Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)
parliamentary position of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The Leader of the Opposition (sometimes known as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons) in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition is normally the leader of the second largest party in the House of Commons.
Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition | |
---|---|
Official Opposition Parliament of the United Kingdom Leader of the Opposition's Office | |
Style | Leader of the Opposition (informal) The Right Honourable (formal) |
Member of | |
Appointer | Largest political party in the House of Commons that is not in government |
Term length | While leader of the largest political party in the House of Commons that is not in government |
Inaugural holder | The Lord Grenville |
Formation | March 1807 1 July 1937 (Statutory) |
Deputy | Shadow First Secretary of State |
Salary | £144,649[1] (including £81,932 MP salary[2]) |
Website | His Majesty's Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet |
The current Leader of the Opposition is Rishi Sunak, the Leader of the Conservative Party. Sunak assumed the position on 5 July 2024, after his party lost the 2024 election.[3]
List of leaders of the opposition (1911–present)
changePortrait | Leader of the Opposition | Term of office | Elections | Party | Shadow cabinet | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Duration | ||||||
Sir Edward Carson[F] | 19 October 1915 | 6 December 1916 | 1 year, 49 days | — | Conservative (Irish U.)
|
|||
H. H. Asquith[1][G] | 6 December 1916 | 14 December 1918 | 2 years, 9 days | 1918 | Independent Liberal | |||
Sir Donald Maclean[H] | 14 December 1918 | 12 February 1920 | 1 year, 61 days | — | ||||
H. H. Asquith[1] | 12 February 1920 | 21 November 1922 | 2 years, 283 days | 1922 | ||||
Ramsay MacDonald[2] | 21 November 1922 | 22 January 1924 | 1 year, 63 days | 1923 | Labour | |||
Stanley Baldwin[3] | 22 January 1924 | 4 November 1924 | 288 days | 1924 | Conservative | |||
Ramsay MacDonald[3] | 4 November 1924 | 5 June 1929 | 4 years, 214 days | 1929 | Labour | |||
Stanley Baldwin[3] | 5 June 1929 | 24 August 1931 | 2 years, 81 days | — | Conservative | |||
Arthur Henderson[J] | 1 September 1931 | 25 October 1932 | 1 year, 55 days | 1931 | Labour | |||
George Lansbury[K] | 25 October 1932 | 8 October 1935 | 3 years, 349 days | — | ||||
Clement Attlee[2][L] | 25 October 1935 | 11 May 1940 | 4 years, 200 days | 1935 | ||||
Hastings Lees-Smith[†][M] | 22 May 1940 | 18 December 1941 | 1 year, 211 days | — | ||||
Frederick Pethick-Lawrence[M] | 21 January 1942 | February 1942 | 12 days | — | ||||
Arthur Greenwood[M] | February 1942 | 23 May 1945 | 3 years, 112 days | — | ||||
Clement Attlee[2] | 23 May 1945 | 26 July 1945 | 65 days | 1945 | ||||
Winston Churchill[3] | 26 July 1945 | 26 October 1951 | 6 years, 93 days | 1950 | Conservative | |||
1951 | ||||||||
Clement Attlee[1] | 26 October 1951 | 25 November 1955 | 4 years, 31 days | 1955 | Labour | |||
Herbert Morrison[N] | 25 November 1955 | 14 December 1955 | 20 days | — | ||||
Hugh Gaitskell[†] | 14 December 1955 | 18 January 1963 | 7 years, 36 days | 1959 | ||||
George Brown[N] | 18 January 1963 | 14 February 1963 | 28 days | — | ||||
Harold Wilson[2] | 14 February 1963 | 16 October 1964 | 1 year, 246 days | 1964 | Wilson I | |||
Sir Alec Douglas-Home[1] | 16 October 1964 | 28 July 1965 | 286 days | — | Conservative (Scot.U.)
|
Douglas-Home | ||
Edward Heath[2] | 28 July 1965 | 19 June 1970 | 4 years, 327 days | 1966 | Conservative | Heath I | ||
1970 | ||||||||
Harold Wilson[3] | 19 June 1970 | 4 March 1974 | 3 years, 259 days | Feb 1974 | Labour | Wilson II | ||
Edward Heath[1] | 4 March 1974 | 11 February 1975 | 345 days | Oct 1974 | Conservative | Heath II | ||
Margaret Thatcher[2] | 11 February 1975 | 4 May 1979 | 4 years, 83 days | 1979 | Thatcher | |||
James Callaghan[1] | 4 May 1979 | 10 November 1980 | 1 year, 191 days | — | Labour | Callaghan | ||
Michael Foot | 10 November 1980 | 2 October 1983 | 2 years, 327 days | 1983 | Foot | |||
Neil Kinnock | 2 October 1983 | 18 July 1992 | 8 years, 291 days | 1987 | Kinnock | |||
1992 | ||||||||
John Smith[†] | 18 July 1992 | 12 May 1994 | 1 year, 299 days | — | Smith | |||
Margaret Beckett[N] | 12 May 1994 | 21 July 1994 | 71 days | — | Beckett | |||
Tony Blair[2] | 21 July 1994 | 2 May 1997 | 2 years, 286 days | 1997 | Blair | |||
John Major[1] | 2 May 1997 | 19 June 1997 | 49 days | — | Conservative | Major | ||
William Hague | 19 June 1997 | 13 September 2001 | 4 years, 87 days | 2001 | Hague | |||
Iain Duncan Smith | 13 September 2001 | 6 November 2003 | 2 years, 55 days | — | Duncan Smith | |||
Michael Howard | 6 November 2003 | 6 December 2005 | 2 years, 31 days | 2005 | Howard | |||
David Cameron[2] | 6 December 2005 | 11 May 2010 | 4 years, 157 days | 2010 | Cameron | |||
Harriet Harman[N] | 11 May 2010 | 25 September 2010 | 138 days | — | Labour | Harman I | ||
Ed Miliband | 25 September 2010 | 8 May 2015 | 4 years, 226 days | 2015 | Miliband | |||
Harriet Harman[N] | 8 May 2015 | 12 September 2015 | 128 days | — | Harman II | |||
Jeremy Corbyn | 12 September 2015 | 4 April 2020 | 4 years, 206 days | 2017 | Corbyn | |||
2019 | ||||||||
Sir Keir Starmer[2] | 4 April 2020 | 5 July 2024 | 4 years, 93 days | 2024 | Starmer | |||
Rishi Sunak[1] | 5 July 2024 | Incumbent | 94 days | — | Conservative | Sunak |
References
change- ↑ "Appendix 3: Ministerial salaries – salary entitlements" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 51. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- ↑ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
- ↑ "Rishi Sunak resigns after stunning UK election loss". Al Jazeera. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.