List of Canadian conservative leaders

This is a list of leaders and Prime Ministers of Canada after Confederation who were members of federal Conservative parties.

"Tory" Parties

This a list of leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada (historical) (1867–1942), Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–2003), and Conservative Party of Canada (2003–present) ("the Tory parties"), and of Prime Ministers of Canada after Confederation who were members of those parties.

Tory Prime Ministers of Canada

Conservative (pre-1942)

• Sir John A. Macdonald (1867–1873, 1878–1891)
• Sir John Abbott (1891–1892)
• Sir John Sparrow David Thompson (1892–1894)
• Sir Mackenzie Bowell (1894–1896)
• Sir Charles Tupper (1896)
• Sir Robert Borden (1911–1920)
• Arthur Meighen (1920–1921, 1926)
• R. B. Bennett (1930–1935)^[a]

Progressive Conservative

• John Diefenbaker (1957–1963)
• Joe Clark (1979–1980)
• Brian Mulroney (1984–1993)
• Kim Campbell (1993)

Conservative Party of Canada

• Stephen Harper (2006–2015)

Tory leaders since Confederation

Conservative (pre-1942)

• Sir John A. Macdonald (July 1, 1867 – June 6, 1891)
• Sir John Abbott (June 16, 1891 – November 24, 1892)
• Sir John Thompson (December 5, 1892 – December 12, 1894)
• Sir Mackenzie Bowell (December 21, 1894 – April 27, 1896)
• Sir Charles Tupper (May 1, 1896 – February 5, 1901)
• Sir Robert Laird Borden (February 6, 1901 – July 10, 1920)
• Arthur Meighen (July 10, 1920 – September 24, 1926)
• Hugh Guthrie (October 11, 1926 – October 12, 1927) - interim
• Richard B. Bennett (October 12, 1927 – July 7, 1938)
• Robert Manion (July 7, 1938 – May 14, 1940)
• Richard Hanson (May 14, 1940 – November 12, 1941) - interim
• Arthur Meighen (November 12, 1941 – December 9, 1942)^[b]

Progressive Conservative

• John Bracken (December 11, 1942 – July 20, 1948)^[c]
• George Drew (October 2, 1948 – November 29, 1956)^[d]
• John Diefenbaker (December 14, 1956 – September 9, 1967)
• Robert Stanfield (September 9, 1967 – February 22, 1976)^[e]
• Joe Clark (February 22, 1976 – February 19, 1983)
• Erik Nielsen (February 19, 1983 – June 11, 1983) - interim
• Brian Mulroney (June 11, 1983 – June 13, 1993)
• Kim Campbell (June 13, 1993 – December 14, 1993)
• Jean Charest (December 14, 1993 – April 2, 1998)
• Elsie Wayne (April 2, 1998 – November 14, 1998) - interim
• Joe Clark (November 14, 1998 – May 31, 2003)
• Peter MacKay (May 31, 2003 – December 8, 2003)

Conservative Party of Canada

• John Lynch-Staunton (December 8, 2003 – March 20, 2004) - interim
• Stephen Harper (March 20, 2004 – October 19, 2015)
• Rona Ambrose (November 5, 2015 – present) - interim

Other Conservative Parties

Parties that have had representation in the House of Commons

"Reform-Alliance"

Leaders of the Reform Party of Canada

• Preston Manning (October 31, 1987 – March 25, 2000)

Leaders of the Canadian Alliance

• Deborah Grey (March 27, 2000 – July 8, 2000) (interim)
• Stockwell Day (July 8, 2000 – December 12, 2001)
• John Reynolds (December 12, 2001 – March 20, 2002) (interim)
• Stephen Harper (March 20, 2002 – December 7, 2003)

Leaders of the Social Credit Party of Canada

• John Horne Blackmore (1935–1944) (parliamentary leader)
• Solon Earl Low (1944–1961)
• Robert Thompson (1961–1967)
• Alexander Bell Patterson (1967–1968) (interim)
• Réal Caouette (1971–1976)
• André-Gilles Fortin (1976–1977)
• Gilles Caouette (1977–1978) (interim)
• Charles-Arthur Gauthier (1978) (interim)
• Lorne Reznowski (1978–1979)
• Charles-Arthur Gauthier (1979) (interim)
• Fabien Roy (1979–1980)
• Martin Hattersley (1981–1983)
• Ken Sweigard (1983–1986) (interim)
• Harvey Lainson (1986–1990)
• Ken Campbell (1990–1993)

Parties that have had no representation in the House of Commons

Leaders of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada

• Ed Vanwoudenberg (1987–1991)
• Charles Cavilla (1991–1993)
• Heather Stilwell (1993–1994) (interim)
• Jean Blaquière (1994–1995)
• Ron Gray (1995–2008)
• Jim Hnatiuk (2008 – present)

Leaders of the Libertarian Party of Canada

• Sieg Pedde (1973–1974)
• Charles 'Chuck' Lyall (1974–1976)
• Ron Bailey (1976–1978)
• Alex Eaglesham (1978–1979)
• Linda Cain (1980–1982)
• Neil Reynolds (May 1982–1983)
• Victor Levis (1983–1987)
• Dennis Corrigan (1987–1990)
• Stanislaw Tyminski (1990–1991)
• George Dance (1991–1993)
• Hilliard Cox (May 1993–1995)
• George Dance (1995–1996)
• Vincent Pouliot (May 12, 1996 – April 5, 1997)
• Robert Morse (1997)
• Jean-Serge Brisson (1997 - May 18, 2008)^[f][1]
• Dennis Young (May 18, 2008 - May 2011)
• Katrina Chowne (May 2011 – May 2014)
• Tim Moen (May 2014 - Present)

Leaders of the Progressive Canadian Party

• Ernie Schreiber (2004–2005) (interim)
• Tracy Parsons (2005–2007)
• Sinclair Stevens (2007 – present) (interim)

Leaders of the Western Block Party

• Doug Christie (November 30, 2005 – March 11, 2013)

References

1. Agenda

Notes

• ^[a] Created Viscount Bennett following his retirement from office.
• ^[b] On this occasion, Meighen failed in his attempts to win re-election to the House of Commons, so Hanson remained Leader of the Opposition throughout Meighen's term
• ^[c] Bracken did not win election to the House of Commons until 1945, so Hanson remained Leader of the Opposition until January 1943, when he was replaced by Gordon Graydon
• ^[d] On two occasions when Drew was too ill to perform his duties, William Earl Rowe served as Leader of the Opposition
• ^[e] Michael Starr served as Leader of the Opposition until November 5, 1967, when Stanfield, who had previously been premier of Nova Scotia, won election to Parliament
• ^[f] Brisson led the party on an interim basis prior to being elected at a delegated convention in 2000.