List of Canadian conservative leaders

This 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-) ("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)
* John 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)¹

Progressive Conservative

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

Conservative Party of Canada

*Stephen Harper (2006-Present)

Footnotes

¹ Created Viscount Bennett following his retirement from office.

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 Bedford 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)¹

Progressive Conservative

* John Bracken (December 11, 1942 – July 20, 1948)²
* George Drew (October 2, 1948 – November 29, 1956)³
* John George Diefenbaker (December 14, 1956 – September 9, 1967)
* Robert Stanfield (September 9, 1967 – February 22, 1976)⁴
* 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 to March 20, 2004) ("interim")
* Stephen Harper (March 20, 2004 to present)

Footnotes

"¹ 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"

"² 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"

"³ On two occasions when Drew was too ill to perform his duties, William Earl Rowe served as Leader of the Opposition"

"⁴ 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"

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 to March 25, 2000)

Leaders of the Canadian Alliance

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

Leaders of the Social Credit Party of Canada

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

Parties that have had no representation in the House of Commons

Leaders of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada

*Ed Vanwoudenberg (1987 to 1991)
*Charles Cavilla (1991 to 1993)
*Heather Stilwell (1993 to 1994) ("interim")
*Jean Blaquiére (1994 to 1995)
*Ron Gray (1995 to present)

Leaders of the Libertarian Party of Canada

*Sieg Pedde (1973 to 1974)
*Charles Lyall (1974 to 1976)
*Ron Bailey (1976 to 1978)
*Alex Eaglesham (1978 to 1979)
*Linda Cain (1980 to 1982)
*Neil Reynolds (May 1982 to 1983)
*Victor Levis (1983 to 1987)
*Dennis Corrigan (1987 to 1990)
*Stanislaw Tyminski (1990 to 1991)
*George Dance (1991 to 1993)
*Hilliard Cox (May 1993 to 1995)
*George Dance (1995 to 1996)
*Vincent Pouliot (May 12, 1996 to April 5, 1997)
*Robert Morse (April 5, 1997 to unknown)
*Jean-Serge Brisson (c.1999 to present)

Leaders of the Progressive Canadian Party

*Ernie Schreiber (2004 to 2005) ("interim")
*Tracy Parsons (2005 to 2007)
*Sinclair Stevens (2007 to present) ("interim")

Leaders of the Western Block Party

*Doug Christie (November 30, 2005 to present)