond^[10] (interim leader)	Orkney and Shetland	12 May 1976	7 July 1976	James Callaghan 1976–79
David Steel^[11]	Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (1967–1983); Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (1983–1988)	7 July 1976	3 March 1988	James Callaghan 1976–79
David Steel^[11]		7 July 1976	3 March 1988	Margaret Thatcher 1979–90

Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons

Name	Constituency	Took Office	Left Office
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston^[1]	Tiverton	12 June 1859	18 October 1865
William Ewart Gladstone	Greenwich	29 October 1865	3 February 1875
Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington	Radnor	3 February 1875	23 April 1880
William Ewart Gladstone	Midlothian	23 April 1880	2 March 1894
Sir William Vernon Harcourt	Derby (1894–1895); West Monmouthshire (1895–1898)	5 March 1894	14 December 1898
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Stirling Burghs	6 February 1899	3 April 1908
H. H. Asquith^[12]	East Fife	5 April 1908	25 November 1918
Sir Donald Maclean^[4]	Peebles and South Midlothian	3 February 1919	12 February 1920
H. H. Asquith^[13]	Paisley	12 February 1920	9 October 1924
David Lloyd George^[6]	Caernarvon Boroughs	2 December 1924	7 October 1931
Sir Herbert Samuel^[7]	Darwen	4 November 1931	25 October 1935
Sir Archibald Sinclair, Bt^[8]	Caithness and Sutherland	26 November 1935	15 June 1945
Clement Davies	Montgomery	2 August 1945	5 November 1956
Jo Grimond	Orkney and Shetland	5 November 1956	17 January 1967
Jeremy Thorpe	North Devon	18 January 1967	10 May 1976
Jo Grimond^[10]	Orkney and Shetland	12 May 1976	7 July 1976
David Steel^[11]	Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (1967–1983); Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (1983–1988)	7 July 1976	3 March 1988

Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords

Name	Took Office	Left Office
The Earl Granville	1859	1865
The Earl Russell	1865	1868
The Earl Granville	1868	1891
The Earl of Kimberley	1891	1894
The Earl of Rosebery	1894	1896
The Earl of Kimberley	1896	1902
The Earl Spencer	1902	1905
The Marquess of Ripon	1905	1908
The Earl of Crewe (The Marquess of Crewe from 1911)	1908	1923
The Viscount Grey of Fallodon	1923	1924
The Earl Beauchamp	1924	1931
The Marquess of Reading	1931	1935
The Marquess of Crewe	1936	1944
The Viscount Samuel	1944	1955
The Lord Rea	1955	1967
The Lord Byers	1967	1984
The Baroness Seear	1984	1988

Notes

1 2 Palmerston was appointed Prime Minister a few days after the meeting at Willis's Rooms on 6 June 1859, which formally created the Liberal Party. He was an Irish peer and a member of the House of Commons. He died in office.
↑ Gladstone retired from the leadership in 1875, when the party was in opposition. The overall leadership of the party then became vacant until Gladstone was again appointed Prime Minister.
↑ Rosebery resigned the leadership when the party was in opposition. The overall leadership of the party became vacant until the formation of the next Liberal government in 1905.
1 2 Maclean was elected Chairman of the Liberal Parliamentary Party. In the absence from Parliament of Asquith, who had lost his seat in the 1918 general election, he acted as leader of the Liberal MPs opposed to the Lloyd George coalition. Although this was a smaller group than the Parliamentary Labour Party, Maclean also performed the functions of Leader of the Opposition.
↑ Asquith resigned the leadership when the party was in opposition. The overall leadership of the party became vacant until the adoption of the 1969 party constitution.
1 2 Lloyd George was elected Chairman of the Liberal Parliamentary Party. In the absence from Parliament of Asquith he acted as leader of the Liberal MPs. When Asquith became a peer in 1925, Lloyd George became leader in the House of Commons. When Asquith retired then from 14 October 1926, Lloyd George became the leading figure in the party.
1 2 Samuel deputised for the ill Lloyd George during the summer of 1931 and took office in the National Government on 24 August 1931. Following Lloyd George's move to complete opposition to the National Government in October, Samuel effectively acted as party leader. However he did not receive the formal title until after the 1931 general election. He lost his seat in the 1935 general election.
1 2 Sinclair lost his seat in the 1945 general election.
↑ Thorpe was the first Leader of the Liberal Party under the 1969 constitution.
1 2 Grimond was appointed interim leader by the parliamentary party, between the resignation of Thorpe and the election of Steel.
1 2 Steel was the last party leader. He became one of the joint interim leaders of the Liberal Democrats on the merger in 1988.
↑ Asquith became Prime Minister on 5 April although British Political Facts considers him to be leader from 30 April 1908. He lost his seat in the United Kingdom general election, 1918.
↑ Asquith was elected in a by-election and sat until he lost his seat in the United Kingdom general election, 1924.

References

David Butler and Gareth Butler, Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900–2000 (8th edition). Macmillan, 2000. ISBN 0-333-77222-9.
John Campbell, Lloyd George: The Goat in the Wilderness 1922–1931. Jonathan Cape, 1977. ISBN 0-224-01296-7.
Chris Cook, A Short History of the Liberal Party, 1900–2001 (6th edition). Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002. ISBN 0-333-91838-X.
Roy Douglas, History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971. ISBN 0-283-48477-2.
Roy Jenkins, Asquith. Collins, (paperback edition) 1988. ISBN 0-00-217358-1.
Roy Jenkins, Gladstone. Macmillan, 1995. ISBN 0-333-60216-1.
Jonathan Parry, The Rise and Fall of Liberal Government in Victorian Britain. Yale, 1993.ISBN 0-300-06718-6.

External links

Liberal Democrat History Group

Liberal, Social Democrat and Liberal Democrat leadership elections

Liberals	1967 1976

SDP	1982

Liberal Democrats	1988 1999 2006 2007 2015

Leaders of the Liberal Party

House of Lords (1859–1916)	The Earl Granville The Earl Russell The Earl of Kimberley The Earl of Rosebery The Marquess of Ripon The Marquess of Crewe

House of Commons (1859–1916)	The Viscount Palmerston William Ewart Gladstone Marquess of Hartington Sir William Harcourt Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith

Overall Leader (1916–1988)	H. H. Asquith Sir Donald Maclean (Acting Leader) David Lloyd George Sir Herbert Samuel Sir Archibald Sinclair Clement Davies Jo Grimond Jeremy Thorpe David Steel

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