Chief Whip of the Conservative Party
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.
House of Commons
| Chief Whip of the Conservative Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Appointer | Leader of the Conservative Party |
| Inaugural holder | William Holmes |
| Formation | circa 1802 |
House of Lords
| 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 |
In popular culture
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.
References
Sources
- Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, British Historical Facts 1830-1900, Macmillan, 1975, pp. 92–93.
- David Butler and Gareth Butler, Twentieth-Century British Historical Facts 1900-2000, Macmillan, 2000.
