Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
This is a list of federal conservative party leaders in Canada after Confederation
List of Tory leaders in Canada since Confederation
changeThis is a list of leaders of Canada’ Conservative parties (1867–present) and prime ministers from those parties since Confederation.
Conservative (1867-1942)
changeName | From | To | Riding as leader | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sir John A. Macdonald | July 1, 1867 | June 6, 1891 | Kingston, ON (1867–18, 1887–91);
Victoria, BC (1878–82); Carleton, ON (1882–88) |
1st Prime Minister | |
Sir John Abbott | June 16, 1891 | November 24, 1892 | Senator for Inkerman, QC | 3rd Prime Minister | |
Sir John Sparrow David Thompson | December 5, 1892 | December 12, 1894 | Antigonish, NS | 4th Prime Minister | |
Sir Mackenzie Bowell | December 21, 1894 | April 27, 1896 | Senator for Hastings, ON | 5th Prime Minister | |
Sir Charles Tupper | May 1, 1896 | February 6, 1901 | Cape Breton, NS | 6th Prime Minister | |
File:RobertLairdBorden.jpg | Sir Robert Laird Borden | February 6, 1901 | July 10, 1920 | Halifax, NS (1900–04, 1908–17);
Carleton, ON (1905–08); Kings, NS (1917–21) |
8th Prime Minister |
Arthur Meighen | July 10, 1920 | September 24, 1926 | Portage la Prairie, MB (1908–21, 1925–26);
Grenville, ON (1922–25) |
9th Prime Minister | |
Hugh Guthrie (interim leader) | October 11, 1926 | October 12, 1927 | Wellington South | ||
R. B. Bennett | October 12, 1927 | July 7, 1938 | Calgary West, AB | 11th Prime Minister | |
Robert Manion | July 7, 1938 | May 14, 1940 | London, ON | Resigned after lost seat in 1940 election | |
Richard Hanson (interim leader) | May 14, 1940 | November 12, 1941 | York—Sunbury, NB | ||
Arthur Meighen | November 12, 1941 | December 9, 1942 | Senator for St. Marys, Ontario | Resigned after failed attempt to enter the House of Commons in the York South by-election. |
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–2003)
changePicture | Name | Term start | Term end | Riding as leader | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Bracken | December 11, 1942 | July 20, 1948 | Neepawa | Former Premier of Manitoba | |
George Drew | October 2, 1948 | November 29, 1956 | Carleton | Former Premier of Ontario | |
William Earl Rowe | November 29, 1956 (Interim) | December 14, 1956 | Dufferin—Simcoe | Interim leader until 1956 leadership convention | |
John Diefenbaker | December 14, 1956 | September 9, 1967 | Prince Albert | 13th Prime Minister of Canada | |
Robert Stanfield | September 9, 1967 | February 22, 1976 | Halifax | Former Premier of Nova Scotia | |
Joe Clark | February 22, 1976 | February 19, 1983 | Rocky Mountain, Yellowhead | 16th Prime Minister of Canada | |
Erik Nielsen | February 19, 1983 (Interim) | June 11, 1983 | Yukon | Interim leader until 1983 leadership convention | |
Brian Mulroney | June 11, 1983 | June 13, 1993 | Central Nova, Manicouagan, Charlevoix | 18th Prime Minister of Canada | |
Kim Campbell | June 13, 1993 | December 14, 1993 | Vancouver Centre | 19th Prime Minister of Canada | |
Jean Charest | December 14, 1993 | April 2, 1998 | Sherbrooke | Former Premier of Quebec | |
Elsie Wayne | April 2, 1998 (Interim) | November 14, 1998 | Saint John | Interim until 1998 leadership election | |
Joe Clark | November 14, 1998 | May 31, 2003 | Kings—Hants, Calgary Centre | His second tenure as leader | |
Peter MacKay | May 31, 2003 | December 7, 2003 | Central Nova | Final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party; merged the PC Party with Stephen Harper's Canadian Alliance in 2003, cofounding the new Conservative Party of Canada. |
Conservative Party of Canada (2003–present)
changeLeader | Term start | Term end | Constituency | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
— | John Lynch-Staunton | 8 December 2003 | 20 March 2004 | Senator for Grandville, Quebec | Interim leader, served concurrently as Senate Opposition Leader. | |
1st | Stephen Harper | 20 March 2004 | 19 October 2015
Acting: 19 October 2015 – 4 November 2015 |
Calgary Southwest, Alberta | First official leader of the modern Conservative Party of Canada;
Served as Leader of the Official Opposition from 2004–2006, and Prime Minister from 2006–2015. | |
— | Rona Ambrose | 5 November 2015 | 27 May 2017 | Sturgeon River—Parkland, Alberta | Interim leader and served as Leader of the Official Opposition | |
2nd | Andrew Scheer | 27 May 2017 | 24 August 2020 | Regina—Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan | Served as Leader of the Official Opposition from 2017 to 2020.
He resigned on December 12, 2019, but stayed as leader until his successor was chosen on August 24, 2020. | |
3rd | Erin O'Toole | 24 August 2020 | 2 February 2022 | Durham, Ontario | Served as Leader of the Official Opposition from 2020 to 2022.
He was removed by the Conservative caucus on February 2, 2022. | |
— | Candice Bergen | 2 February 2022 | 10 September 2022 | Portage—Lisgar, Manitoba | Interim leader and served as Leader of the Official Opposition in 2022. | |
4th | Pierre Poilievre | 10 September 2022 | Incumbent | Carleton, Ontario | Serves as current Leader of the Official Opposition. |