Leader of the Opposition (UK) - Definition and Overview

The Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (the body in Parliament recognized as the Official Opposition).

Since 1937 the Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom has received a state salary, at first at £2,000, and rising since to £65,482. This is in addition to their salary as an MP (currently £56,358).

Leader of the Opposition in the UK

Those who have subsequently served as Prime Minister are indicated in italics.

• Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby - Conservative - (1859-1866)
• William Ewart Gladstone - Liberal - (1866-1868)
• Benjamin Disraeli - Conservative - (1868-1874)
• William Ewart Gladstone - Liberal - (1874-1875)
• Spencer Cavendish. He sat in the Commons as The Marquess of Hartington MP - Liberal - (1875-1880)
• Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield - Conservative - (1880-1881)
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - Conservative - (1881-1885)
• William Ewart Gladstone - Liberal - (1885-1886)
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - Conservative - (1886)
• William Ewart Gladstone - Liberal - (1886-1892)
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - Conservative - (1892-1895)
• Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery - Liberal (1895-1896)
• Sir William Vernon Harcourt - Liberal - (1896-1899)
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman - Liberal - (1899-1905)
• Arthur Balfour - Conservative - (1905-1911)
• Andrew Bonar Law - Conservative - (1911-1915)
• Herbert Henry Asquith - Opposition Liberal - (1916-1918)
• Sir Donald Maclean - Opposition Liberal - (1918-1920)
• Herbert Henry Asquith - Opposition Liberal - (1920-1922)
• Ramsay Macdonald - Labour - (1922-1924)
• Stanley Baldwin - Conservative - (1924)
• Ramsay Macdonald - Labour - (1924-1929)
• Stanley Baldwin - Conservative - (1929-1931)
• Arthur Henderson - Labour - (1931)
• George Lansbury - Labour - (1931-1935)
• Clement Attlee - Labour - (1935-1940)
• None (1940-1945) A succession of Labour politicians acted as Leader of the Opposition for the purpose of allowing the House of Commons to function as normally, including:

• • Hastings Lees-Smith (1940-42)
  • Frederick Pethick-Lawrence (1942)
  • Arthur Greenwood (1942-45)

However none of them received the salary for the post of Leader of the Opposition.

• Clement Attlee - Labour - (1945)
• Winston Churchill - Conservative - (1945-1951)
• Clement Attlee - Labour - (1951-1955)
• Hugh Gaitskell - Labour - (1955-1963)
• Harold Wilson - Labour - (1963-1964)
• Sir Alec Douglas-Home - Conservative - (1964-1965)
• Edward Heath - Conservative - (1965-1970)
• Harold Wilson - Labour - (1970-1974)
• Edward Heath - Conservative - (1974-1975)
• Margaret Thatcher - Conservative - (1975-1979)
• James Callaghan - Labour - (1979-1980)
• Michael Foot - Labour - (1980-1983)
• Neil Kinnock - Labour - (1983-1992)
• John Smith - Labour - (1992-1994)
• Tony Blair - Labour - (1994-1997)
• John Major - Conservative - (1997)
• William Hague - Conservative - (1997-2001)
• Iain Duncan Smith - Conservative - (2001-2003)
• Michael Howard - Conservative - (2003-)

See Also

• Prime Minister (UK)
• Leader of the Opposition