Lord President of the Council

The Lord President of the Council is a British cabinet position, the holder of which acts as Presiding officer of the Privy Council. His principal responsibility is to preside at meetings of the Privy Council, at which the British monarch formally Assents to Orders-in-Council. In recent years, the Lord President has also served as Leader of the House of Commons, though the current Lord President also serves as Leader of the House of Lords[?].

Lord Presidents since 1678

• Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury[?] 1679
• John Robartes, Earl of Radnor[?] 1679-1684
• Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester[?] 1684-1685
• George Saville, 1st Marquess of Halifax[?] 1685
• Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland[?] 1685-1688
• Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen[?], 1st Duke of Leeds (1694) 1689-1699
• Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke[?] 1699-1702
• Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset[?] 1702
• Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke[?] 1702-1708
• John Somers, Lord Somers[?] 1708-1710
• Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester[?] 1710-1711
• John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckinghamshire[?] 1711-1714
• Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham[?] 1714-1716
• William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire 1716-1717
• Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland[?] 1717-1719
• Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull[?] 1719-1720
• Charles Townshend, Viscount Townshend[?] 1720-1721
• Henry Boyle, 1st Lord Carleton[?] 1721-1725
• William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire 1725-1729
• Thomas Trevor, Lord Trevor[?] 1729-1730
• Spencer Compton[?], later 1st Earl of Wilmington 1730-1742
• William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington[?] 1742-1745
• Lionel Cranfield Sackville, Duke of Dorset[?] 1745-1751
• John Carteret, 1st Earl of Granville[?] 1751-1763
• John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford[?] 1763-1765
• Daniel Finch, Earl of Nottingham[?] 1765-1766
• Robert Henley, Earl of Northington[?] 1766-1767
• Granville Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower[?] 1767-1779
• Henry Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst[?] 1779-1782
• Charles Pratt, Lord Camden[?] 1782-1783
• David Murray, Viscount Stormont[?] 1783
• Granville Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower[?] 1783-1784
• Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden[?] 1784-1794
• William Fitzwilliam, Earl Fitzwilliam[?] 1794
• David Murray, Earl of Mansfield[?] 1794-1796
• John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham[?] 1796-1801
• William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland 1801-1805
• Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth 1805
• John Jeffreys, Earl Camden[?] 1805-1806
• William Fitzwilliam, Earl Fitzwilliam[?] 1806
• Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth 1806-1807
• John Jeffreys, Earl Camden[?] 1807-1812
• Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth 1812
• Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby[?] 1812-1827
• William Cavendish-Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland[?] 1827-1828
• Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst[?] 1828-1830
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne[?] 1830-1834
• James Erskine, Earl of Rosslyn[?] 1834-1835
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne[?] 1835-1841
• James Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, Lord Wharncliffe[?] 1841-1846
• Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry[?] 1846
• Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne[?] 1846-1852
• William Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale[?] 1852
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville[?] 1852-1854
• Lord John Russell 1854-1855
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville[?] 1855-1858
• James Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury[?] 1858-1859
• Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville[?] 1859-1866
• Richard Temple-Grenville, Duke of Buckingham and Chandos[?] 1866-1867
• John Spencer Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough[?] 1867-1868
• George Robinson, 2nd Earl of Ripon[?], 1st Marquess of Ripon (1871) 1868-1873
• Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Lord Aberdare[?] 1873-1874
• Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond and Lennox[?] 1874-1880
• John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer 1880-1883
• Chichester Parkinston-Fortescue[?] 1883-1885
• Gathorne Hardy, 1st Viscount Cranbrook[?] 1885-1886
• John Poynts Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer[?] 1886
• Gathorne Hardy, 1st Viscount Cranbrook[?] 1886-1892
• John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley[?] 1892-1894
• Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery[?] 1894-1895
• Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire 1895-1903
• Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marquess of Londonderry[?] 1903-1905
• Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Earl of Crewe[?] 1905-1908
• Edward Marjoribanks, Lord Tweedmouth[?] 1908
• Henry Hartley Fowler, Viscount Wolverhampton[?] 1908-1910
• William Lygon, Earl Beauchamp[?] 1910
• John Morley[?], 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn 1910-1914
• William Lygon, Earl Beauchamp[?] 1914-1915
• Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe[?] 1915-1916
• George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Earl Curzon[?] 1916-1919
• Arthur James Balfour 1919-1922
• James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury[?] 1922-1924
• Charles Cripps, 1st Lord Parmoor[?] 1924
• George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kettleston[?] 1924-1925
• Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour 1925-1929
• Charles Cripps, 1st Lord Parmoor[?] 1929-1931
• Stanley Baldwin 1931-1935
• Ramsay MacDonald 1935-1937
• Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax 1937-1938
• Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham[?] 1938-1939
• James Stanhope, Earl Stanhope[?] 1939-1940
• Neville Chamberlain 1940
• Sir John Anderson 1940-1943
• Clement Attlee 1943-1945
• Frederick Marquis, Lord Woolton[?] 1945
• Herbert Stanley Morrison 1945-1951
• Christopher Addison[?], 1st Viscount Addison 1951
• Frederick Marquis, Lord Woolton[?] 1951-1952
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury[?] 1952-1957
• Alexander Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home 1957
• Quintin McGarel Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham[?] 1957-1959
• Alexander Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home 1959-1960
• Quintin McGarel Hogg, 2nd Viscount Hailsham[?] 1960-1964
• Herbert Bowden[?] 1964-1966
• Richard Crossman[?] 1966-1968
• Fred Peart[?] 1968-1970
• William Whitelaw 1970-1972
• Robert Carr[?] 1972
• James Prior[?] 1972-1974
• Edward Short[?] 1974-1976
• Michael Foot 1976-1979
• Arthur Soames, Lord Soames[?] 1979-1981
• Francis Pym[?] 1981-1982
• John Biffen[?] 1982-1983
• William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw 1983-1988
• John Wakeham[?] 1987-1989
• Sir Geoffrey Howe[?] 1989-1990
• John MacGregor[?] 1990-1992
• Tony Newton[?] 1992-1997
• Ann Taylor[?] 1997-1998
• Margaret Beckett 1998-2001
• Robin Cook 2001-2003
• John Reid 2003
• Lord Williams of Mostyn 2003-