The Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, more commonly referred to as the Leader of the Opposition, is the person who leads the His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, Official Opposition in the United Kingdom. The position is seen as the shadow head of government of the United Kingdom and thus the shadow prime minister of the United Kingdom. Originally Constitutional convention (political custom), by convention, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons that is not in Government of the United Kingdom, government. When a single party wins outright, this is the party leader of the second-largest political party in the House of Commons. The role has since been codified by statute. The Leader of the Opposition is often viewed as an alternative or shadow Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister, and is appointed to the Privy Council (United Kingdom), Privy Council. They lead an Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, which scrutinises the actions of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet and offers alternative policies. In the nineteenth century, party affiliations were generally less fixed and the leaders in the two Houses were often of equal status. A single and clear Leader of the Opposition was only definitively settled if the opposition leader in the House of Commons or House of Lords was the outgoing prime minister. However, since the Parliament Act 1911, there has been no dispute that the leader in the House of Commons is pre-eminent and has always held the primary title. The Leader of the Opposition is entitled to a salary in addition to their salary as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. In 2019, this additional entitlement was available up to £65,181. The role is considered by those who have held it as the worst and most difficult job in politics, with Prime Minister Tony Blair and then-Leader of the Opposition William Hague agreeing that the opposition role was the harder job of the two positions. The incumbent Leader of the Opposition is Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party, following the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election.

Leaders of the opposition from 1807

The first modern Leader of the Opposition was Charles James Fox, who led the Whigs as such for a generation, except during the Fox–North Coalition in 1783. He finally rejoined the government in the Ministry of All the Talents formed in 1806 and died later that year.

Early developments 1807–1830

For there to be a recognised Leader of the Opposition, it is necessary for there to be a sufficiently cohesive opposition to need a formal leader. The emergence of the office thus coincided with the period when wholly united parties (Whig Party (UK), Whig and Tory Party, Tory, governments and oppositions) became the norm. This situation was normalized in the Parliament of 1807–1812 when the members of the Grenvillite and Foxite Whig factions resolved to maintain a joint, dual-house leadership for the whole party. The Ministry of all the Talents, in which both Whig factions participated, fell at the 1807 United Kingdom general election, 1807 general election, during which the Whigs had re-adopted traditional factions, forming ''an'' opposition. The prime minister of the Talents ministry, Lord Grenville, had led his eponymous faction from the House of Lords. Meanwhile, the government leader of the House of Commons, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Viscount Howick (later known as Earl Grey and the political heir of Charles James Fox who had died in 1806), led his faction, the Foxite whigs, from the House of Commons. Howick's father, Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, the 1st Earl Grey, died on 14 November 1807. As such the new Earl Grey vacated his seat in the House of Commons and moved to the House of Lords. This left no obvious Whig leader in the House of Commons. Grenville's article in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' confirms that he was considered the Whig leader in the House of Lords between 1807 and 1817, despite Grey leading the larger faction. Political historian Archibald Foord describes Grenville and Grey as being "duumvirate, duumvirs of the party from 1807 to 1817" and consulted about what was to be done. Grenville was at first reluctant to name a leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, commenting "all the elections in the world would not have made Windham or Sheridan leaders of the old Opposition while Fox was alive". Eventually, they jointly recommended George Ponsonby to the Whig MPs, whom they accepted as the first leader of the opposition in the House of Commons. Ponsonby, an Irish lawyer who was the uncle of Grey's wife, had been Lord Chancellor of Ireland during the Ministry of all the Talents and had only just been re-elected to the House of Commons in 1808 when he became leader. Ponsonby proved a weak leader but as he could not be persuaded to resign and the duumvirs did not want to depose him, he remained in place until he died in 1817. Lord Grenville retired from active politics in 1817, leaving Grey as the leader of the opposition in the House of Lords. Grey was not a former prime minister in 1817, unlike Grenville, so under the convention that developed later in the century he would have been in the theory of equal status to whoever was a leader in the other House. However, there was little doubt that if a Whig ministry was possible, Grey rather than the less distinguished Commons leaders would have been invited to form that government. In this respect Grey's position was like that of the Earl of Derby in the Protectionist Conservative opposition of the late 1840s and early 1850s. Earl Grey witnessed a delay of about a year, until 1818, before a new leader of the opposition in the House of Commons was chosen. This was George Tierney who was reluctant to accept the leadership and had weak support from his party. On 18 May 1819, Tierney moved a motion in the Commons for a committee on the state of the nation. This motion was defeated by 357 to 178, a division involving the largest number of MPs until the debates over the Reform Act 1832, Reform Bill in the early 1830s. Foord comments that "this defeat put an effective end to Tierney's leadership ... Tierney did not disclaim the leadership till 23 Jan. 1821 ..., but he had ceased to exercise its functions since the great defeat". Between 1821 and 1830 the Whig Commons leadership was left vacant. The leadership in the House of Lords was not much more effective: in 1824 Grey retired from active leadership, asking the party to follow the Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Marquess of Lansdowne "as the person whom his friends were to look upon as their leader". Lansdowne disclaimed the title of leader, although in practice he performed the function. Following the retirement of Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Lord Liverpool from the prime ministership in 1827, the party's political situation changed. Neither the Duke of Wellington nor Robert Peel agreed to serve under George Canning and they were followed by five other members of the former Cabinet as well as forty junior members of the previous government. The Tory Party was heavily split between the "High Tories" (or "Ultras", nicknamed after Ultra-royalist, the contemporary party in Restoration France) and the moderates supporting Canning, often called 'Canningites'. As a result, Canning found it difficult to maintain a government and chose to invite a number of Whigs to join his Cabinet, including Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Lord Lansdowne. After Canning's death, Lord Goderich continued the coalition for a few more months. The principal opposition between April 1827 and January 1828 worked with these brief administrations, although Earl Grey and a section of the Whigs were also in opposition to the coalition government. It was during this period that the term "His Majesty's Opposition" for the Opposition was coined, by John Cam Hobhouse. The Duke of Wellington formed a First Wellington ministry, ministry in January 1828 and, as a direct effect of adopting in earnest the policy of Catholic emancipation, the opposition became composed of most Whigs, with many Canningites and some ultra-Tories. Lord Lansdowne, in the absence of any alternative, remained the leading figure in the Whig opposition. In 1830 Grey returned to the front rank of politics. On 30 June 1830, he denounced the government in the House of Lords. He rapidly attracted the support of opponents of the ministry. The renewal of organized opposition was also bolstered earlier in the year by the election of a new leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, the heir of Earl Spencer, John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, Viscount Althorp. In November 1830 Grey was invited to form a government and resumed the formal leadership of the party; as such, Wellington and Peel became the leaders of the opposition in the two Houses from November 1830.

Leaders of the opposition 1830–1937

In the period of 1830–1937, the normal expectation was that there would be two leading parties (often with smaller allied groups), of which one would form the government and the other the opposition. These parties were expected to have recognized leaders in the two Houses, so there was normally no problem in identifying who led the opposition in each House. The constitutional convention developed in the nineteenth century was that if one of the leaders was the last prime minister of the party, then he would be considered the overall Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom, leader of his party. If that was not the case then the leaders of both Houses were of equal status. As the monarch retained some discretion as to which leader should be invited to form a ministry, it was not always obvious in advance which one would be called upon to do so. However, as the leadership of the opposition only existed by custom, the normal expectations and conventions were modified by political realities from time to time. From 1830 until 1846 the Tory Party, Tory/Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party and the Whig Party (UK), Whig Party (increasingly often described with its Radical Party (UK), Radical and other allies as the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party) alternated in power and provided clear leaders of the opposition. In 1846 the Conservative Party split into (Protectionist) Conservative and Peelite (or Liberal Conservative) factions. The Protectionists being the larger group, the recognized leaders of the opposition were drawn from their ranks. In the House of Lords, Lord Stanley (soon becoming Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Earl of Derby) was the Protectionist leader. He was the only established front-rank political figure in the faction and thus a very strong candidate to form the next Conservative ministry. The leadership in the House of Commons was more problematic. Lord George Bentinck, the leader of the Protectionist revolt against Sir Robert Peel, initially led the party in the Commons. He resigned in December 1847. The party was then faced with the problem of how to produce a credible leader who was not Benjamin Disraeli. The first attempt to square the circle was made in February 1848, when the young Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland, Marquess of Granby was installed as the leader. He gave up the post in March 1848. The leadership then fell vacant until February 1849. The next experiment was to entrust the leadership to a triumvirate of Granby, Disraeli, and the elderly John Charles Herries. In practice, Disraeli ignored his co-triumvirs. In 1851 Granby resigned and the party accepted Disraeli as the sole leader. The Protectionists by then were clearly the core of the Conservative Party and Derby was able to form his first government in 1852. The Liberal Party was formally founded in 1859, replacing the Whig Party as one of the two leading parties. With increasing party discipline it became easier to define the principal opposition party and the leaders of the opposition. The last overall leader of the opposition to have led it from the House of Lords was the Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Earl of Rosebery. He resigned as such in November 1896. Lord Rosebery had been Liberal Party (UK), Liberal prime minister from 1894 to 1895. Andrew Bonar Law Vanity Fair 10 April 1912

Andrew Bonar Law Vanity Fair 10 April 1912

The Parliament Act 1911 removed the legislative veto from the House of Lords to permit the welfare-state forming Liberal Party (UK), Liberal legislation, the People's Budget, and any future money bills to be enacted by the Commons without any input from the Lords. This, therefore, entrenched the de facto position that there could only be one true leader of the opposition and in effect clarified in which house that leader would need to sit. From this point, all leaders of the opposition in the House of Commons would thus be overall leaders of the opposition. In 1915 the Liberal, Conservative and Labour Party (UK), Labour parties formed a Asquith coalition ministry, wartime coalition. The Irish Parliamentary Party did not join the government but were by and large not in opposition to it (seeking change through constitutional means, they were not responsible for the 1916 Easter Rising). As almost nobody in the Parliament could be said to be in opposition to the coalition, the leadership of the opposition in both Houses fell vacant. Sir Edward Carson, the leading figure among the Irish Unionist Alliance (who were previously allied with the Conservatives), resigned from the coalition ministry on 19 October 1915. He then became the leader of those Irish Unionists who were not members of the government, effectively the leader of the opposition in the Commons. The party situation changed in December 1916: a leading Liberal, David Lloyd George, formed a coalition with the support of a section of "Coalition Liberal", Conservative and Labour parties. The Leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Leader of the Liberal Party, H. H. Asquith, and most of his leading colleagues left the government and took up seats on the opposition side of the House of Commons. Asquith was recognized as the leader of the opposition. He retained that post until he was defeated in the 1918 United Kingdom general election. Although Asquith continued to be the leader of the Liberal Party, as he was not a member of the House of Commons he was not eligible to be the leader of the opposition until returned in the 1920 Paisley by-election. The Parliament elected in 1918 United Kingdom general election, December 1918 which sat from 1919 until 1922 represents the most significant deviation from the principle that the leader of the opposition is the leader of the party not in government with the greatest numerical support in the House of Commons. The largest opposition party (disregarding Sinn Féin, whose abstentionist MPs did not take their seats at Westminster) was the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, which had wholly left the Lloyd George coalition and won 57 seats at the general election. Thirty-six Liberals had been elected without coalition support; however, they were mixed in their opposition to Lloyd George. The Labour Party did not have a Leader of the Labour Party (UK), leader until 1922. The Parliamentary Labour Party annually elected a chairman, but the party, due to its congressional origins, refused to assert a claim that the chairman was the leader of the opposition. Although the issue of who was entitled to be the leader of the opposition was never formally resolved, in practice the Opposition Liberal leader performed most of the parliamentary functions associated with the office. The small group of opposition Liberals met in 1919, distanced by his coalition's protectionism and nationalization. They resolved that they were the Liberal Parliamentary Party. They elected Sir Donald Maclean (British politician), Donald Maclean as Chairman of the Parliamentary Party. Liberal Party practice at the time, when the overall leader of the party had lost an election to the House of Commons, was for the chairman to function as acting leader in the House. Maclean, therefore, took on the role of leader of the opposition, followed by Asquith, who returned to the House by winning a 1920 Paisley by-election, by-election (1920–1922). From 1922 the Labour Party had a recognized leader so took over all remaining commons opposition roles from the Opposition Liberal Party. Since 1922 the principal Government and Opposition parties have been the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party. There were three instances of Peerages in the United Kingdom, peers being seriously considered for the prime ministership during the twentieth century (George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Lord Curzon of Kedleston in 1923, Lord Halifax in 1940, and Alec Douglas-Home, Lord Home in 1963), but these were all cases where the Conservative Party was in government and do not affect the list of leaders of the opposition. In 1931–32 the Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party was Arthur Henderson. He was the leader of the opposition for a short period in 1931, but was ineligible to continue when he lost his seat in the 1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 general election. George Lansbury was the leader of the opposition before he also became the leader of the Labour Party in 1932.

Statutory leaders of the opposition from 1937

Leaders of the opposition in the two Houses of Parliament had been generally recognized and given a special status in Parliament for more than a century before they were mentioned in legislation. ''Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice'' confirms that the office of the leader of the opposition was first given statutory recognition in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1937. * Section 5 stated that "There shall be paid to the Leader of the Opposition an annual salary of two thousand pounds". * Section 10(1) included a definition (which codifies the usual situation under the previous custom): {{"'{{Leader of the Opposition' means that member of the House of Commons who is for the time being the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to His Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in that House". * The 1937 Act also contains an important provision to decide who is the Leader of the Opposition, if this is in doubt. Under section 10(3), "If any doubt arises as to which is or was at any material time the party in opposition to His Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons, or as to who is or was at any material time the leader in that House of such a party, the question shall be decided for the purposes of this Act by the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons, and his decision, certified in writing under his hand, shall be final and conclusive." Subsequent legislation also gave statutory recognition to the leader of the opposition in the House of Lords. * Section 2(1) of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 provides that "In this Act 'Leader of the Opposition' means, in relation to either House of Parliament, that member of that House who is for the time being the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to His Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons". * Section 2(2) is in exactly the same terms as section 10(3) of the 1937 Act. * Section 2(3) is a corresponding provision for the Lord Chancellor (since Constitutional Reform Act 2005, 2005, the Lord Speaker) to decide about the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. The legislative provisions confirm that the leader of the opposition is, strictly, a Parliamentary office; so that to be a leader a person must be a member of the House of Commons or House of Lords. Since 1937 the leader of the opposition has received a state salary in addition to their salary as a Member of Parliament (MP), now equivalent to a Cabinet minister. The holder also receives a chauffeur-driven car for official business of equivalent cost and specification to the vehicles used by most Cabinet ministers. In 1940 the three largest parties in the House of Commons formed a Churchill war ministry, coalition government to continue to prosecute the Second World War. This coalition continued in office until shortly after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. As the former leader of the opposition had joined the government the issue arose of who was to hold the office or perform its functions. ''Keesing's Contemporary Archives 1937–1940'' (at paragraph 4069D) reported the situation, based on ''Hansard'': {{quote, The Prime Minister replying to Mr. Denman in the House of Commons on 21 May, said that in view of the formation of an Administration embracing the three main political parties, H.M. Government was of the opinion that the provision of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1937, Ministers of the Crown Act, 1937, relating to the payment of a salary to the leader of the opposition was in abeyance for the time being, as there was no alternative party capable of forming a Government. He added that he did not consider amending legislation necessary. The ''Daily Herald (UK newspaper), Daily Herald'' reported that the Parliamentary Labour Party met on 22 May 1940 and unanimously elected Dr H. B. Lees-Smith as Chairman of the PLP (an office normally held by the party leader at that time) and as spokesman of the Party from the opposition front bench. After the death of Lees-Smith, on 18 December 1941, the PLP, with Patrick McFadden acting as chairman, held a meeting on 21 January 1942. Frederick Pethick-Lawrence was unanimously elected Chairman of the PLP and the official spokesman of the party in the House of Commons while the party leader was serving in the government. After the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (Arthur Greenwood) left the government on 22 February 1942 he took over these roles from Pethick-Lawrence until the end of the coalition and the resumption of normal party politics.

List of leaders of the opposition (1807–1911)

The table lists the people who were, or who acted as, leaders of the opposition in the two Houses of Parliament since 1807, prior to which the post was held by Charles James Fox for decades. The leaders of the two Houses were of equal status, before 1911, unless one was the most recent Prime Minister for the party. Such a former prime minister was considered to be the overall leader of the opposition. From 1911 the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons was considered to be the overall Leader of the Opposition. Overall leaders names are bolded. Acting leaders names are in italics unless the acting leader subsequently became a full leader during a continuous period as leader. Due to the fragmentation of both principal parties in 1827–1830, the leaders and principal opposition parties suggested for those years are provisional. {, class="wikitable" , - ! colspan="2" , Principal party
of opposition ! colspan="2" , Leader of the Opposition
House of Commons ! colspan="2" , Leader of the Opposition
House of Lords !Date , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Whigs (British political party)" rowspan="8" , , rowspan="8" , Whig Party (UK), Whig , , Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Viscount Howick{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , rowspan="4" , 1st Baron Grenville-cropped

, rowspan="4" , The Lord Grenville{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , May 1807 , - , , ''Vacant'' , 14 November 1807 , - , GeorgePonsonby

, George Ponsonby{{efn, name=fnDied , 1808 , - , rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , ''Vacant'' , 8 July 1817 , - , rowspan="3" , , rowspan="3" , The Earl Grey{{efn, name=fnFuturePM
(formerly Viscount Howick) , 1817 , - , , George Tierney , 1818 , - , rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , ''Vacant'' , 23 January 1821 , - , , ''Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, The Marquess of Lansdowne''{{efn, name=fnWhigDispute1 , 1824 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Tories (British political party)" , , Tory Party, Tory , Robert Peel by RR Scanlan detail

, Sir Robert Peel{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , Sir Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington

, The Duke of Wellington{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , April 1827 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Whigs (British political party)" rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Whig Party (UK), Whig , , ''Vacant'' , rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , ''Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, The Marquess of Lansdowne''{{efn, name=fnWhigDispute1 , January 1828 , - , , John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, Viscount Althorp , February 1830 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Tories (British political party)" , , Tory Party, Tory , Robert Peel by RR Scanlan detail

, Sir Robert Peel{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , Sir Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington

, The Duke of Wellington{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , November 1830 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Whigs (British political party)" , , Whig Party (UK), Whig ,

, Lord John Russell{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , , The Viscount Melbourne{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , November 1834 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" , , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , Robert Peel by RR Scanlan detail

, Sir Robert Peel{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , Sir Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington

, The Duke of Wellington{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , April 1835 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Whigs (British political party)" rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Whig Party (UK), Whig , rowspan="2" ,

, rowspan="2" , Lord John Russell{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , , The Viscount Melbourne{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , August 1841 , - , , Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, The Marquess of Lansdowne , October 1842 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="5" , , rowspan="5" , Conservative Party (UK), Protectionist Conservative , , Lord George Bentinck , rowspan="5" , , rowspan="5" , Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, The Lord Stanley of Bickerstaffe{{efn, name=fnFuturePM
(The Earl of Derby from 1851) , June 1846 , - , , Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland, Marquess of Granby , 10 February 1848 , - , , ''Vacant'' , 4 March 1848 , - , rowspan="2" ,

, Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland, Marquess of Granby;
John Charles Herries; and
Benjamin Disraeli{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , February 1849 , - , Benjamin Disraeli{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 1851 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Whigs (British political party)" , , Whig Party (UK), Whig ,

, Lord John Russell{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , , Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, The Marquess of Lansdowne , February 1852 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" , , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ,

, Benjamin Disraeli{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , , The Earl of Derby{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , December 1852 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Whigs (British political party)" , , Whig Party (UK), Whig , Lord Palmerston 1855

, The Viscount Palmerston{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM{{efn, name=fnWhigDispute2 , Second Earl Granville

, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, The Earl Granville , February 1858 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" , , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ,

, Benjamin Disraeli{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , , The Earl of Derby{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , June 1859 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Liberal Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Liberal Party (UK), Liberal , rowspan="2" ,

, rowspan="2" , William Ewart Gladstone{{efn, name=fnFuturePM ,

, The Earl Russell{{efn, name=fnFormerPM
(formerly Lord John Russell) , June 1866 , - , Second Earl Granville

, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, The Earl Granville , December 1868 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="3" , , rowspan="3" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , rowspan="3" ,

, rowspan="3" , Benjamin Disraeli{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , JH Harris 3rd Earl of Malmesbury by JG Middleton crop

, James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury, The Earl of Malmesbury , December 1868 , - , , Hugh Cairns, 1st Baron Cairns, The Lord Cairns , February 1869 , - , , Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond, The Duke of Richmond , February 1870 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Liberal Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Liberal Party (UK), Liberal ,

, William Ewart Gladstone{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , rowspan="2" , Second Earl Granville

, rowspan="2" , Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, The Earl Granville , February 1874 , - , , Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, Marquess of Hartington , February 1875 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Sir Stafford Northcote , , The Earl of Beaconsfield{{efn, name=fnDied{{efn, name=fnFormerPM
(formerly Benjamin Disraeli) , April 1880 , - , , The Marquess of Salisbury{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , May 1881 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Liberal Party (UK)" , , Liberal Party (UK), Liberal ,

, William Ewart Gladstone{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , Second Earl Granville

, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, The Earl Granville , June 1885 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" , , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , , Sir Michael Hicks Beach , , The Marquess of Salisbury{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , February 1886 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Liberal Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Liberal Party (UK), Liberal , rowspan="2" ,

, rowspan="2" , William Ewart Gladstone{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , Second Earl Granville

, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, The Earl Granville{{efn, name=fnDied , July 1886 , - , 1st Earl of Kimberley 1897

, John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, The Earl of Kimberley , April 1891 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" , , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , Picture of Arthur Balfour

, Arthur Balfour{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , , The Marquess of Salisbury{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , August 1892 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Liberal Party (UK)" rowspan="5" , , rowspan="5" , Liberal Party (UK), Liberal , rowspan="2" ,

, rowspan="2" , Sir William Harcourt{{efn, name=fnHarcourtResign ,

, The Earl of Rosebery{{efn, name=fnFormerPM{{efn, name=fnRoseberyResign , June 1895 , - , rowspan="2" , 1st Earl of Kimberley 1897

, rowspan="2" , John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, The Earl of Kimberley{{efn, name=fnDied , January 1897 , - , rowspan="3" , Picture of Henry Campbell-Bannerman

, rowspan="3" , Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 6 February 1899 , - , , John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, The Earl Spencer , 1902 , - , George Robinson 1st Marquess of Ripon

, George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, The Marquess of Ripon , 1905 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="4" , , rowspan="4" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , Picture of Arthur Balfour

, Arthur Balfour{{efn, name=fnFormerPM{{efn, name=fnBalfourLoss , rowspan="4" , Marquess of Lansdowne crop

, rowspan="4" , Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, The Marquess of Lansdowne
(Liberal Unionist Party until 1912) , 5 December 1905 , - , Picture of Joseph Chamberlain

, ''Joseph Chamberlain''
(Liberal Unionist Party) , 1906 , - , Picture of Arthur Balfour

, Arthur Balfour{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 1906 , - , , Bonar Law{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 13 November 1911

List of leaders of the opposition (1911–present)

{{plainlist , * {{Nowrap, {{Party index link, Labour Party (UK), Labour (21) * {{Nowrap, {{Party index link, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative (13) * {{Nowrap, {{Party index link, Liberal Party (UK), Independent Liberal (3) {{sticky header {, class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible sticky-header-multi" style="line-height:1.4em; text-align:center;" , + List of leaders of the opposition since the Parliament Act , - ! rowspan=2 colspan="2" class=unsortable , Portrait ! rowspan=2 class=unsortable , Leader of the Opposition ! colspan=3 scope="colgroup" , Term of office ! rowspan=2 , Elections ! rowspan=2 , Party ! rowspan=2 , Shadow cabinet , - ! Start ! End ! Duration , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , , Bonar Law{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 13 November 1911 , 25 May 1915 , {{ayd, 1911, 11, 13, 1915, 5, 25, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative{{smalldiv, (Unionist Party (Scotland), ''Scot.U.'') , rowspan="22" , , - , , ''Sir Edward Carson''{{efn, name=fnAsquithGov , 19 October 1915 , 6 December 1916 , {{ayd, 1915, 10, 19, 1916, 12, 6, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative{{smalldiv, (Irish Unionist Party, ''Irish U.'') , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Liberal Party (UK)" rowspan="3" , , Herbert Henry Asquith

, H. H. Asquith{{efn, name=fnFormerPM{{efn, name=fnAsquithLoss , 6 December 1916 , 14 December 1918 , {{ayd, 1916, 12, 6, 1918, 12, 14, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 , {{Party shading/Liberal (UK) rowspan="3", Independent Liberal Party (UK, 1918), Independent Liberal , - , , ''Sir Donald Maclean''{{efn, name=fnLabourDispute , 14 December 1918 , 12 February 1920 , {{ayd, 1918, 12, 14, 1920, 2, 12, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , - , Herbert Henry Asquith

, H. H. Asquith{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 12 February 1920 , 21 November 1922 , {{ayd, 1920, 2, 12, 1922, 11, 21, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Labour Party (UK)" , , , Ramsay MacDonald{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 21 November 1922 , 22 January 1924 , {{ayd, 1922, 11, 21, 1924, 1, 22, duration=on , {{Party shading/Coalition (UK) , 1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923 , {{Party shading/Labour , Labour Party (UK), Labour , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" , , Stanley Baldwin ggbain

, Stanley Baldwin{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , 22 January 1924 , 4 November 1924 , {{ayd, 1924, 1, 22, 1924, 11, 4, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Labour Party (UK)" , , , Ramsay MacDonald{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , 4 November 1924 , 5 June 1929 , {{ayd, 1924, 11, 4, 1929, 6, 5, duration=on , {{Party shading/Coalition (UK) , 1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929 , {{Party shading/Labour , Labour Party (UK), Labour , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" , , Stanley Baldwin ggbain

, Stanley Baldwin{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , 5 June 1929 , 24 August 1931 , {{ayd, 1929, 6, 5, 1931, 8, 24, duration=on , {{Party shading/Coalition (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Labour Party (UK)" rowspan="7" , , Arthurhenderson

, Arthur Henderson{{efn, name=fnHendersonLoss , 1 September 1931 , 25 October 1932 , {{ayd, 1931, 9, 1, 1932, 10, 25, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 , {{Party shading/Labour rowspan="7", Labour Party (UK), Labour , - , , George Lansbury{{efn, name=fnLansburyActing , 25 October 1932 , 8 October 1935 , {{ayd, 1931, 10, 25, 1935, 10, 8, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , - , Person attlee2

, Clement Attlee{{efn, name=fnFuturePM{{efn, name=fnAttleeActing , 25 October 1935 , 11 May 1940 , {{ayd, 1935, 10, 25, 1940, 5, 11, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 , - , Hastings_Lees-Smith

, ''Hastings Lees-Smith''{{efn, name=fnDied{{efn, name=fnNationalActing , 22 May 1940 , 18 December 1941 , {{ayd, 1940, 5, 22, 1941, 12, 18, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , - , British Political Personalities 1936-1945 HU59768

British Political Personalities 1936-1945 HU59768

, ''Frederick Pethick-Lawrence''{{efn, name=fnNationalActing , 21 January 1942 , February 1942 , {{ayd, 1942, 1, 21, 1942, 2, 1, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , - , ArthurHGreenwood

, ''Arthur Greenwood''{{efn, name=fnNationalActing , February 1942 , 23 May 1945 , {{ayd, 1942, 2, 1, 1945, 5, 23, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , - , Person attlee2

, Clement Attlee{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 23 May 1945 , 26 July 1945 , {{ayd, 1945, 5, 23, 1945, 7, 26, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Winston Churchill{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , rowspan="2" , 26 July 1945 , rowspan="2" , 26 October 1951 , rowspan="2" , {{ayd, 1945, 7, 26, 1951, 10, 26, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) rowspan="2" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , - , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1951 United Kingdom general election, 1951 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Labour Party (UK)" rowspan="5" , , Person attlee2

, Clement Attlee{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 26 October 1951 , 25 November 1955 , {{ayd, 1951, 10, 26, 1955, 11, 25, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1955 United Kingdom general election, 1955 , {{Party shading/Labour rowspan="5", Labour Party (UK), Labour , - , , ''Herbert Morrison''{{efn, name=fnLabourActing , 25 November 1955 , 14 December 1955 , {{ayd, 1955, 11, 25, 1955, 12, 14, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , - , Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell

, Hugh Gaitskell{{efn, name=fnDied , 14 December 1955 , 18 January 1963 , {{ayd, 1955, 12, 14, 1963, 1, 18, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1959 United Kingdom general election, 1959 , - , , ''George Brown, Baron George-Brown, George Brown''{{efn, name=fnLabourActing , 18 January 1963 , 14 February 1963 , {{ayd, 1963, 1, 18, 1963, 2, 14, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , - ,

, Harold Wilson{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 14 February 1963 , 16 October 1964 , {{ayd, 1963, 2, 14, 1964, 10, 16, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 1964 United Kingdom general election, 1964 , {{Party shading/Labour , First Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson, Wilson I , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="3" , , , Sir Alec Douglas-Home{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 16 October 1964 , 28 July 1965 , {{ayd, 1964, 10, 16, 1965, 7, 28, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative{{smalldiv, (Unionist Party (Scotland), ''Scot.U.'') , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of Alec Douglas-Home, Douglas-Home , - , rowspan="2" , Sir Edward Heath

, rowspan="2" , Edward Heath{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , rowspan="2" , 28 July 1965 , rowspan="2" , 19 June 1970 , rowspan="2" , {{ayd, 1965, 7, 28, 1970, 6, 19, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) rowspan="2" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) rowspan="2" , First Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath, Heath I , - , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Labour Party (UK)" , ,

, Harold Wilson{{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM , 19 June 1970 , 4 March 1974 , {{ayd, 1970, 6, 19, 1974, 3, 4, duration=on , {{Party shading/Coalition (UK) , February 1974 United Kingdom general election, Feb 1974 , {{Party shading/Labour , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{Party shading/Labour , Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson, Wilson II , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , Sir Edward Heath

, Edward Heath{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 4 March 1974 , 11 February 1975 , {{ayd, 1974, 3, 4, 1975, 2, 11, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , October 1974 United Kingdom general election, Oct 1974 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) rowspan="2", Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath, Heath II , - , , Margaret Thatcher{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 11 February 1975 , 4 May 1979 , {{ayd, 1975, 2, 11, 1979, 5, 4, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher, Thatcher , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Labour Party (UK)" rowspan="7" , , , James Callaghan{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 4 May 1979 , 10 November 1980 , {{ayd, 1979, 5, 4, 1980, 11, 10, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Labour rowspan="7", Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{Party shading/Labour , Shadow Cabinet of James Callaghan, Callaghan , - , , Michael Foot , 10 November 1980 , 2 October 1983 , {{ayd, 1980, 11, 10, 1983, 10, 2, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 , {{Party shading/Labour , Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot, Foot , - , rowspan="2" , , rowspan="2" , Neil Kinnock , rowspan="2" , 2 October 1983 , rowspan="2" , 18 July 1992 , rowspan="2" , {{ayd, 1983, 10, 2, 1992, 7, 18, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 , {{Party shading/Labour rowspan="2" , Shadow Cabinet of Neil Kinnock, Kinnock , - , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 , - , John Smith in 1989

, John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith{{efn, name=fnDied , 18 July 1992 , 12 May 1994 , {{ayd, 1992, 7, 18, 1994, 5, 12, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Labour , Shadow Cabinet of John Smith, Smith , - , , ''Margaret Beckett''{{efn, name=fnLabourActing , 12 May 1994 , 21 July 1994 , {{ayd, 1994, 5, 12, 1994, 7, 21, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Labour , Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Beckett, Beckett , - , Tony Blair 1997

, Tony Blair{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 21 July 1994 , 2 May 1997 , {{ayd, 1994, 7, 21, 1997, 5, 2, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 , {{Party shading/Labour , Shadow Cabinet of Tony Blair, Blair , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="5" , , , John Major{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 2 May 1997 , 19 June 1997 , {{ayd, 1997, 5, 2, 1997, 6, 19, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) rowspan="5" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of John Major, Major , - , , William Hague , 19 June 1997 , 13 September 2001 , {{ayd, 1997, 6, 19, 2001, 9, 13, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of William Hague, Hague , - , Official portrait of Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP crop 2

Official portrait of Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP crop 2

, Iain Duncan Smith , 13 September 2001 , 6 November 2003 , {{ayd, 2001, 9, 13, 2003, 11, 6, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of Iain Duncan Smith, Duncan Smith , - , , Michael Howard , 6 November 2003 , 6 December 2005 , {{ayd, 2003, 11, 6, 2005, 12, 6, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of Michael Howard, Howard , - , , David Cameron{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 6 December 2005 , 11 May 2010 , {{ayd, 2005, 12, 6, 2010, 5, 11, duration=on , {{Party shading/Coalition (UK) , 2010 United Kingdom general election, 2010 , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of David Cameron, Cameron , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Labour Party (UK)" rowspan="6" , , , ''Harriet Harman''{{efn, name=fnLabourActing , 11 May 2010 , 25 September 2010 , {{ayd, 2010, 5, 11, 2010, 9, 25, duration=on , {{Party shading/Coalition (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Labour rowspan="6" , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{Party shading/Labour , First Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman, Harman I , - , Ed Miliband election infobox

, Ed Miliband , 25 September 2010 , 8 May 2015 , {{ayd, 2010, 9, 25, 2015, 5, 8, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 , {{Party shading/Labour , Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband, Miliband , - , , ''Harriet Harman''{{efn, name=fnLabourActing , 8 May 2015 , 12 September 2015 , {{ayd, 2015, 5, 8, 2015, 9, 12, duration=on , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , — , {{Party shading/Labour , Second Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman, Harman II , - , rowspan="2" , Jeremy Corbyn election infobox 2

, rowspan="2" , Jeremy Corbyn , rowspan="2" , 12 September 2015 , rowspan="2" , 4 April 2020 , rowspan="2" , {{ayd, 2015, 9, 12, 2020, 4, 4, duration=on , {{Party shading/Coalition (UK) , 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017 , {{Party shading/Labour rowspan="2" , Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn, Corbyn , - , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 , - , , Keir Starmer{{efn, name=fnFuturePM , 4 April 2020 , 5 July 2024 , {{ayd, 2020, 4, 4, 2024, 7, 5, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 , {{Party shading/Labour , Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer, Starmer , - , style="background-color: {{party color, Conservative Party (UK)" rowspan="2" , , , Rishi Sunak{{efn, name=fnFormerPM , 5 July 2024 , 2 November 2024 , {{ayd, 5 July 2024, 2 November 2024, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) rowspan="2", Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak, Sunak , - , , Kemi Badenoch , 2 November 2024 , ''Incumbent'' , {{ayd, 2 November 2024, duration=on , {{Party shading/Labour , — , {{Party shading/Conservative (UK) , Shadow Cabinet of Kemi Badenoch, Badenoch

Timeline

{{#tag:timeline, ImageSize = width:1150 height:auto barincrement:13 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:70 right:150 left:20 AlignBars = late Colors = id:conservative value:rgb(0,0.53,0.86) legend: Conservative_Party id:liberal value:rgb(1,0.84,0) legend: Liberal_Party id:labour value:rgb(0.86,0.08,0.18) legend: Labour_Party id:liteline value:gray(0.8) id:line value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3) id:bg value:white DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1910 till:31/12/{{#expr:{{#time:Y+1 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1910 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1910 Legend = columns:1 left:110 top:27 columnwidth:220 Define $now = {{#time:d/m/Y, -3 hours TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:s text:"Political Affiliation:" BarData = bar:Law bar:Carson bar:Asquith bar:Maclean bar:MacDonald bar:Baldwin bar:Henderson bar:Lansbury bar:Attlee bar:Lees-Smith bar:Pethick-Lawrence bar:Greenwood bar:Churchill bar:Morrison bar:Gaitskell bar:Brown bar:Wilson bar:Douglas-Home bar:Heath bar:Thatcher bar:Callaghan bar:Foot bar:Kinnock bar:Smith bar:Beckett bar:Blair bar:Major bar:Hague bar:Duncan_Smith bar:Howard bar:Cameron bar:Harman bar:Miliband bar:Corbyn bar:Starmer bar:Sunak bar:Badenoch PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:s shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Law from: 13/11/1911 till: 19/10/1915 color:Conservative text:"Bonar Law" bar:Carson from: 19/10/1915 till: 06/12/1916 color:Conservative text:"Edward Carson" bar:Asquith from: 06/12/1916 till: 14/12/1918 color:Liberal from: 12/02/1920 till: 21/11/1922 color:Liberal text:"H. H. Asquith" bar:Maclean from: 14/12/1918 till: 12/02/1920 color:Liberal text:"Donald Maclean (British politician), Donald Maclean" bar:MacDonald from: 21/11/1922 till: 22/01/1924 color:Labour from: 04/11/1924 till: 05/06/1929 color:Labour text:"Ramsay MacDonald" bar:Baldwin from: 22/01/1924 till: 04/11/1924 color:Conservative from: 05/06/1929 till: 24/08/1931 color:Conservative text:"Stanley Baldwin" bar:Henderson from: 28/08/1931 till: 25/10/1932 color:Labour text:"Arthur Henderson" bar:Lansbury from: 25/10/1932 till: 08/10/1935 color:Labour text:"George Lansbury" bar:Attlee from: 08/10/1935 till: 22/05/1940 color:Labour from: 23/05/1945 till: 26/07/1945 color:Labour from: 26/10/1951 till: 26/11/1955 color:Labour text:"Clement Attlee" bar:Lees-Smith from: 22/05/1940 till: 21/01/1942 color:Labour text:"Hastings Lees-Smith" bar:Pethick-Lawrence from: 21/01/1942 till: 01/02/1942 color:Labour text:"Frederick Pethick-Lawrence bar:Greenwood from: 01/02/1942 till: 23/05/1945 color:Labour text:"Arthur Greenwood" bar:Churchill from: 26/07/1945 till: 26/10/1951 color:Conservative text:"Winston Churchill" bar:Morrison from: 26/10/1955 till: 14/12/1955 color:Labour text:"Herbert Morrison" bar:Gaitskell from: 14/12/1955 till: 18/01/1963 color:Labour text:"Hugh Gaitskell" bar:Brown from: 18/01/1963 till: 14/02/1963 color:Labour text:"George Brown, Baron George-Brown, George Brown" bar:Wilson from: 14/02/1963 till: 16/10/1964 color:Labour from: 19/06/1970 till: 04/03/1974 color:Labour text:"Harold Wilson" bar:Douglas-Home from: 16/10/1964 till: 28/07/1965 color:Conservative text:"Alec Douglas-Home" bar:Heath from: 28/07/1965 till: 19/06/1970 color:Conservative from: 04/03/1974 till: 11/02/1975 color:Conservative text:"Edward Heath" bar:Thatcher from: 11/02/1975 till: 04/05/1979 color:Conservative text:"Margaret Thatcher" bar:Callaghan from: 04/05/1979 till: 10/11/1980 color:Labour text:"James Callaghan" bar:Foot from: 10/11/1980 till: 02/10/1983 color:Labour text:"Michael Foot" bar:Kinnock from: 02/10/1983 till: 18/07/1992 color:Labour text:"Neil Kinnock" bar:Smith from: 18/07/1992 till: 12/05/1994 color:Labour text:"John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith" bar:Beckett from: 12/05/1994 till: 21/07/1994 color:Labour text:"Margaret Beckett" bar:Blair from: 21/07/1994 till: 02/05/1997 color:Labour text:"Tony Blair" bar:Major from: 02/05/1997 till: 19/06/1997 color:Conservative text:"John Major" bar:Hague from: 19/06/1997 till: 13/09/2001 color:Conservative text:"William Hague" bar:Duncan_Smith from: 13/09/2001 till: 06/11/2003 color:Conservative text:"Iain Duncan Smith" bar:Howard from: 06/11/2003 till: 06/12/2005 color:Conservative text:"Michael Howard" bar:Cameron from: 06/12/2005 till: 11/05/2010 color:Conservative text:"David Cameron" bar:Harman from: 11/05/2010 till: 25/09/2010 color:Labour from: 08/05/2015 till: 12/09/2015 color:Labour text:"Harriet Harman" bar:Miliband from: 25/09/2010 till: 08/05/2015 color:Labour text:"Ed Miliband" bar:Corbyn from: 12/09/2015 till: 04/04/2020 color:Labour text:"Jeremy Corbyn" bar:Starmer from: 04/04/2020 till: 05/07/2024 color:Labour text:"Keir Starmer" bar:Sunak from: 05/07/2024 till: 02/11/2024 color:Conservative text:"Rishi Sunak" bar:Badenoch from: 02/11/2024 till: $now color:conservative text:"Kemi Badenoch"

List of leaders of the opposition by total length of tenure

This list notes each Leader of the Opposition, from the Parliament Act 1911 granting legislative preeminence to the House of Commons, and the Ministers of the Crown Act 1937 the leader of the second largest faction within it a statutory title and salary,{{cite journal, title=Ministers of the Crown Act 1937, journal=Modern Law Review, publisher=Blackwell Publishing, volume=1, issue=2, pages=145–148, year=1937, doi=10.1111/j.1468-2230.1937.tb00014.x, issn=0026-7961, doi-access=free rather than the customary role as HM Official Opposition, in order of term length. This is based on the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be one greater. Of the 37 leaders of the opposition listed, seven served more than 5 years, seven have lost more than one general election, and eight have served less than a year. {, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;" , - ! Rank ! Leader of Opposition ! Length served ! General elections won ! General elections lost ! Terms as Prime Minister ! Party ! Term(s) ! class="unsortable" , Refs , - , 1 , {{sort, Attlee}Clement Attlee , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +8 years, 296 days , {{sort, 2}{{flatlist, * 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 * 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 , {{sort, 3}{{flatlist, * 1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 * 1951 United Kingdom general election, 1951{{efn, name=fnFirstVote * 1955 United Kingdom general election, 1955 , 2 , rowspan="3" , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{flatlist, * {{dts, 1935, 10, 25, format=y–1940 * 1945 * 1951–1955 , {{cite book, last1=Clarke, first1=Charles, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOlHCgAAQBAJ&q=arthur+greenwood+leader+of+opposition, title=British Labour Leaders, date=2015, publisher=Biteback Publishing, isbn=9781849549677, access-date=19 December 2019 , - , 2 , {{sort, Kinnock}Neil Kinnock , {{ayd, 1983, 10, 2, 1992, 7, 18, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 2}{{flatlist, * 1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 * 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 , 0 , {{dts, 1983, 10, 2, format=y–1992 , , - , 3 , {{sort, Gaitskell}Hugh Gaitskell , {{ayd, 1955, 12, 14, 1963, 1, 18, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}1959 United Kingdom general election, 1959 , 0 , {{dts, 1955, 12, 14, format=y–1963 , , - , 4 , {{sort, Churchill}Winston Churchill , {{ayd, 1945, 7, 26, 1951, 10, 26, duration=on , {{sort, 1}1951 United Kingdom general election, 1951 , {{sort, 2}{{flatlist, * 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 * 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 , 2 , rowspan="2" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{dts, 1945, 7, 26, format=y–1951 , , - , 5 , {{sort, Heath}Edward Heath , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +5 years, 307 days , {{sort, 1}1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 , {{sort, 3}{{flatlist, * 1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 * February 1974 United Kingdom general election, Feb 1974{{efn, name=fnHungFirst * October 1974 United Kingdom general election, Oct 1974 , 1 , {{flatlist, * {{dts, 1965, 7, 28, format=y–1970 * 1974–1975 , , - , 6 , {{sort, MacDonald}Ramsay MacDonald , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +5 years, 277 days , {{sort, 3}{{flatlist, * 1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923{{efn, name=fnHungSecond * 1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929{{efn, name=fnHungFirst * 1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931{{efn, name=fn1931 , {{sort, 1}1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 , 2 , rowspan="2" , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{flatlist, * {{dts, 1922, 11, 21, format=y–1924 * 1924–1929 , {{cite book, last1=Thorpe, first1=Andrew, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wiAdBQAAQBAJ&q=March+1942, title=A History of the British Labour Party, date=2008, publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education, isbn=9781137248152, edition=3rd, page=107, access-date=20 December 2019 , - , 7 , {{sort, Wilson}Harold Wilson , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +5 years, 140 days , {{sort, 4}{{flatlist, * 1964 United Kingdom general election, 1964 * 1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 * February 1974 United Kingdom general election, Feb 1974{{efn, name=fnHungSecond * October 1974 United Kingdom general election, Oct 1974 , {{sort, 1}1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 , 2 , {{flatlist, * {{dts, 1963, 2, 14, format=y–1964 * 1970–1974 , , - , 8 , {{sort, Asquith}H. H. Asquith , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +4 years, 291 days , {{sort, 2}{{flatlist, * January 1910 United Kingdom general election, Jan 1910{{efn, name=fnHungSecond * December 1910 United Kingdom general election, Dec 1910{{efn, name=fnHungFirst , {{sort, 1}1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 , 1 , Liberal Party (UK), Liberal , {{flatlist, * {{dts, 1916, 12, 6, format=y–1918 * 1920–1922 , , - , 9 , {{sort, Miliband}Ed Miliband , {{ayd, 2010, 9, 25, 2015, 5, 8, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 , 0 , rowspan="2" , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 2010, 9, 25, format=y–2015 , , - , 10 , {{sort, Corbyn}Jeremy Corbyn , {{ayd, 2015, 9, 12, 2020, 4, 4, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 2}{{flatlist, * 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017{{efn, name=fnHungSecond * 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 , 0 , {{dts, 2015, 9, 12, format=y–2020 , {{cite web, url=https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN07157, title=Labour Party leaders and officials since 1975, publisher=House of Commons library, access-date=13 December 2019 , - , 11 , {{sort, Cameron}David Cameron , {{ayd, 2005, 12, 6, 2010, 5, 11, duration=on , {{sort, 2}{{flatlist, * 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2010{{efn, name=fnHungFirst * 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 , 0 , Premiership of David Cameron, 1 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{dts, 2005, 12, 6, format=y–2010 , {{cite web, title=Conservative Party leaders and officials since 1975, url=https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN07154, publisher=House of Commons Library, access-date=13 December 2019{{cite web, title=Leader of the Opposition, url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/offices/leader-of-the-opposition, website=Hansard 1803-2005, publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom, access-date=13 December 2019 , - , 12 , {{sort, Starmer}Keir Starmer , {{ayd, 2020, 4, 4, 2024, 7, 5, duration=on , {{sort, 1}2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 , 0 , Premiership of Keir Starmer, 1 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 2020, 4, 4, format=y–2024 , , - , 13 , {{sort, Hague}William Hague , {{ayd, 1997, 6, 19, 2001, 9, 13, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 , 0 , rowspan="2" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{dts, 1997, 6, 19, format=y–2001 , , - , 14 , {{sort, Thatcher}Margaret Thatcher , {{ayd, 1975, 2, 11, 1979, 5, 4, duration=on , {{sort, 3}{{flatlist, * 1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979 * 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 * 1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 , 0 , Premiership of Margaret Thatcher, 1 , {{dts, 1975, 2, 11, format=y–1979 , , - , 15 , {{sort, Law}Bonar Law , {{ayd, 1911, 11, 13, 1915, 5, 25, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918{{efn, name=fn1918 , 1 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative {{smalldiv, (Unionist Party (Scotland), ''Scot.U.'') , {{dts, 1911, 11, 13, format=y–1915 , , - , 16 , {{sort, Greenwood}Arthur Greenwood , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +3 years, 105 days , — , — , 0 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1942, 2, format=y–1945 , , - , 17 , {{sort, Baldwin}Stanley Baldwin , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +3 years, 2 days , {{sort, 3}{{flatlist, * 1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 * 1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 * 1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 , {{sort, 2}{{flatlist, * 1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923{{efn, name=fnHungFirst * 1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929{{efn, name=fnHungFirst , 3 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{flatlist, * {{dts, 1924, 1, 22, format=y * 1929–1931 , , - , 18 , {{sort, Lansbury}George Lansbury , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +2 years, 348 days , — , — , 0 , rowspan="3" , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1931, 11, format=y , , - , 19 , {{sort, Foot}Michael Foot , {{ayd, 1980, 11, 10, 1983, 10, 2, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 , 0 , {{dts, 1980, 11, 10, format=y–1983 , , - , 20 , {{sort, Blair}Tony Blair , {{ayd, 1994, 7, 21, 1997, 5, 2, duration=on , {{sort, 3}{{flatlist, * 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 * 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 * 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 , 0 , Premiership of Tony Blair, 1 , {{dts, 1994, 7, 21, format=y–1997 , , - , 21 , {{sort, Duncan Smith}Iain Duncan Smith , {{ayd, 2001, 9, 13, 2003, 11, 6, duration=on , — , — , 0 , rowspan="2" , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{dts, 2001, 9, 13, format=y–2003 , , - , 22 , {{sort, Howard}Michael Howard , {{ayd, 2003, 11, 6, 2005, 12, 6, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 , 0 , {{dts, 2003, 11, 6, format=y–2005 , , - , 23 , {{sort, Smith}John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith , {{ayd, 1992, 7, 18, 1994, 5, 12, duration=on , — , — , 0 , rowspan="3" , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1992, 7, 18, format=y–1994 , , - , 24 , {{sort, Lees-Smith}Hastings Lees-Smith , {{ayd, 1940, 5, 22, 1941, 12, 18, duration=on , — , — , 0 , {{dts, 1940, 5, 22, format=y , , - , 25 , {{sort, Callaghan}James Callaghan , {{ayd, 1979, 5, 4, 1980, 11, 10, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979 , 1 , {{dts, 1979, 5, 4, format=y–1980 , , - , 26 , {{sort, Maclean}Donald Maclean (British politician), Donald Maclean , {{ayd, 1918, 12, 14, 1920, 2, 12, duration=on , — , — , 0 , Liberal Party (UK), Liberal , {{dts, 1918, 12, 14, format=y–1920 , , - , 27 , {{sort, Henderson}Arthur Henderson , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +1 year, 55 days , — , — , 0 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1931, 8, format=y–1932 , , - , 28 , {{sort, Carson}Edward Carson , {{ayd, 1915, 10, 19, 1916, 12, 6, duration=on , — , — , 0 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative {{small, (Irish Unionist Party, ''Irish U.'') , {{dts, 1915, 10, 19, format=y–1916 , , - , 29 , {{sort, Douglas-Home}Alec Douglas-Home , {{ayd, 1964, 10, 16, 1965, 7, 28, duration=on , 0 , {{sort, 1}1964 United Kingdom general election, 1964 , 1 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative {{smalldiv, (Unionist Party (Scotland), ''Scot.U.'') , {{dts, 1964, 10, 16, format=y–1965 , {{cite book, last1=Thorpe, first1=D.R., title=Alec Douglas-Home, date=1996, publisher=Sinclair-Stevenson, isbn=9781856192774, page=384, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHKGAAAAIAAJ&q=Nine+months+as+leader, access-date=19 December 2019{{cite book, last1=Heppell, first1=T., title=Leaders of the Opposition: From Churchill to Cameron, date=2012, publisher=Springer, isbn=9780230369009, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQReAQAAQBAJ&q=George+Brown+leader+of+opposition&pg=PA3, access-date=19 December 2019 , - , 30 , {{sort, Harman}Harriet Harman , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, + 265 days , — , — , 0 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{flatlist, * {{dts, 2010, 5, 11, format=y * 2015 , , -bgcolor="aaddee" , 31 , {{sort, Badenoch}Kemi Badenoch , {{ayd, 2 November 2024, duration=on (incumbent) , — , — , 0 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{dts, 2024, 7, format=y–''present'' , , - , 32 , {{sort, Sunak}Rishi Sunak , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, + 121 days , 0 , {{sort, 1}2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 , Premiership of Rishi Sunak, 1 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{dts, 2024, 7, format=y , , - , 33 , {{sort, Beckett}Margaret Beckett , {{ayd, 1994, 5, 12, 1994, 7, 21, duration=on , — , — , 0 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1994, 5, 12, format=y , , - , 34 , {{sort, Major}John Major , {{ayd, 1997, 5, 2, 1997, 6, 19, duration=on , {{sort, 1}1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 , {{sort, 1}1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 , Premiership of John Major, 1 , Conservative Party (UK), Conservative , {{dts, 1997, 5, 2, format=y , , - , 35 , {{sort, Brown}George Brown, Baron George-Brown, George Brown , {{ayd, 1963, 1, 18, 1963, 2, 14, duration=on , — , — , 0 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1963, 1, 18, format=y , , - , 36 , {{sort, Morrison}Herbert Morrison , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +18 days , — , — , 0 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1955, 11, 25, format=y , , - , 37 , {{sort, Pethick-Lawrence}Frederick Pethick-Lawrence , {{ayd, , {{#time:j M Y, +10 days , — , — , 0 , Labour Party (UK), Labour , {{dts, 1942, 1, format=y , {{cite web, last1=Ruston, first1=Alan, title=Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, url=http://uudb.org/articles/frederickpethicklawrence.html, access-date=19 December 2019, website=Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography

Notes

{{notelist, refs= {{efn, name=fnDied, Died in office {{efn, name=fnFormerPM, Formerly Prime Minister {{efn, name=fnFuturePM, Subsequently Prime Minister {{efn, name=fnFormerFuturePM, Formerly and subsequently Prime Minister {{efn, name=fnWhigDispute1, Foord suggests that Lansdowne was, in effect, Acting Whig Leader in 1824–1827. This may possibly have also been the case in 1828–1830. Grey's article in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' suggests "though he called on Lansdowne to take up the leadership of the opposition he was still unwilling to give it up altogether". Grey was in opposition in 1827–28, when Lansdowne was in government. Given the confusion of the politics of the period, particularly after 1827 when both principal parties were fragmented, it is possible that Grey should be considered Leader of the Opposition 1824–1830. However, the definite statements (by Foord) that Grey resigned the leadership in 1824 and (by Cook & Keith) that Grey did not resume the leadership until November 1830 lead to a different conclusion. {{efn, name=fnWhigDispute2, An alternative interpretation is that Palmerston (the immediate past Prime Minister) and Lord John Russell (a previous Prime Minister) were joint leaders. Cook & Keith have Palmerston as the sole leader. {{efn, name=fnHarcourtResign, Harcourt resigned on 14 December 1898. {{efn, name=fnRoseberyResign, Rosebery resigned on 6 October 1896. {{efn, name=fnBalfourLoss, Balfour lost his seat in the House of Commons in January 1906. {{efn, name=fnAsquithGov, During Asquith's coalition government of 1915–1916, there was no formal opposition in either the Commons or the Lords. The only party not in Asquith's Liberal–Conservative–Labour coalition was the Irish Parliamentary Party led by John Redmond. However, this party supported the government and did not function as an Opposition. Sir Edward Carson, the leading figure amongst the Irish Unionist allies of the Conservative Party, resigned from the coalition ministry on 19 October 1915. He then became the de facto leader of those Unionists who were not members of the government, effectively Leader of the Opposition in the Commons. {{efn, name=fnAsquithLoss, Asquith lost his seat in the House of Commons in December 1918. {{efn, name=fnLabourDispute, Douglas in ''The History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970'' observes that "The technical question whether the Leader of the Opposition was Maclean or William Adamson, Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, was never fully resolved ... The fact that Adamson did not press his claim for Opposition leadership is of more than technical interest, for it shows that the Labour Party was still not taking itself seriously as a likely alternative government". {{efn, name=fnHendersonLoss, Henderson lost his seat in the House of Commons on 27 October 1931. {{efn, name=fnLansburyActing, Lansbury was acting as leader, in the absence from the House of Commons of Henderson, in 1931–1932, before becoming party leader himself in 1932. {{efn, name=fnAttleeActing, Attlee was acting as leader after the resignation of Lansbury on 25 October 1935, before being elected party leader himself on 3 December 1935. {{efn, name=fnNationalActing, During World War II a succession of three Labour politicians acted as Leader of the Opposition for the purpose of allowing the House of Commons to function normally; however, as in the mid-World War I ministry, opposition did not run under a party-whipped system. As the Government between 1940 and 1945 was a coalition government in which Labour politicians functioned fully as members of the Government, neither Deputy Prime Minister (UK), Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee nor these three received the salary for the post of Leader of the Opposition. The largest party that opposed the war and was not part of the coalition – and therefore, in theory, the opposition – was the Independent Labour Party, led by James Maxton. With only three MPs, it tried to take over the opposition front bench, but was widely opposed in this venture. {{efn, name=fnLabourActing, Commonly referred to as the acting leader. Following the death or immediate resignation of the leader, the deputy leader, according to the Labour Party Rule Book, is the leader on a ''pro tem'' basis until the next leader is selected. Before 1981 the leader, in opposition, was elected annually by the parliamentary Labour Party. From 1981 to 2010, the leader was elected by an electoral college of party members, MPs and MEPs, as well as trade unions, before the party switched to a true one member, one vote system in 2015. {{efn, name=fnFirstVote, First place in vote share {{efn, name=fnHungFirst, Hung parliament with first place in vote share {{efn, name=fnHungSecond, Hung parliament with second place in vote share {{efn, name=fn1931, Fifth place in vote share (Stanley Baldwin with first place vote share takes over mid-parliament) {{efn, name=fn1918, First place in vote share (Law took over mid-parliament from David Lloyd George)

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* ''British Historical Facts 1760–1830'', by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980) * ''British Historical Facts 1830–1900'', by Chris Cook and Brendan Keith (The Macmillan Press 1975) * ''His Majesty's Opposition 1714–1830'', by Archibald S. Foord (Oxford University Press and Clarendon Press, 1964) * ''History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970'', by Roy Douglas (academic), Roy Douglas (Sidgwick & Jackson 1971) * ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' * ''Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000'', by David Butler (psephologist), David Butler and Gareth Butler (Macmillan Press; 8th edition, 2000) {{Leaders of the Opposition UK {{Shadow Great Officers of State {{UK Parliament Opposition Cabinet Offices {{DEFAULTSORT:Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom) Leaders of the opposition (United Kingdom), Leaders of the opposition, United Kingdom