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Leader of the House of Commons
Incumbent Mark Spencer since 8 February 2022
Cabinet Office Office of the Leader of the House of Commons
Style	The Right Honourable
Formation	4 April 1721
First holder	Sir Robert Walpole
Website	www.gov.uk

Political offices in the UK government
Prime Minister Deputy Prime Minister / First Secretary Treasury ministers Secretary of State Minister of state Parliamentary under-secretary of state Parliamentary private secretary Lord Chancellor Leader of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Lords Whips Law officers Sinecures
List of political offices
v t e

The leader of the House of Commons is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of the United Kingdom.

The House of Commons devotes approximately three-quarters of its time to debating and explaining government business, such as bills introduced by the government and ministerial statements. The leader of the House of Commons, with the parties' chief whips ("the usual channels"), is responsible for organising government business and providing time for non-government (backbench) business to be put before the House of Commons.

Responsibilities

The following are some of the current responsibilities of the leader of the House of Commons:

• The Government’s Legislative Programme, chairing the Cabinet Committee.
• Managing and announcing the business of the House of Commons weekly and facilitating motions and debate in the Chamber, particularly on House business.
• Government’s representative in the House (sitting on the House of Commons Commission, Public Accounts Commission, and the Speaker’s Committees on the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority).
• House of Commons representative in Government.
• Parliamentary reform and policy.
• Ministerial responsibility for the Privy Council Office.

The Osmotherly Rules, which set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to parliamentary select committees, are co-updated by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and the Cabinet Office.

History

The title was not established until about the middle of the nineteenth century, although the institution is much older.

Until 1942, the title was usually held by the prime minister if he sat in the House of Commons, however, in more recent years, the title has been held by a separate politician.

The title holder is not formally appointed by the Crown and the title alone does not attract a salary, so is now usually held in addition to a sinecure, currently Lord President of the Council.

Deputy Leader of the House of Commons

From 1922, when the prime minister was also leader of the House of Commons, day-to-day duties were frequently carried out by a Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. At other times, a deputy leader of the House of Commons was appointed merely to enhance an individual politician's standing within the government.

The title has been in use since 1942, but not since 2019 at the dissolution of the Second May ministry.

• Mark Spencer
• Chris Heaton-Harris
• Michael Ellis
• Thérèse Coffey
• Tom Brake
• David Heath
• Barbara Keeley
• Chris Bryant
• Helen Goodman
• Paddy Tipping
• Nigel Griffiths
• Phil Woolas
• Ben Bradshaw
• Stephen Twigg
• Paddy Tipping (1998)

List of leaders of the House of Commons (1721–present)

Portrait		Name Constituency	Term of office		Other ministerial offices held as leader	Party	Ministry	Ref.
		Robert Walpole MP for King's Lynn	4 April 1721	6 February 1742	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer	Whig	Walpole–Townshend
							Walpole
		Samuel Sandys MP for Worcester	12 February 1742	27 August 1743	Chancellor of the Exchequer		Carteret
		Henry Pelham MP for Sussex	27 August 1743	6 March 1754	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer
							Broad Bottom (I & II)
		Thomas Robinson MP for Christchurch	23 March 1754	October 1755	Secretary of State for the Southern Department		Newcastle I
		Henry Fox MP for Windsor	14 November 1755	13 November 1756
		William Pitt 'the Elder' MP for Okehampton	4 December 1756	6 April 1757			Pitt–Devonshire
Vacant			April 1757	June 1757			1757 Caretaker
		William Pitt 'the Elder' MP for Bath	27 June 1757	6 October 1761	Secretary of State for the Southern Department	Whig	Pitt–Newcastle
		George Grenville MP for Buckingham	October 1761	May 1762	Treasurer of the Navy
		Henry Fox MP for Dunwich	May 1762	April 1763	Paymaster of the Forces		Bute (Tory–Whig)
		George Grenville MP for Buckingham	16 April 1763	13 July 1765	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer		Grenville
		Henry Seymour Conway MP for Thetford	July 1765	20 October 1768	Secretary of State for the Southern Department until May 1766 Secretary of State for the Northern Department from May 1766		Rockingham I
							Chatham (Whig–Tory)
		Frederick North Lord North MP for Banbury	October 1768	22 March 1782	Prime Minister from 28 January 1770 First Lord of the Treasury from 28 January 1770 Chancellor of the Exchequer	Tory	Grafton (Whig–Tory)
							North
		Charles James Fox MP for Westminster	27 March 1782	July 1782	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Whig	Rockingham II
		Thomas Townshend MP for Whitchurch	10 July 1782	6 March 1783	Secretary of State for the Home Department		Shelburne (Whig–Tory)
		Charles James Fox MP for Westminster	2 April 1783	19 December 1783	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs		Fox–North
		Frederick North Lord North MP for Banbury			Secretary of State for the Home Department	Tory
		William Pitt 'the Younger' MP for Appleby until 1784 MP for Cambridge University from 1784	19 December 1783	14 March 1801	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer		Pitt I
		Henry Addington MP for Devizes	17 March 1801	10 May 1804			Addington
		William Pitt 'the Younger' MP for Cambridge University	10 May 1804	23 January 1806†			Pitt II
		Charles James Fox MP for Westminster	February 1806	13 September 1806†	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Whig	All the Talents
		Charles Grey Viscount Howick MP for Northumberland	September 1806	31 March 1807
		Spencer Perceval MP for Northampton	April 1807	11 May 1812†	Chancellor of the Exchequer Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Prime Minister from October 1809 First Lord of the Treasury from October 1809	Tory	Portland II
							Perceval
		Robert Stewart Viscount Castlereagh MP for Down until 1821 MP for Orford from 1821 The Marquess of Londonderry from 1821	June 1812	12 August 1822†	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs		Liverpool
		George Canning MP for Liverpool until 1823 MP for Harwich 1823–1826 MP for Newport 1826–1827 MP for Seaford from 1827	16 September 1822	8 August 1827†	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs until April 1827 Prime Minister from April 1827 First Lord of the Treasury from April 1827 Chancellor of the Exchequer from April 1827
							Canning (Canningite–Whig)
		William Huskisson MP for Liverpool	3 September 1827	21 January 1828	Secretary of State for War and the Colonies		Goderich (Canningite–Whig)
		Sir Robert Peel MP for Oxford University until 1829 MP for Westbury from 1829	26 January 1828	16 November 1830	Secretary of State for the Home Department		Wellington–Peel
		John Spencer Viscount Althorp MP for Northamptonshire until 1832 MP for South Northamptonshire from 1832	22 November 1830	14 November 1834	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Whig	Grey
							Melbourne I
Vacant			14 November 1834	10 December 1834			Wellington Caretaker
		Sir Robert Peel MP for Tamworth	10 December 1834	8 April 1835	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative	Peel I
		Lord John Russell MP for Stroud	18 April 1835	30 August 1841	Secretary of State for the Home Department until August 1839 Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from August 1839	Whig	Melbourne II
		Sir Robert Peel MP for Tamworth	30 August 1841	29 June 1846	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Conservative	Peel II
		Lord John Russell MP for City of London	30 June 1846	21 February 1852	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Whig	Russell I
		Benjamin Disraeli MP for Buckinghamshire	27 February 1852	17 December 1852	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative	Who? Who?
		Lord John Russell MP for City of London	28 December 1852	30 January 1855	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs until February 1853 Minister without Portfolio February 1853 – June 1854 Lord President of the Council from June 1854	Whig	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)
		Henry John Temple The Viscount Palmerston MP for Tiverton	6 February 1855	19 February 1858	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury		Palmerston I
		Benjamin Disraeli MP for Buckinghamshire	26 February 1858	11 June 1859	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
		Henry John Temple The Viscount Palmerston MP for Tiverton	12 June 1859	18 October 1865†	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Liberal	Palmerston II
		William Ewart Gladstone MP for South Lancashire	October 1865	26 June 1866	Chancellor of the Exchequer		Russell II
		Benjamin Disraeli MP for Buckinghamshire	6 July 1866	1 December 1868	Chancellor of the Exchequer until February 1868 Prime Minister from February 1868 First Lord of the Treasury from February 1868	Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
		William Ewart Gladstone MP for Greenwich	3 December 1868	17 February 1874	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer from August 1873	Liberal	Gladstone I
		Benjamin Disraeli MP for Buckinghamshire	20 February 1874	21 August 1876	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Conservative	Disraeli II
		Stafford Northcote MP for Devonshire North	21 August 1876	21 April 1880	Chancellor of the Exchequer
		William Ewart Gladstone MP for Midlothian	23 April 1880	9 June 1885	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer until December 1882	Liberal	Gladstone II
		Michael Hicks-Beach MP for Bristol West	24 June 1885	28 January 1886	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative	Salisbury I
		William Ewart Gladstone MP for Midlothian	1 February 1886	2 July 1886	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Lord Privy Seal	Liberal	Gladstone III
		Lord Randolph Churchill MP for Paddington South	3 August 1886	14 January 1887	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative	Salisbury II
		W. H. Smith MP for Strand	17 January 1887	October 1891	First Lord of the Treasury
		Arthur Balfour MP for Manchester East	October 1891	11 August 1892
		William Ewart Gladstone MP for Midlothian	15 August 1892	2 March 1894	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Lord Privy Seal	Liberal	Gladstone IV
		Sir William Harcourt MP for Derby	2 March 1894	21 June 1895	Chancellor of the Exchequer		Rosebery
		Arthur Balfour MP for Manchester East	29 June 1895	4 December 1905	Prime Minister from July 1902 First Lord of the Treasury Lord Privy Seal July 1902– October 1903	Conservative	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
							Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman MP for Stirling Burghs	5 December 1905	5 April 1908	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
		H. H. Asquith MP for East Fife	5 April 1908	5 December 1916	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Secretary of State for War March 1914– August 1914		Asquith (I–III)
							Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		Bonar Law MP for Bootle until 1918 MP for Glasgow Central from 1918	10 December 1916	23 March 1921	Chancellor of the Exchequer until January 1919 Lord Privy Seal from January 1919	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		Austen Chamberlain MP for Birmingham West	23 March 1921	19 October 1922	Lord Privy Seal
		Bonar Law MP for Glasgow Central	23 October 1922	20 May 1923	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury		Law
		Stanley Baldwin MP for Bewdley	22 May 1923	22 January 1924	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer until August 1923		Baldwin I
		Ramsay MacDonald MP for Aberavon	22 January 1924	3 November 1924	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Labour	MacDonald I
		Stanley Baldwin MP for Bewdley	4 November 1924	4 June 1929	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	Conservative	Baldwin II
		Ramsay MacDonald MP for Seaham	5 June 1929	7 June 1935		Labour	MacDonald II
						National Labour	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N. –Lib.)
							National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N. –Lib. until 1932)
		Stanley Baldwin MP for Bewdley	7 June 1935	28 May 1937		Conservative	National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Edgbaston	28 May 1937	10 May 1940			National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
							Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Winston Churchill MP for Epping	10 May 1940	19 February 1942	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Minister of Defence		Churchill War (All parties)
		Sir Stafford Cripps MP for Bristol East	19 February 1942	22 November 1942	Lord Privy Seal	Independent
		Anthony Eden MP for Warwick and Leamington	22 November 1942	23 May 1945	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Conservative
		Anthony Eden MP for Warwick and Leamington	23 May 1945	26 July 1945			Churchill Caretaker (Con.–N.Lib.)
		Herbert Morrison MP for Lewisham East until 1950 MP for Lewisham South from 1950	27 July 1945	9 March 1951	Deputy Prime Minister Lord President of the Council	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		James Chuter Ede MP for South Shields	9 March 1951	26 October 1951	Secretary of State for the Home Department
		Harry Crookshank MP for Gainsborough	28 October 1951	20 December 1955	Minister of Health until May 1952 Lord Privy Seal from May 1952	Conservative	Churchill III
							Eden
		R. A. Butler MP for Saffron Walden	20 December 1955	9 October 1961	Lord Privy Seal until October 1959 Secretary of State for the Home Department from January 1957
							Macmillan (I & II)
		Iain Macleod MP for Enfield West	9 October 1961	20 October 1963	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
		Selwyn Lloyd MP for Wirral	20 October 1963	16 October 1964	Lord Privy Seal		Douglas-Home
		Herbert Bowden MP for Leicester South West	16 October 1964	11 August 1966	Lord President of the Council	Labour	Wilson (I & II)
		Richard Crossman MP for Coventry East	11 August 1966	18 October 1968
		Fred Peart MP for Workington	18 October 1968	19 June 1970
		Willie Whitelaw MP for Penrith and The Border	20 June 1970	7 April 1972		Conservative	Heath
		Robert Carr MP for Mitcham	7 April 1972	5 November 1972
		Jim Prior MP for Lowestoft	5 November 1972	4 March 1974
		Edward Short MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central	5 March 1974	8 April 1976		Labour	Wilson (III & IV)
		Michael Foot MP for Ebbw Vale	8 April 1976	4 May 1979			Callaghan
		Norman St John-Stevas MP for Chelmsford	5 May 1979	5 January 1981	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for the Arts	Conservative	Thatcher I
		Francis Pym MP for Cambridgeshire	5 January 1981	5 April 1982	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster until September 1981 Lord President of the Council from September 1981
		John Biffen MP for Oswestry until 1983 MP for Shropshire North from 1983	5 April 1982	13 June 1987	Lord President of the Council until June 1983 Lord Privy Seal from 11 June 1983
							Thatcher II
		John Wakeham MP for South Colchester and Maldon	13 June 1987	24 July 1989	Lord Privy Seal until January 1988 Lord President of the Council from 10 January 1988		Thatcher III
		Sir Geoffrey Howe MP for East Surrey	24 July 1989	2 November 1990	Lord President of the Council Deputy Prime Minister
		John MacGregor MP for South Norfolk	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Lord President of the Council
							Major I
		Tony Newton MP for Braintree	10 April 1992	2 May 1997			Major II
		Ann Taylor MP for Dewsbury	2 May 1997	27 July 1998		Labour	Blair I
		Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South	27 July 1998	8 June 2001
		Robin Cook MP for Livingston	8 June 2001	17 March 2003			Blair II
		John Reid MP for Hamilton North and Bellshill	4 April 2003	13 June 2003
		Peter Hain MP for Neath	11 June 2003	6 May 2005	Lord Privy Seal Secretary of State for Wales
		Geoff Hoon MP for Ashfield	6 May 2005	5 May 2006	Lord Privy Seal		Blair III
		Jack Straw MP for Blackburn	5 May 2006	27 June 2007
		Harriet Harman MP for Camberwell and Peckham	28 June 2007	11 May 2010	Lord Privy Seal Minister for Women and Equality		Brown
		Sir George Young MP for North West Hampshire	12 May 2010	3 September 2012	Lord Privy Seal	Conservative	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–L.D.)
		Andrew Lansley MP for South Cambridgeshire	4 September 2012	14 July 2014
		William Hague MP for Richmond (Yorks)	14 July 2014	8 May 2015	First Secretary of State
		Chris Grayling MP for Epsom and Ewell	9 May 2015	14 July 2016	Lord President of the Council		Cameron II
		David Lidington MP for Aylesbury	14 July 2016	11 June 2017			May I
		Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire	11 June 2017	22 May 2019			May II
		Mel Stride MP for Central Devon	23 May 2019	24 July 2019
		Jacob Rees-Mogg MP for North East Somerset	24 July 2019	Incumbent			Johnson (I–II)

See also

• Leader of the House of Lords
• Speaker of the House of Commons
• Minister for Parliamentary Business, the equivalent cabinet post in the Scottish Government

References

1. "Leader of the House of Commons – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
2. Gay, Oonagh (4 August 2005). "The Osmotherly Rules (Standard Note: SN/PC/2671)" (PDF). Parliament and Constitution Centre, House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
3. ^ "Leader of the House of Commons". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
4. "Parliamentary Secretary of State (Deputy Leader of the House of Commons) – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
5. ^ David Butler and Gareth Butler, British Political Facts 1900–1994 (7th edn, Macmillan 1994) 65.
6. "Lord Newton of Braintree". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
7. "Baroness Taylor of Bolton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
8. "Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
9. "Rt Hon Robin Cook". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
10. "Lord Reid of Cardowan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
11. "Lord Hain". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
12. "Mr Geoffrey Hoon". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
13. "Rt Hon Jack Straw". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
14. "Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
15. "Lord Young of Cookham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
16. "Lord Lansley". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
17. "Lord Hague of Richmond". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
18. "Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
19. "Rt Hon David Lidington MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
20. "Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
21. "Rt Hon Mel Stride MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
22. "Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 July 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
• Parliamentary website

v t e Cabinet Office
Ministers	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for the Cabinet Office Minister without Portfolio Leader of the House of Lords Leader of the House of Commons Paymaster General Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office
Civil Service	Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary
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Non-ministerial department	UK Statistics Authority
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Non-departmental public bodies	Civil Service Commission Equality and Human Rights Commission Advisory Committee on Business Appointments Boundary Commission for England Boundary Commission for Wales Committee on Standards in Public Life House of Lords Appointments Commission Security Vetting Appeals Panel Senior Salaries Review Body
Other organisations	Commissioner for Public Appointments Government Car Service (Prime Ministerial Car) Government Equalities Office Government Estates Management Infrastructure and Projects Authority Office of the Parliamentary Counsel Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists Privy Council Office
Secretariats	Civil Contingencies Secretariat Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms Defence and Overseas Secretariat Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat
Category

v t e UK cabinet portfolios
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
Cabinet ministers	Prime Minister / First Lord of the Treasury / Minister for the Union / Minister for the Civil Service Deputy Prime Minister / Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Chancellor of the Exchequer Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Secretary Home Secretary Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Defence Secretary Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Justice Secretary / Lord Chancellor Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Health and Social Care Secretary Lord President of the Council / Leader of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Lords / Lord Privy Seal Business and Trade Secretary / President of the Board of Trade Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Work and Pensions Secretary Education Secretary / Minister for Women and Equalities Transport Secretary Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Northern Ireland Secretary Scottish Secretary Welsh Secretary
Also attending Cabinet	Chief Whip / Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Chief Secretary to the Treasury Attorney General for England and Wales / Advocate General for Northern Ireland Minister of State for International Development

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• Government of the United Kingdom
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