Talk:Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)

Exact dates

Some of the dates for various leaders seem a little off and need clarifying. As this is devilishly detailed I'm starting discussion here and ask that anyone changing the dates gives their reasoning on this page and not just in the edit summary. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Baldwin, Chamberlain, Eden and Macmillan

All four "kissed hands" to become PM before being formally elected leader at a party meeting. It is probable that not all these meetings were held on the same day as the visit to the Palace (particularly Baldwin and Macmillan, whose predecessors were suddenly taken ill). I'd date the start of their tenures to the meetings, but this also leaves the question as to whether their predecessors' tenure ran right up to the meeting itself. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Butler & Butler, British Political Facts, 1900-94 give 28th May 1923 rather than 22nd May for Baldwin's start, 31st May 1937 rather than 27th May for Chamberlain's start, 21st April 1955 rather than 7th April for Eden's start and 22nd January 1957 rather than 11th January for Macmillan's start. Alekksandr (talk) 21:20, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

The Times for 23rd January 1957 gives details of '[t]he meeting at which Mr. Harold Macmillan was unanimously elected leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party yesterday... Lord Salisbury...moved a resolution ... that the meeting accepted ... the resignation of Sir Anthony Eden from the leadership of the party...' Alekksandr (talk) 21:01, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Law and Douglas-Home

By contrast both deferred formally accepting the premiership until after a party meeting had elected them leader, due to the complicated political situations at the time. It's possible one or both went straight from the meeting to the Palace but again this will need checking. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Butler and Butler agree on 23rd October 1922 for Bonar Law's start but give 11th November 1963 rather than 19th October for Douglas-Home's start. Alekksandr (talk) 21:20, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

The Times for 12th November 1963 (page 12) states that 'Sir Alec Douglas-Home ... went to Church House, Westminster, yesterday to be unanimously elected party leader in succession to Mr. Macmillan... Lord Carrington read a letter from Mr. Macmillan formally resigning the party leadership, and moved a resolution accepting the resignation ...' Alekksandr (talk) 21:10, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Neville Chamberlain-Winston Churchill

This was very different from other circumstances. In May 1940 it was agreed that Chamberlain would retain the party leadership. Chamberlain fell ill later that year and stood down from both the leadership and government and Churchill was formally elected at a party meeting on October 9th. I'm not sure if Chamberlain was nominally in post until then or if the post was vacant for a few days - in practice his illness meant it made no difference. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Butler & Butler give 4th October 1940 for Chamberlain's finish. Alekksandr (talk) 21:20, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

Major

Three points:

1990

I'm not 100% sure of the exact date Major became leader. The second ballot of the leadership contest was the night before he became PM and formally ended with a third ballot required. Heseltine and Hurd both withdrew on the night but exactly when the Chairman of the 1922 Committee formally declared Major elected is one of those details that no-one bothered to report at the time - was it on the night? The next day when the Palace witnessed the Changing of the Prime Ministers? Or even the day after when the next ballot was scheduled for? Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Butler and Butler say 28th November. Alekksandr (talk) 21:20, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

1995

Then it's not entirely clear whether or not Major was leader between June 22 (when he announced his resignation to trigger a leadership election) and July 4 (when the result was declared). I have seen people writing both at the time and since about Major not being party leader the period but others assume a continuous flow. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

1997

Finally the end of Major's term has changed a few times. Although Major announced on May 2nd that he was stepping down as leader, the election wasn't immediate - for one thing Sir Marcus Fox, the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, was defeated in the general election and so there wasn't actually anyone to accept a resignation letter and call a contest for a bit. And I distinctly recall the 1997 leadership contest running for several weeks. Anthony Seldon's biography of Major, published that year, gives June 19 as Major's final day as leader (and the first time he saw JM since the general election) which is the date I've put here. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Hague-Duncan Smith

This has also gone through a few changes. My recollection is that the original scheduled declaration of the result was to be 12th September 2001 but it was moved back one day because of the attacks the previous day. Has anyone got a source for any date? Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Start of the list

I suggest that Derby should be given as the first Leader of the British Conservative Party and Conservative Leader in the Lords, and that Lord George Bentinck should be given as the first Conservative Leader of the Commons. Both starting in 1846. This is on the basis that the 1846 split over the Corn Laws was a bigger 'cut-off point' than 1828. I find it hard to see the basis on which it is said that Wellington from 1828 was Conservative leader, but that Liverpool till 1827 was not. And it seems strange that the entry for Wellington says that he was overall Leader of the Party from 1828-34, while the heading is 'Leaders in the House of Lords 1834-present'. An article 'Leaders of the Tory Party' could be started for the pre-1846 period.

Alekksandr (talk) 18:54, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

The Conservatives are normally dated as started in the 1830s. There is a case for 1846 as the key point but most books on the party's history don't use it (see particularly Blake's and Ramsden's single volume histories, both of which see the party starting with Peel).

The matter is confused because the Conservatives were pulled together out of the ashes of the Liverpool Tory party and there is continuity of leadership (and the continued use of the label "Tory" just adds to confusion) but it's difficult to see why 1846 is much more than a "slice off the top", comparable to 1922, rather than the key turning point. Timrollpickering (talk) 21:07, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

So should the article be amended to date Wellington's tenure as Conservative Leader in the Lords from 1834, and to delete the asterisk which describes him as overall leader of the party from 1828-34? This would be on the basis that 18th December 1834, the day on which the Tamworth Manifesto was issued, marked the end of the Tory Party and the beginning of the Conservative Party. And that, prior to that, Wellington and Peel were the Tory leaders in the respective Houses.

Alekksandr (talk) 22:10, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Now done.

Alekksandr (talk) 14:17, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

Exact dates

I have done some research in back issues of the Times, which has produced details of the following party meetings: -

1. The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Nov 14, 1911; pg. 9; Issue 39742. Gives details of the meeting which elected Bonar Law on 13th November - this ties in with Bonar Law's date for him becoming Leader of the Opposition and Butler & Butler's 20thC political facts.

2. The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Mar 22, 1921; pg. 12; Issue 42675. Gives details of the meeting which elected Austen Chamberlain on 21st March - this ties in with Butler & Butler.

3. The Times (London, England), Tuesday, May 29, 1923; pg. 19; Issue 43353. Gives details of the meeting which elected Baldwin on 28th May. This ties in with Butler & Butler but not with Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_(UK)#Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_1922-present which gives 22 May. I propose to amend the latter accordingly.

4. The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Jun 01, 1937; pg. 17; Issue 47699. Gives details of the meeting which elected Neville Chamberlain on 31st May 1937. This ties in with Butler & Butler but not with Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_(UK)#Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_1922-present, which gives 27 May. I propose to amend the latter accordingly.

5. The Times (London, England), Thursday, Oct 10, 1940; pg. 2; Issue 48743. Gives details of the meeting which elected Churchill on 9th October. This ties in with Butler & Butler and with Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_(UK)#Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_1922-present.

6. The Times (London, England), Friday, Apr 22 1955; pg. 12; Issue 53201. Gives details of the meeting which elected Eden on 21st April. This ties in with Butler & Butler but not with Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_(UK)#Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_1922-present, which gives 7 April. I propose to amend the latter accordingly.

7. The Times (London, England), Wednesday, January 23 1957. Gives details of the meeting which elected Macmillan on 22nd January. This ties in with Butler & Butler but not with Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_(UK)#Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_1922-present, which gives 11 January. I propose to amend the latter accordingly.

8. The Times (London, England), Nov 12 1963. Gives details of the meeting which elected Douglas-Home on 11th November. This ties in with Butler & Butler but not with Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_(UK)#Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_1922-present, which gives 19 October. I propose to amend the latter accordingly. Alekksandr (talk) 21:42, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

Now done. Alekksandr (talk) 21:10, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

This idea of seamless continuity is a fallacy. The end of a Leader's term should be the date he's voted out of office, not the date of his successor's taking up the reins. That may be months later. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.71.184.113 (talk) 22:09, 29 January 2024 (UTC)

Election of leaders by party meeting

I propose to insert the following table: -

Elections of Conservative leaders by party meeting

House of Commons

No.	Date of meeting	Name of leader elected	Category attending meeting	Location of meeting	Chair	Proposer	Seconder	Refs
1.	9 February 1848	Charles Manners, Marquess of Granby	Protectionist commoners	The residence of George Bankes MP
2.	13 November 1911	Andrew Bonar Law	Unionist Members of Parliament	Carlton Club, Pall Mall	Henry Chaplin, senior Privy Councillor on the Unionist benches (appointed 1885)	Walter Long	Austen Chamberlain
3.	21 March 1921	Austen Chamberlain	Unionist Members of Parliament	Carlton Club, Pall Mall	Lord Edmund Talbot, Conservative Chief Whip	Captain Ernest George Pretyman	Sir Edward Coates, 'a back bencher and one of the rank and file'
4.	23 October 1922	Andrew Bonar Law	Unionist peers, MP's and candidates	Hotel Cecil, The Strand	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston	Stanley Baldwin, 'chosen ... to be the spokesman for the House of Commons'
5.	28 May 1923	Stanley Baldwin	'Conservative Party'	Hotel Cecil, The Strand	The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl of Derby	Captain Ernest George Pretyman 'a member of the House of Commons who [had] been a colleague in that House of Mr Bonar Law for something over 25 years'
6.	31 May 1937	Neville Chamberlain	'peers and M.P.s who receive the Conservative whip, ... prospective candidates who have been adopted by constituency associations, and ... members of the executive committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist associations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.'	Caxton Hall, Caxton Street	The Viscount Halifax, Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl of Derby	Winston Churchill (Privy Councillor since 1907)
7.	9 October 1940	Winston Churchill	'Peers and M.P.s who receive the Conservative whip, ... prospective candidates who have been adopted by constituency associations, and ... members of the Executive Committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.'	London	The Viscount Halifax, Leader of the House of Lords	The Viscount Halifax	Sir George Courthope 'one of the senior back benchers of the party'
8.	21 April 1955	Sir Anthony Eden	'Conservative and National Liberal members of the two Houses of Parliament, Conservative and National Liberal parliamentary candidates and members of the executive committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations'	Church House, Dean's Yard, Westminster	The Marquess of Salisbury, Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess of Salisbury	Richard Austen Butler (Privy Councillor since 1939)
9.	23 January 1957	Harold Macmillan	'Conservative and Unionist members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, ... prospective parliamentary candidates and ... members of the executive committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. National Liberal members of both Houses of Parliament and adopted prospective candidates were also present'		The Marquess of Salisbury, Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess of Salisbury	Richard Austen Butler (Privy Councillor since 1939)
10.	11th November 1963	Sir Alec Douglas-Home	'members of both Houses of Parliament taking the Conservative whip, prospective candidates who [had] been adopted by constituency associations, members of the executive of the mass party, and National Liberal MP's and adopted prospective candidates'	Church House, Dean's Yard, Westminster	The Lord Carrington, Leader of the House of Lords	The Lord Carrington	Geoffrey Lloyd, 'the senior Conservative Privy Councillor in the Commons next in line to Sir Winston Churchill' (appointed 1943)

House of Lords

No.	Date of meeting	Name of leader elected	Category attending meeting	Location of meeting	Chair	Proposer	Seconder	Notes
1.	9 March 1846	Edward Smith-Stanley, Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe	Peers	The residence of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond	Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton
2.	15 February 1869	Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns	23 peers		James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury	James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury
3.	26 February 1870	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond	Peers	Carlton Club, Pall Mall		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury	Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
4.	9 May 1881	Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury	Conservative members of the House of Lords	The residence of William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny	William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond	Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns

2016 Conservative leadership election

As of 11 July 2016, Theresa May is the new Leader of the Conservative Party. Until 13 July, however, David Cameron remains Prime Minister. It is not correct, therefore, for Theresa May to be referred to as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom until she is formally appointed by the Queen. There has been some controversy over the table in the list of Leaders since 1922 -- I would urge everyone to respect the constitutional convention and to keep Cameron in the "Prime Minister" column next to May's name, at least until 13 July. Specto73 (talk) 21:28, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

<References>

David Cameron/Theresa May

In 1990, Major was Leader of the Conservative Party for a few days before Thatcher stepped down as Prime Minister. I think Churchill was Prime Minister for a while when Eden was Leader of the Conservative Party. No need to mention this. Either say 'herself 2016' or don't add her at all. --Cindy's Cafe (talk) 23:34, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Let me pose a hypothetical question: if Theresa May died today, would it be correct to say that she had ever been Prime Minister? No. So it can't be put on the article until she takes office. Specto73 (talk) 10:17, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

While it is technically true that May was leader with Cameron as PM for two days, this is merely a procedural glitch because the procedures for appointing a PM and a party leader follow different time-scales. Something like it happens every time a Conservative PM succeeds another:

• Stanley Baldwin (1923) PM 23 May, Leader 28 May.
• Neville Chamberlain (1937) PM 28 May, Leader 31 May.
• Winston Churchill (1940) PM 10 May, Leader 9 October — this difference is substantial, noted in the table.
• Anthony Eden (1955) PM 6 April, Leader 21 April.
• Harold Macmillan (1957) PM 10 January, Leader 22 January.
• Alec Douglas-Home (1963) PM 19 October, Leader 11 November.
• John Major (1990) elected Leader 27 November, PM 28 November.

Either all of this should be tabulated (and it would look extremely fussy), or the Cameron/May succession should be treated, like the cases above (except Churchill) as a single succession. LookLook36 (talk) 19:21, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

Theresa May — elected or unopposed?

The table in the article currently says that Theresa May became Leader unopposed. But that isn't the whole of the truth... There were five candidates and two ballots were held. After the first ballot, one candidate was eliminated and another withdrew. One candidate was also eliminated after the second ballot, but the other advancing candidate withdrew before members' vote allowing May to become Leader.

As there were also other candidates in the race, May didn't become Leader totally unopposed, like Michael Howard in 2003. Neither did she won the members' vote and became elected in final, because the other remaining candidate withdrew and members' vote wasn't held. But May couldn't become Leader, if she hadn't got enough votes on the first and second ballot to avoid elimination.

May was elected to advance to the members' vote, which enabled her to become Leader unopposed after the withdrawal of the other remaining candidate... Should the table say in place of "unopposed" that May was "elected/unopposed" (both included in the table)? --Editor FIN (talk) 15:03, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

1911-1916

I'm at a loss to understand why the page states that the position was vacant between 13 November 1911 and 10 December 1916. Bonar Law was elected leader of the party at a well-documented meeting on 13 November 1911. I'm not aware that this fact is disputed or controversial in any way, and it is reflected in other Wiki pages, for example the page on Bonar Law. I have tried to amend the page accordingly but I'm rubbish at editing tables. Perhaps a more capable editor could make the appropriate amendment, unless anybody objects? JayZed (talk) 13:24, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

At that time, the principle was that (except in special circumstances) only a serving or former Conservative PM could be overall leader of the Party. E.g. Balfour, who had been PM, was overall leader until 1911. The post to which Bonar Law was elected in 1911 was Conservative leader in the House of Commons. He was equal to the then Conservative leader in the House of Lords until the special circumstances of 1916 (when Lloyd George became PM) made Bonar Law overall leader of the Conservative Party.Alekksandr (talk) 20:43, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

Election Rules

Should the article include a history of how these rules developed?

1. 1965_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#Election_campaign gives details of the initial rules.

2. 1975_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#Background gives details of the change in that year.

3. 1990_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#Contest_rules explains the rules as they stood in that year.

4. 1995_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#Rules explains the rules as they stood in that year.

5. 1997_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#Aftermath sets out the changes after the election in that year (which I think produced the rules as they now stand).

6. 2001_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#Contest_rules explains the rules as they stood in that year.

7. 2005_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#The_rules_of_the_contest contains a detailed account of the proposals to change the rules, which did not take place.

8. 2016_Conservative_Party_(UK)_leadership_election#Election_procedure explains the rules as they stood in that year. Alekksandr (talk) 21:17, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

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Election Rules

See above - the following is taken from the various articles cited: -

Initial Rules

The procedure for leadership elections was introduced in 1965. The initial rules provided for a series of ballots, conducted by the 1922 Committee, with the committee's chairman serving as Returning Officer. The victor was required to have both an absolute majority of votes from Conservative MPs (which Heath narrowly achieved in the election of that year) and, in the first ballot, at least a 15% lead of votes actually cast (not counting abstaining members - this would be changed in the mid 1970s review of the rules). As Heath had not achieved the latter hurdle, the election could therefore have gone to further rounds. However Maudling conceded defeat and Heath was duly declared leader. The initial rules for electing a party leader only applied when the post was vacant and there was no way to challenge an incumbent.

1975 changes

By 1975, Heath faced many critics calling for either his resignation or a change in the rules for leadership elections to allow for a challenge. Heath eventually agreed with the 1922 Committee that there would be a review of the rules for leadership elections and subsequently he would put himself up for re-election. A review was conducted under the auspices of Heath's predecessor Sir Alec Douglas-Home. Two recommendations were made, though neither was to make a difference in 1975 (although they would prove crucial in future years). The leader would henceforth be elected annually, whether the party was in opposition or government, in the period following a Queen's Speech, though in most years this would prove a formality. When the leadership was vacant, candidates required the nomination of only two MPs. In the first round a candidate needed to win the backing of an absolute majority of MPs. Also on the first round the requirement for a victorious candidate to have a lead of 15% over their nearest rival was increased so that this would now be 15% of the total number of MPs (not just those who actually voted, as had been the case until the 1975 review, but including those who abstained or spoiled their ballot papers). If no candidate achieved a sufficient majority, nominations would be re-opened, so new candidates could come forward, and a second ballot would take place one week later, at which only an absolute majority would be required. If necessary, the top three candidates from the second round would then go forward to a third and final round held under the alternative vote system.

1998 changes

In 1998, the system of leadership elections was altered to the present form. The rules require MPs to vote in a succession of ballots, with the lowest-scoring candidate eliminated each time, until only two candidates remain. MPs can vote for only a single candidate, but can change their vote each time. , The shortlist of two candidates is then presented to the mass membership. An incumbent leader can still be ousted by a no confidence vote of Conservative MPs, as was done to Iain Duncan Smith in October 2003. A leader could therefore (in principle) be ousted by MPs despite still enjoying the support of the mass membership.

Current election procedure

The election process for selecting the leader of the Conservative Party is overseen by the Conservative 1922 Committee, although election procedures are approved by the Board of the Conservative Party. Nominations for the leadership are invited by the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, acting as Returning Officer for all stages of the election. Candidates must be proposed and seconded in writing, with names of the proposers and seconders being published. When nominations close, a list of valid nominations is published. If there is only one valid nomination, that person is declared elected. If only two valid nominations are received, both names go forward to the general membership of the Party. If more than two nominations are received, a ballot is held within the Parliamentary Party on the Tuesday immediately following the closing date for nominations. An exhaustive ballot system is used to select two candidates to go forward to the general membership of the Party.

A ballot paper is produced and issued to all Conservative Members in the House of Commons, who indicate one choice from the candidates listed. Proxy votes are possible. The ballot is conducted in secret. If there are three candidates in the first ballot, the two who receive the most votes go forward to the general membership. If there are more than three, the candidate receiving the fewest votes is eliminated and a second ballot, under the same rules, is held the following Thursday. If there are no more than three candidates in the second ballot, the two receiving the most votes go forward to the general membership. If a third ballot is required, it is held the following Tuesday. This process is repeated as often as necessary, on alternate Tuesdays and Thursdays. When a ballot with only three candidates is reached, the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes go forward to the general membership. Candidates may withdraw their names at any time, "up to 24 hours of the opening of the ballot", but no new nominations will be accepted after the first ballot.

The two candidates selected by the Parliamentary Party are then put to the full membership of the Party (specifically, "all the members of the Conservative Party in good standing who have been members for not less than three months prior to the date of the announcement of the Vote of Confidence") in a postal ballot. Each Party member, on a "one member, one vote" basis, may vote for their preferred candidate. It is not explicitly stated in the rules from when the three months applies, in the eventuality of the leader resigning, but Rule 5 in the "Rules for the Election of the Leader" (which appears as Schedule 2 to the Constitution of the Conservative Party) gives this as "immediately prior to the close of the ballot for the election of the Leader". The Chairman of the 1922 Committee consults with the Board of the Conservative Party to agree the closing date for the ballot, which will be "as soon as practicable" after the date of the last ballot in the Parliamentary Party. The chairman, as returning officer, shall agree with the Board who is responsible, under his direction, for the receipt and counting of the votes, and the chairman announces the results "as soon as practicable" to a meeting of the Parliamentary Party and representatives of the Conservative Party.

Should only a single candidate be nominated, or all but one candidate be eliminated or withdraw before the scheduled end of the election, that single (or remaining) candidate is elected effectively unopposed without—if applicable—the votes of the party membership being issued (or counted if the ballot papers have already been issued).

Alekksandr (talk) 20:07, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

References

References

Semi-protected edit request on 7 June 2019

Change Theresa May's 'left office' which is Incumbent now to '7th of June'. She has resigned today as the leader of conservative party.

And starting from 7th of June position is 'Vacant' until new leader is chosen. Boresniac (talk) 08:10, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

According to this she remains acting leader until the new one is chosen. Timrollpickering (Talk) 09:15, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

Leaders in the House of Lords after Salisbury and Commons in 1906

Calling Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire and Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne leader of the Conservative Party in the Lords is slightly complicated and arguably inaccurate as neither were actually members of the Conservative Party when they were appointed to lead the Lords, but were members of the Liberal Unionist Party. Although the Liberal Unionists were in alliance with the Conservative Party the two parties did not officially merge it until 1911/2. Thus, this perhaps could/should be noted somehow (eg it might say Liberal Unionist and leader of the Unionist Coalition in the Lords. See also the discussion I have started at Template talk:Conservative Party Leader. There is a similar problem in calling Joseph Chamberlain leader of the Conservative Party in the commons as again he was a Liberal Unionist. However this issue is also complicated in that it was clear that as the senior Liberal Unionist in the commons he was acting leader of the Allied Conservative-LU group until Balfour, who was still considered defacto Conservative leader despite losing his seat, could be returned to Parliament again, which ultimately happened very quickly. Dunarc (talk) 18:42, 13 June 2019 (UTC)

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David Cameron 2010-2015 party colour

Shouldn't it be green (a la Aberdeen 1852-1855 or McDonald 1931-1935), seeing as he was in coalition at the time? 62.190.148.115 (talk) 13:42, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

Information about the post of leader

@RednessInside: your removal here might have been correct if the article title were List of leaders of the Conservative Party. But it's not a mere list, it's an article about the position of Conservative party leader. It should therefore contain basic information about,. e.g., how the leader is elected. Sandstein 22:18, 23 July 2019 (UTC)

@Sandstein: I've already covered this in the edit notes. Those extra topics are covered in more relevant articles than this one.

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1963 election by party meeting - issue with claim about Lloyd

For the 1963 "election" of Alec Douglas-Home it states that his seconder, Geoffrey Lloyd was "the senior Conservative Privy Councillor in the Commons next in line to Sir Winston Churchill" - this seems to be from a source and I am sure is a good faith edit. However this claim does not appear to stand up to scrutiny. As it notes Lloyd became a Privy Councillor in 1943. However, and as is actually stated in the 1955 and 1957 entries, Rab Butler, who was still in the Commons in 1963, had been a Privy Councillor since 1939. Equally Harold MacMillan, the outgoing leader and Prime Minister, had been appointed as a Privy Councillor in 1942 according to his article, so would also be senior to Lloyd by a year. I wonder if what is meant is that LLoyd was the senior back bench Conservative MP (after Churchill) (ie one who was not a member of the government) that was a PC? However, as it stands the point is not accurate. Dunarc (talk) 22:48, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

Johnson's pending resignation

Johnson is still the leader of the party, until October. GoodDay (talk) 16:03, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Multiple reliable sources say he’s resigned as leader of the party: see discussions at [1] and [2] Bondegezou (talk) 07:21, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

He's still the party leader for the moment. Meanwhile, we'll let others weigh in. GoodDay (talk) 07:24, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

Can you provide one or more of those sources that specify he has ceased to be the leader of the party? The language "x has resigned" does not mean "x is no longer in post". Resigned is often used to mean "tendered their resignation". SPACKlick (talk) 08:57, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

I can only find one source that say he is no longer the leader, and that's an editorial from the independent. I would expect the BBC, Conservatives, and IFG to have been more explicit about it, until we get something reliable and explicit I think the status quo should prevail.

Still Leader --None explicitly talking about still being 'leader of the conservative party' (rather than 'still the prime minister)

• Boris' statement is all I can see on the PM's office on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-minister-boris-johnsons-statement-in-downing-street-7-july-2022 Doesn't explicitly say he is no longer leader. "and I have today appointed a cabinet to serve - as I will - until a new leader is in place" may refer to PM rather than Leader. Ambiguous-ish tending toward supporting him still being leader.

Ambiguous

• IFG say "On 7 July 2022 Boris Johnson announced that he would step down as leader of the Conservative Party" 'Would' is ambiguous, no help to us https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/conservative-party-leadership-2022
• conservatives.com does not mention it directly as far as I can see.
• BBC's main article on the leadership contest isn't explicit about who the current leader is. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62068930 (no help to us)
• BBC's article on the statement calls him the Conservative Party's departing leader https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62076257 (again ambiguous, not 'former' or 'departed')

No longer Leader

• This editorial on the Independent refers to Boris as 'The disgraced former leader of the Conservative party' https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boris-johnson-resignation-brexit-tory-leadership-b2120305.html but I don't think that's enough to say it's official, it's clearly an opinion piece ( and on /voices/).

JeffUK (talk) 15:23, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

Weird how these events occurred, mere days after Steve Bray's amplifiers were taken. GoodDay (talk) 00:37, 17 July 2022 (UTC)

The BBC source for the assertion here that he stopped being leader on 26 July doesn't look sufficient. "in response a No 10 spokeswoman said that Johnson has resigned as party leader and "set out his intention to stand down as PM when the new leader is in place"." looks like a repetition of previous statements: he's 'resigned' with the same meaning as for most jobs... there's a period between a(nnouncing) resignation and actually leaving. We need other sources, which should be plentiful if he really isn't leader now. EddieHugh (talk) 20:22, 28 July 2022 (UTC)

I agree with @EddieHugh. And BBC News is reporting a titbit, second hand from a bigger story about Lord Cruddas in The Times - here. And The Times said Downing Street repeated the line about his resignation on the 25 July, not 26 July as has been added without support in the article. -- DeFacto (talk). 06:47, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

Living former party leaders

If one is no longer the leader of the party, but is still alive. Then one would belong in the 'living former party leaders' sections. GoodDay (talk) 22:55, 28 July 2022 (UTC)

Lead section

I think this article would benefit from a summary of the position, a brief history of its role, etc. similar to the equivalent sections in Leader of the Labour Party (UK). I'm not familiar enough with the subject to write it myself, but I added a tag to that effect. 73.63.250.211 (talk) 19:51, 19 August 2022 (UTC)

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Ambiguous and misleading

"Since 1922, a leader of the Conservative Party has been formally elected, even when the party is in opposition. Originally, the party leader was appointed opaquely by other high-ranking members of the party. This process was gradually democratized in the late 20th century; in 1965, the appointment was linked to a vote by party MPs" -- I had always understood that the position was not elected until 1965, but reading this, it makes it sound like it was elected from 1922 onwards. I had understood it was an opaque appointment prior to 1965, but this makes it sound like it was an opaque appointment prior to 1922, followed by some system of election (but not by all MPs) between 1922 and 1965. It may be a badly written section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.160.84.41 (talk) 05:54, 21 October 2022 (UTC)

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Proposed Merge to Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.

The result of this discussion was merge. DDMS123 (talk) 04:12, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

---

I beg to move that this article is merged on the the LOTCPUK article for 2 reasons: ·The office is not currently in use and has no official role within the party's constitution ·Very few people have been appointed to the office 82.41.12.175 (talk) 10:25, 27 November 2022 (UTC)

• Support – this isn't a notable topic or one we can encyclopaedically say enough about for an independent article to be viable. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 15:36, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
• Support as long as the information in the article is still retained in some form, e.g. the prose and the list of officeholders. Tim O'Doherty (talk) 18:28, 14 January 2023 (UTC)
• Support - There isn't much content on this page anyway. DDMS123 (talk) 04:11, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The merge discussion at Talk:Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)#Proposed Merge to Leader of the Conservative Party (UK) should probably have been started here, but hopefully linking from here is sufficient. If anyone feels a {{merge from}} needs to be added to this article they should feel free to do so. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 15:38, 6 December 2022 (UTC)