Chairman of the Conservative Party

The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office.

Chairman of the Conservative Party
Logo for the Conservative Party
Incumbent Nigel Huddleston Lord Johnson of Lainston since 4 November 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Conservative Party
Term length	At the pleasure of the Leader of the Conservative Party
Inaugural holder	Arthur Steel-Maitland
Formation	1911
Deputy	Jack Lopresti Nickie Aiken Jonathan Gullis Matt Vickers

When the Conservatives are in government, the officeholder is usually a member of the Cabinet holding a sinecure position such as Minister without Portfolio. Deputy or Vice Chairmen of the Conservative Party may also be appointed, with responsibility for specific aspects of the party. The Chairman of the Conservative Party is Nigel Huddleston, assuming this role on 4 November 2024.

The role of Deputy Chairman is currently held by seven former MPs, Sara Britcliffe, James Daly, Angela Richardson, Rachel Maclean (Women), Jack Lopresti, Nickie Aiken (Party Board) and Jonathan Gullis.

The role was created in 1911 in response to the Conservative party's defeat in the second 1910 general election. The position is not subject to election, as it is given by the party leader.^[1]

List

Key

	Member of the House of Commons
	Member of the House of Lords
	Non-parliamentarian

List:

Chairman			Term of office		Election	Ministerial offices	Leader	Ref
		Arthur Steel-Maitland MP for Birmingham East	1911	1916	—		Bonar Law	[2]
		Sir George Younger, Bt. MP for Ayr Burghs	1916	1923	1918 1922 1923			[3]
							Stanley Baldwin
		Stanley Jackson MP for Howdenshire	1923	1926	1924			[2]
		John Davidson MP for Hemel Hempstead	1926	1930	1929			[2][3]
		Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Edgbaston	23 June 1930	15 April 1931	—			[2][3]
		John Baird Viscount Stonehaven	1931	1936	1931 1935
		Sir Douglas Hacking MP for Chorley	1936	1942	—
							Neville Chamberlain
							Winston Churchill
		Thomas Dugdale MP for Richmond	1942	29 October 1944	—
		Ralph Assheton MP for City of London	29 October 1944	1 July 1946	1945			[2]
		Frederick Marquis Earl of Woolton	1 July 1946	1 November 1955	1950 1951 1955	Lord President of the Council (1951–1952) Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1952–1955) Minister of Materials (1952–1954)		[2]
							Anthony Eden
		Oliver Poole	1 November 1955	18 September 1957	—			[2][4]
							Harold Macmillan
		Quintin Hogg Viscount Hailsham	18 September 1957	14 October 1959	1959	Lord President of the Council (1957–1959)		[2]
		Rab Butler MP for Saffron Walden	14 October 1959	10 October 1961	—	Home Secretary (1957–1962) Leader of the House of Commons (1955–1961)		[2]
		Iain Macleod MP for Enfield West	10 October 1961	21 October 1963	—	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1961–1963) Leader of the House of Commons (1961–1963)		[a]
		Oliver Poole Baron Poole	17 April 1963 (Jointly)		—			[2][a]
		John Hare Viscount Blakenham	21 October 1963	21 January 1965	1964	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1963–1964)
							Alec Douglas-Home
		Edward du Cann MP for Taunton	21 January 1965	11 September 1967	1966			[2]
							Edward Heath
		Anthony Barber MP for Altrincham and Sale	11 September 1967	31 July 1970	1970
		Peter Thomas MP for Hendon South	31 July 1970	7 April 1972	—	Secretary of State for Wales (1970–1974)
		Peter Carington Baron Carrington	7 April 1972	11 June 1974	Feb 1974	Secretary of State for Defence (1970–1974) Secretary of State for Energy (1974)
		William Whitelaw MP for Penrith and The Border	11 June 1974	27 February 1975	Oct 1974
		Peter Thorneycroft Baron Thorneycroft	27 February 1975	14 September 1981	1979		Margaret Thatcher	[2]
		Cecil Parkinson MP for South Hertfordshire	14 September 1981	14 September 1983	1983	Paymaster General (1981–1983) Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1982–1983) Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1983)		[2]
		John Gummer MP for Suffolk Coastal	14 September 1983	2 September 1985	—	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of Employment (1983) Minister of State for Employment (1983–1985) Paymaster General (1984–1985)
		Norman Tebbit MP for Chingford	2 September 1985	2 November 1987	1987	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1985–1987)		[2]
		Peter Brooke MP for City of London and Westminster South	2 November 1987	24 July 1989	—	Paymaster General (1987–1989)
		Kenneth Baker MP for Mole Valley	24 July 1989	28 November 1990	—	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
		Chris Patten MP for Bath	28 November 1990	10 May 1992	1992	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	John Major	[5]
		Sir Norman Fowler MP for Sutton Coldfield	10 May 1992	20 July 1994	—	Attended Cabinet
		Jeremy Hanley MP for Richmond and Barnes	20 July 1994	5 July 1995	—	Minister without portfolio
		Brian Mawhinney MP for Peterborough → North West Cambridgeshire	5 July 1995	20 June 1997	1997	Minister without portfolio
		Cecil Parkinson Baron Parkinson	20 June 1997	2 December 1998	—		William Hague
		Michael Ancram Earl of Ancram MP for Devizes	2 December 1998	18 September 2001	2001
		David Davis MP for Haltemprice and Howden	18 September 2001	23 July 2002	—		Iain Duncan Smith
		Theresa May MP for Maidenhead	23 July 2002	6 November 2003	—			[4]
		Liam Fox MP for Woodspring	6 November 2003	6 May 2005	2005		Michael Howard	[b]
		Maurice Saatchi Baron Saatchi	10 November 2003 (Jointly)					[4][b]
		Francis Maude MP for Horsham	6 May 2005	2 July 2007	—
							David Cameron
		Caroline Spelman MP for Meriden	2 July 2007	19 January 2009	—
		Eric Pickles MP for Brentwood and Ongar	19 January 2009	12 May 2010	2010
		Andrew Feldman Baron Feldman of Elstree	12 May 2010 (Jointly 2010–15)	14 July 2016	2015			[2][c][d]
		Sayeeda Warsi Baroness Warsi	12 May 2010 (Jointly)	4 September 2012	—	Minister without portfolio		[6][c]
		Grant Shapps MP for Welwyn Hatfield	4 September 2012 (Jointly)	11 May 2015	2015	Minister without portfolio		[d]
		Sir Patrick McLoughlin MP for Derbyshire Dales	14 July 2016	8 January 2018	2017	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Theresa May
		Brandon Lewis MP for Great Yarmouth	8 January 2018	24 July 2019	—	Minister without portfolio		[7]
		Ben Elliot	24 July 2019 (Jointly)	5 September 2022	2019		Boris Johnson	[e][f][g][h]
		James Cleverly MP for Braintree		13 February 2020		Minister without portfolio		[8][e]
		Amanda Milling MP for Cannock Chase	13 February 2020 (Jointly)	15 September 2021	—	Minister without portfolio		[9][f]
		Oliver Dowden MP for Hertsmere	15 September 2021 (Jointly)	24 June 2022	—	Minister without portfolio		[g]
		Andrew Stephenson MP for Pendle	7 July 2022 (Jointly)	6 September 2022	—	Minister without portfolio		[h]
		Sir Jake Berry MP for Rossendale and Darwen	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	—	Minister without portfolio	Liz Truss
		Nadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon	25 October 2022	29 January 2023	—	Minister without portfolio	Rishi Sunak
		Greg Hands MP for Chelsea and Fulham	7 February 2023	13 November 2023	—	Minister without portfolio
		Richard Holden MP for North West Durham	13 November 2023	5 July 2024	2024	Minister without portfolio
		Richard Fuller MP for North Bedfordshire	8 July 2024	4 November 2024	—
		Nigel Huddleston MP for Droitwich and Evesham	4 November 2024	Incumbent	—		Kemi Badenoch
		Dominic Johnson Lord Johnson of Lainston			—

1. Iain Macleod and Baron Poole jointly held the chairmanship from 17 April to 10 October 1961.
2. Liam Fox and Lord Saatchi jointly held the chairmanship from 11 November 2003 to 6 May 2005.
3. Lord Feldman of Elstree and Baroness Warsi jointly held the chairmanship from 12 May 2010 to 4 September 2012.
4. Lord Feldman of Elstree and Grant Shapps jointly held the chairmanship from 4 September 2012 to 11 May 2015.
5. Ben Elliot and James Cleverly jointly held the chairmanship from 24 July 2019 to 13 February 2020.
6. Ben Elliot and Amanda Milling jointly held the chairmanship from 13 February 2020 to 15 September 2021.
7. Ben Elliot and Oliver Dowden jointly held the chairmanship from 15 September 2021 to 24 June 2022.
8. Ben Elliot and Andrew Stephenson jointly held the chairmanship from 7 July 2022 to 5 September 2022.

Timeline

See also

• 1922 Committee – the parliamentary body of the Conservative Party, which has its own Chairman

References

Notes

1. Harris, Robin (2011). The Conservatives – A History. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 9780593065112. (p. 249) After the second election defeat of 1910 there was an unstoppable pressure for an enquiry into the party's failures. A committee recommended that two new posts be created - that of party treasurer and that of chairman of the party (enjoying 'Cabinet rank'). ... Balfour accepted the changes but tried to reduce the status of the chairman, a position which he significantly (and permanently) re-titled 'chairman of the party organization'. He also concealed, as long as he could, the 'Cabinet rank' pledge. Finally he appointed a rather junior but, as it turned out, vigorous and assertive Birmingham member of parliament, Arthur Steel-Maitland, to the chairmanship.
2. Harris, Robin (2011). The Conservatives – A History. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 9780593065112.
3. Stewart, Graham (1999). Burying Caesar – Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party. London: Phoenix. ISBN 9780753810606.
4. Sampson, Anthony (2004). Who Runs This Place?. London: John Murray. ISBN 0719565642.
5. Patten, Chris (2005). Not Quite the Diplomat. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0713998555.
6. "Baroness Warsi". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
7. "Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
8. "Rt Hon James Cleverly MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
9. "Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

Bibliography

• Ball, Stuart, ed. (1998) The Conservative Party Since 1945, Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719040139
• Conservatives Party Structure and Organisation

External links

• Meet the Chairmen – conservatives.com