Party Leaders

Canning, George

(1770 - 1827)

Foreign Secretary 1807-09, 1822-27, President of the Board of Control 1816-21

Prime Minister 1827

British Ambassador to Portugal 1814-15

Disraeli, Benjamin

(1804 - 1881)

1st Earl of Beaconsfield

Tory MP for Maidstone 1837-41, Shrewsbury 1841-47, Buckinghamshire 1847-76

Leader of the Conservative Party 1868-80

Chancellor of the Exchequer 1852, 1858-59, 1866-68, Prime Minister 1868, 1874-80

Davey, Sir Edward (MP)

(1965 - )

Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton 1997-2015, 2017-

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2019-20, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2020-

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 2012-15

Farron, Tim (MP)

(1970 - )

Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale 2005-

Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2015-17

President of the Liberal Democrats 2011-15

Thorpe, Jeremy

(1929 - 2014)

Liberal MP for North Devon 1959-79

Leader of the Liberal Party 1967-76

Steel, David

(1938 - )

Baron Steel of Aikwood

Liberal/Liberal Democrat MP for Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles 1965-83, Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale 1983-97

Liberal Democrat MSP for Lothians 1999-2003

Liberal Chief Whip 1970-76, Leader of the Liberal Party 1976-88

Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament 1999-2003

Sinclair, Sir Archibald

(1890 - 1970)

1st Viscount Thurso

Liberal MP for Caithness & Sutherland 1922-45

Liberal Chief Whip 1930-31, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party 1931-35, Leader of the Liberal Party 1935-45

Secretary of State for Scotland 1931-32, Secretary of State for Air 1940-45

Samuel, Herbert

(1870 - 1963)

1st Viscount Samuel

Liberal MP for Cleveland 1902-18, Darwen 1929-35

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party 1929-31, Leader of the Liberal Party 1931-35, Leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords 1944-55

Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office 1905-09, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1909-10, 1915-16, Postmaster General 1910-14, 1915-16, President of the Local Goverment Board 1914-15, Home Secretary 1916, 1931-32

High Commissioner of Palestine 1920-25

Swinson, Jo

(1980 - )

Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire 2005-15, 2017-19

Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats 2010-12, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2017-19, Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2019

Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs 2012-15

Russell, Lord John

(1792 - 1878)

1st Earl Russell

Whig MP for Tavistock 1813-20, Huntingdonshire 1820-26, Bandon 1826-30, Devonshire 1831-32, Devon, Southern 1832-35, Stroud 1835-41, City of London 1847-61

Paymaster of the Forces 1830-34, Home Secretary 1835-39, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1839-41, Prime Minister 1846-52, 1865-66, Foreign Secretary 1852-53, 1859-65, Lord President of the Council 1854-55, Colonial Secretary 1855

Temple, Henry John

(1784 - 1865)

3rd Viscount Palmerston

Tory MP for Newport, Isle of Wight 1807-11, Cambridge University 1811-30, Whig (later Liberal) MP for Cambridge University 1830-31, Bletchingly 1831-32, Hampshire South 1832-35, Tiverton 1835-65

Leader of the Whig/Liberal Party 1855-65

Secretary at War 1809-28, Foreign Secretary 1830-34, 1835-41 & 1846-51, Home Secretary 1852-55, Prime Minister 1855-58 & 1859-65

Owen, David

(1938 - )

Baron Owen of Plymouth

Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton 1966-74, Plymouth Devonport 1974-81, SDP MP for Plymouth Devonport 1981-1992

Deputy Leader of the SDP 1982-83, Leader of the SDP 1983-87

Foreign Secretary 1977-79

Lamb, William

(1779 - 1848)

2nd Viscount Melbourne

Whig MP for Leominster 1806, Haddington Burghs 1806-07, Portarlington 1807-12, Peterborough 1816-19, Hertfordshire 1819-26, Newport (Isle of Wight) 1827, Bletchingley 1827-28

Leader of the Whig Party 1834-42

Chief Secretary for Ireland 1827-28, Home Secretary 1830-34, Prime Minister 1834, 1835-41

Prime Minister 1834 and 1835-41

Maclennan, Robert

(1936 - 2020)

Baron Maclennan of Rogart

Labour MP for Caithness and Sutherland 1966-81, SDP MP for Caithness and Sutherland 1981-1988, Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness and Sutherland 1988-97, Caithness Sutherland & Easter Ross 1997-2001

Leader of the SDP 1987-88

Grimond, Jo

(1913 - 1993)

Baron Grimond of Firth

Liberal MP for Orkney & Shetland 1950-83

Liberal Chief Whip 1950-56, Leader of the Liberal Party 1956-67, May-July 1976

Asquith, Herbert Henry

(1852 - 1928)

1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith

Liberal MP for East Fife 1886-1918, Paisley 1920-24

Leader of the Liberal Party 1908-26

Home Secretary 1892-95, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1905-08, Prime Minister 1908-16

Ashdown, Paddy

(1941 - 2018)

Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon

Liberal/Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil 1983-2001

Leader of the Liberal Democrats 1988-99

High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2002-06

Jenkins, Roy

(1920 - 2003)

Baron Jenkins of Hillhead

Labour MP for Southwark Central 1948-50, Birmingham Stechford 1950-77; SDP MP for Glasgow Hillhead 1982-87

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party 1970-72, Leader of the SDP 1982-83, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords 1988-97

Home Secretary 1965-67, 1974-76, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1967-70

President of the European Commission 1977-81

Harcourt, Sir William

(1827 - 1904)

Liberal MP for Oxford 1868-80, Derby 1880-95, West Monmouthshire 1895-1904

Leader of the Liberal Party 1896-98

Home Secretary 1880-85, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1886, 1892-95

Gladstone, William Ewart

(1809 - 1898)

Tory MP for Newark 1832-45; Peelite MP for Oxford University 1847-65; Liberal MP for South Lancashire 1865-68, Greenwich 1868-80, Midlothian 1880-95

Leader of the Liberal Party 1866-75, 1880-94

President of the Board of Trade 1841-43, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1845-46, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1852-55, 1859-66, 1873-74, 1880-82, Prime Minister 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-4

Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands 1859

Journal of Liberal History