House of Commons
| Chief Whip of the Conservative Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Appointer | Leader of the Conservative Party |
| Inaugural holder | William Holmes |
| Formation | circa 1802 |
The Chief Whip of the Conservative Party oversees the whipping system in the party, which is responsible for ensuring that Conservative MPs or members of the House of Lords attend and vote in parliament in the desired way of the party leadership. Chief Whips, of which two are appointed in the party, a member of the House of Commons and a member of the House of Lords, also help to organise their party's contribution to parliamentary business.
The party leadership may allow members to have a free vote based on their own conscience rather than party policy, which means the chief whip is not required to influence the way members vote.
This is a list of people who have served as Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, previously the Tory Party, in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The position is currently held by Simon Hart MP, appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 25 October 2022.
| Chief Whip of the Conservative Party | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Appointer | Leader of the Conservative Party |
| Inaugural holder | William Holmes |
| Formation | circa 1802 |
| Chief Whip of the Conservative Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Appointer | Leader of the Conservative Party |
| Inaugural holder | The 3rd Earl Nelson |
| Formation | before 1852 |
| No. | Year | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | before 1852 | The Earl Nelson |
| 2 | 1852 | The Lord Colville of Culross |
| 3 | c.1870 | The Lord Skelmersdale (created Earl of Lathom in 1880) |
| 4 | 1885 | The Earl of Kintore |
| 5 | 1889 | The Earl of Limerick |
| 6 | 1896 | The Earl Waldegrave |
| 7 | 1911 | The Duke of Devonshire |
| 8 | 1916 | The Lord Hylton |
| 9 | 1922 | The Earl of Clarendon |
| 10 | 1925 | The Earl of Plymouth |
| 11 | 1929 | The Earl of Lucan |
| 12 | 1940 | The Lord Templemore |
| 13 | 1945 | The Earl Fortescue |
| 14 | 1957 | The Earl St Aldwyn |
| 15 | 1977 | The Lord Denham |
| 16 | 1991 | The Lord Hesketh |
| 17 | 1993 | The Viscount Ullswater |
| 18 | 1994 | The Lord Strathclyde |
| 19 | 1998 | The Lord Henley |
| 20 | 2001 | The Lord Cope of Berkeley |
| 21 | 2007 | The Lady Anelay of St Johns |
| 22 | 2014 | The Lord Taylor of Holbeach |
| 23 | 2019 | The Lord Ashton of Hyde |
| 24 | 2022 | The Baroness Williams of Trafford |
Francis Urquhart is a fictional Conservative Chief Whip, created by Michael Dobbs, formerly Chief of Staff for British Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Urquhart was the main character in Dobbs's trilogy of books, that were turned into successful BBC television dramas in the 1990s. The first book in the trilogy, House of Cards, was adapted and broadcast by the BBC in 1990. This was subsequently followed by a 1993 adaptation of the second element of the trilogy, To Play The King. The third part The Final Cut, aired in 1995. The trilogy charts Urquhart's ambitious rise through his party's ranks until he becomes Prime Minister. Urquhart was played by Ian Richardson.
House of Cards is a 1990 British political thriller television serial in four episodes, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised by the BBC from 18 November to 9 December 1990. Released to critical and popular acclaim for its writing, direction, and performances, it is considered one of the greatest British television shows ever made.
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They work to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.
Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden,, also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. His obituary in The Times called him "the creator of the modern educational system, the key-figure in the revival of post-war Conservatism, arguably the most successful chancellor since the war and unquestionably a Home Secretary of reforming zeal". He was one of his party's leaders in promoting the post-war consensus through which the major parties largely agreed on the main points of domestic policy until the 1970s; it is sometimes known as "Butskellism" from a fusion of his name with that of his Labour counterpart, Hugh Gaitskell.
Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs is a British Conservative politician and author, best known for his House of Cards trilogy.
David Philip Heathcoat-Amory is a British politician, accountant, and farmer. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wells from 1983 until he lost the seat in the 2010 general election. He became a member of the British Privy Council in 1996. Heathcoat-Amory was previously Chair of the European Research Group.
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
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 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.
The Asquith coalition ministry was the Government of the United Kingdom under the Liberal prime minister H. H. Asquith from May 1915 to December 1916. It was formed as a multi-party war-time coalition nine months after the beginning of the First World War but collapsed when the Conservative Party withdrew.
The Conservative government of the United Kingdom that began in 1957 and ended in 1964 consisted of three ministries: the first Macmillan ministry, second Macmillan ministry, and then the Douglas-Home ministry. They were respectively led by Harold Macmillan and Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who were appointed by Queen Elizabeth II.
John Ambrose Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley, PC is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Peter Gerald "Gerry" Malone is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 1987 and again from 1992 to 1997.
Francis Ewan Urquhart is a fictional character and the villainous main protagonist of Michael Dobbs's House of Cards trilogy of novels and television series, portrayed by Ian Richardson. A member of the Conservative Party, Urquhart is depicted as a ruthless politician who rises from Chief Whip of the Conservative Party to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom through treachery, deception and murder. He is married to Elizabeth Urquhart, who appears to have a great deal of power over her husband, and often identifies his powers and abilities, or persuades him to use a given situation to his advantage. The protagonist had a sexual relationship with Mattie Storin in the first serial and one with Sarah Harding in the second serial.
Edward Heath of the Conservative Party formed the Heath ministry and was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 June 1970, following the 18 June general election. Heath's ministry ended after the February 1974 general election, which produced a hung parliament, leading to the formation of a minority government by Harold Wilson of the Labour Party.
The Liberal Party was formally established in 1859 and existed until merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to create the Liberal Democrats.
The Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats is responsible for administering the whipping system in the party which ensures that members attend and vote in parliament when the party leadership requires a majority vote. Whips, of which two are appointed in the party, a member of the House of Commons and a member of the House of Lords, also help to organise their party’s contribution to parliamentary business. On some occasions, the party leadership may allow MP's to have a free vote based on their own conscience rather than party policy, of which the chief whip is not required to direct votes.
The Chief Whip of the Labour Party oversees the whipping system in the party, which is responsible for ensuring that Labour MPs or members of the House of Lords attend and vote in parliament in the desired way of the party leadership. Chief Whips, of which two are appointed in the party, a member of the House of Commons and a member of the House of Lords, also help to organise their party's contribution to parliamentary business. The Chief Whip manages a team of whips, who they may appoint from the Parliamentary Labour Party, to support the work of the whips’ office.
House of Cards is a political thriller novel by British author Michael Dobbs. Published in 1989, it tells the story of Francis Urquhart, a fictional Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, and his amoral and manipulative scheme to become leader of the governing party and, thus, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister is a Parliamentary Private Secretary serving the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of the office is widely viewed as the Prime Minister's "eyes and ears" on the backbenches, serving as a liaison to the Prime Minister's parliamentary party. The Parliamentary Private Secretary is also responsible for meeting with members of Parliament when the Prime Minister is unavailable, and accompanying the Prime Minister to, and assisting them with preparations for Prime Minister's Questions. They usually sit directly behind the Prime Minister during question time.
The Gang of 25 or the Group of 25 was a cohort of British Conservative Party backbench members of Parliament (MPs) that threatened to vote against prime minister Margaret Thatcher's 1981 Autumn Statement. The statement contained monetarist measures to control inflation. Similar measures introduced since 1979 had reduced inflation but caused job losses in the manufacturing sector.
