Lord President of the Council facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United Kingdom Lord President of the Council
Arms used by the Privy Council Office
Incumbent Lucy Powell since 5 July 2024
Privy Council of the United Kingdom Privy Council Office
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	The Sovereign on advice of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	1530
First holder	The 1st Duke of Suffolk
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022) (including £86,584 MP salary)

The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lord President usually attends and is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Privy Council, presenting business for the approval of the Sovereign.

The office and its history

The Privy Council meets once a month, wherever the sovereign may be residing at the time, to give formal approval to Orders in Council. Only a few privy counsellors need attend such meetings, and only when invited to do so at the government's request. As the duties of the Lord President are not onerous, the post has often been given to a government minister whose responsibilities are not department-specific. In recent years it has been most typical for the Lord President also to serve as Leader of the House of Commons or Leader of the House of Lords. The Lord President has no role in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

In the history of British government, the President of the Council is a relatively recent creation. The first certain appointment to the office being that of the Duke of Suffolk in 1529. Although there is a reference to Edmund Dudley serving as 'president of the council' in 1497, it was only in 1529 that the role was given the style and precedence of a Great Officer of State by act of Parliament (21 Hen. 8. c. 20). Prior to 1679 there were several periods in which the office was left vacant.

In the 19th century, the Lord President was generally the cabinet member responsible for the education system, amongst his other duties. This role was gradually scaled back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but remnants of it remain, such as the oversight of the governance of various universities.

During times of National or coalition government the office of Lord President has sometimes been held by the leader of a minority party (e.g. Baldwin 1931–1935, MacDonald 1935–1937, Attlee 1943–1945, Clegg 2010–2015). It has been suggested that the office has been intermittently used for Prime Ministerial deputies in the past.

A particularly vital role was played by the Lord President of the Council during the Second World War. The Lord President served as chairman of the Lord President's Committee. This committee acted as a central clearing house which dealt with the country's economic problems. This was vital to the smooth running of the British war economy and consequently the entire British war effort.

Winston Churchill, clearly believing that this wartime co-ordinating role was beneficial, introduced a similar but expanded system in the first few years of his post-war premiership. The so-called 'overlord ministers' included Frederick Leathers as Secretary of State for the Co-ordination of Transport, Fuel and Power and Lord Woolton as Lord President. Woolton's job was to co-ordinate the then separate ministries of agriculture and food. The historian Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield quotes a PhD thesis by Michael Kandiah saying that Woolton was "arguably the most successful of the Overlords" partly because his ministries were quite closely related; indeed, they were merged in 1955 as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

On several occasions since 1954, non-British Ministers have served briefly as acting Lords President of the Council, solely to preside over a meeting of the Privy Council held in a Commonwealth realm. Examples of this practice are the meetings in New Zealand in 1990 and 1995, when Geoffrey Palmer and James Bolger respectively were acting Lords President.

Andrea Leadsom's appointment in June 2017 was the first in some time where the post holder was not a full Cabinet member.

Role and responsibilities

Routine functions

"The Privy Council is the mechanism through which interdepartmental agreement is reached on those items of Government business which, for historical or other reasons, fall to Ministers as Privy Counsellors rather than as Departmental Ministers."

The routine functions of the lord president are as follows:

1. Preside at Privy Council meetings, including any emergency meetings, and attend to both ministerial correspondence and parliamentary questions relating to Privy Council business.
2. Consider for approval prerogative and statutory Orders in Council. Prerogative orders deal with the basic functioning of the British state and are thus applicable under a number of circumstances, including but not limited to the prorogation of Parliament, the granting, amendment, and revocation of royal charters, the appointment of high sheriffs, or the governance of British Overseas Territories. On the other hand, statutory orders are a form of delegated legislation conferred on His Majesty's Government by Parliament for the purposes of creating detailed regulations through rulemaking. Unlike prerogative orders, statutory Orders in Council are subject to parliamentary scrutiny. As a consequence, most Orders in Council operate on statutory footing as opposed to the common law authorities conferred by the royal prerogative.
3. Consider for approval Orders of Council concerning various matters of state, namely appointments to and regulation of professional bodies and institutions of higher education. Unlike Orders in Council which are enacted by the sovereign on the advice of the Privy Council, Orders of Council are enacted by the Privy Council itself pursuant to statutory authority conferred by Parliament.
4. As a member of the Privy Council's Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey, review laws passed by the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and make recommendations to the sovereign concerning their approval.

Visitorial functions

In addition to his or her routine functions, the lord president also serves as the visitor for several English universities, including:

• University of Birmingham
• University of Bristol
• University of Hull
• Imperial College London
• Keele University
• University of Leeds
• University of Leicester
• University of Liverpool
• University of London (but not King's College London or University College London)
• University of Nottingham
• University of Reading
• University of Sheffield
• University of Southampton
• University of Sussex
• University of Wales

Partial list of Lords President of the Council

Lords President of the Council (c. 1530–1702)

Lord President of the Council

Lord President		Term of office
	Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk	1530	14 August 1545
	William Paulet 1st Marquess of Winchester	January 1546	February 1550
	John Dudley 1st Duke of Northumberland	February 1550	July 1553
	Henry Montagu 1st Earl of Manchester	September 1621	July 1628
	James Ley 1st Earl of Marlborough	July 1628	14 December 1628
	Edward Conway 1st Viscount Conway	14 December 1628	3 January 1631
	Anthony Ashley-Cooper 1st Earl of Shaftesbury	21 April 1679	15 October 1679
	John Robartes 1st Earl of Radnor	24 October 1679	24 August 1684
	Laurence Hyde 1st Earl of Rochester	24 August 1684	18 February 1685
	George Savile 1st Marquess of Halifax	18 February 1685	4 December 1685
	Robert Spencer 2nd Earl of Sunderland	4 December 1685	October 1688
	Richard Graham 1st Viscount Preston	October 1688	December 1688
	Thomas Osborne 1st Duke of Leeds	14 February 1689	18 May 1699
	Thomas Herbert 8th Earl of Pembroke	18 May 1699	29 January 1702
	Charles Seymour 6th Duke of Somerset	29 January 1702	13 July 1702

Lords President of the Council (1702–present)

Lord President			Term of office		Other ministerial portfolios held during tenure	Party	Ministry	Monarch
		Thomas Herbert 8th Earl of Pembroke	13 July 1702	25 November 1708		—	Godolphin–Marlborough (Tory–Whig)	Anne
		John Somers 1st Baron Somers	25 November 1708	21 September 1710		Whig
		Laurence Hyde 1st Earl of Rochester	21 September 1710	13 June 1711		Tory	Oxford–Bolingbroke
		John Sheffield 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby	13 June 1711	23 September 1714		—
								George I
		Daniel Finch 2nd Earl of Nottingham	23 September 1714	6 July 1716		Tory	Townshend
		William Cavendish 2nd Duke of Devonshire	6 July 1716	16 March 1718		Whig
							Stanhope–Sunderland I
		Charles Spencer 3rd Earl of Sunderland	16 March 1718	6 February 1719	First Lord of the Treasury	Whig	Stanhope–Sunderland II
		Evelyn Pierrepont 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull	6 February 1719	11 June 1720		Whig
		Charles Townshend 2nd Viscount Townshend	11 June 1720	25 June 1721	Secretary of State for the Northern Department	Whig
							Walpole–Townshend
		Henry Boyle 1st Baron Carleton	25 June 1721	27 March 1725		Whig
		William Cavendish 2nd Duke of Devonshire	27 March 1725	4 June 1729		Whig
								George II
		Thomas Trevor 1st Baron Trevor	8 May 1730	19 June 1730		Tory
		Spencer Compton 1st Earl of Wilmington	31 December 1730	13 February 1742		Whig	Walpole
		William Stanhope 1st Earl of Harrington	13 February 1742	3 January 1745	Secretary of State for the Northern Department	Whig	Carteret
							Broad Bottom (I & II)
		Lionel Sackville 1st Duke of Dorset	3 January 1745	17 June 1751	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	Whig
		John Carteret 2nd Earl Granville	17 June 1751	2 January 1763		Whig
							Newcastle I
							Pitt–Devonshire
							1757 Caretaker
							Pitt–Newcastle
								George III
							Bute
		John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford	9 September 1763	12 July 1765		Whig	Grenville (Whig–Tory)
		Daniel Finch 8th Earl of Winchilsea	12 July 1765	30 July 1766		Whig	Rockingham I
		Robert Henley 1st Earl of Northington	30 July 1766	22 December 1767		Whig	Chatham (Whig–Tory)
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Gower	22 December 1767	24 November 1779		Tory
							Grafton (Whig–Tory)
							North
		Henry Bathurst 2nd Earl Bathurst	24 November 1779	27 March 1782		Tory
		Charles Pratt 1st Baron Camden	27 March 1782	2 April 1783		Whig	Rockingham II
							Shelburne (Whig–Tory)
		David Murray 7th Viscount Stormont	2 April 1783	19 December 1783		Tory	Fox–North (Whig–Tory)
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Gower	19 December 1783	1 December 1784		Tory	Pitt I
		Charles Pratt 1st Earl Camden	1 December 1784	18 April 1794		Tory
		William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam 4th Earl Fitzwilliam	1 July 1794	17 December 1794		Whig
		David Murray 2nd Earl of Mansfield	17 December 1794	1 September 1796		Tory
		John Pitt 2nd Earl of Chatham	21 September 1796	30 July 1801	Lord Privy Seal	—
							Addington
		William Cavendish-Bentinck 3rd Duke of Portland	30 July 1801	14 January 1805		Tory
							Pitt II
		Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth	14 January 1805	10 July 1805		Tory
		John Pratt 2nd Earl Camden	10 July 1805	19 February 1806		Tory
		William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam 4th Earl Fitzwilliam	19 February 1806	8 October 1806		Whig	All the Talents (Whig–Tory)
		Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth	8 October 1806	26 March 1807		Tory
		John Pratt 2nd Earl Camden	26 March 1807	8 April 1812		Tory	Portland II
							Perceval
		Henry Addington 1st Viscount Sidmouth	8 April 1812	11 June 1812		Tory
		Dudley Ryder 1st Earl of Harrowby	11 June 1812	17 August 1827		Tory	Liverpool
								George IV
							Canning (Canningite–Whig)
		William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck 4th Duke of Portland DCL	17 August 1827	28 January 1828		Tory	Goderich (Canningite–Whig)
		Henry Bathurst 3rd Earl Bathurst	28 January 1828	22 November 1830		Tory	Wellington–Peel
								William IV
		Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne	22 November 1830	15 November 1834		Whig	Grey
							Melbourne I
		James St Clair-Erskine 2nd Earl of Rosslyn	15 December 1834	18 April 1835		Conservative	Peel I
		Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne	18 April 1835	3 September 1841		Whig	Melbourne II
								Victoria
		James Stuart-Wortley 1st Baron Wharncliffe	3 September 1841	19 December 1845		Conservative	Peel II
		Walter Montagu Douglas Scott 5th Duke of Buccleuch	21 January 1846	6 July 1846		Conservative
		Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne	6 July 1846	27 February 1852	Leader of the House of Lords	Whig	Russell I
		William Lowther 2nd Earl of Lonsdale	27 February 1852	28 December 1852		Conservative	Who? Who?
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville	28 December 1852	12 June 1854		Whig	Aberdeen (Peelite–Whig)
		Lord John Russell MP for City of London	12 June 1854	8 February 1855	Leader of the House of Commons	Whig
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville	8 February 1855	26 February 1858	Leader of the House of Lords	Whig	Palmerston I
		James Gascoyne-Cecil 2nd Marquess of Salisbury	26 February 1858	18 June 1859		Conservative	Derby–Disraeli II
		Granville Leveson-Gower 2nd Earl Granville	18 June 1859	6 July 1866	Leader of the House of Lords	Liberal	Palmerston II
							Russell II
		Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos	6 July 1866	8 March 1867		Conservative	Derby–Disraeli III
		John Spencer-Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough	8 March 1867	9 December 1868		Conservative
		George Robinson 1st Marquess of Ripon	9 December 1868	9 August 1873		Liberal	Gladstone I
		Henry Bruce 1st Baron Aberdare	9 August 1873	21 February 1874		Liberal
		Charles Gordon-Lennox 6th Duke of Richmond	21 February 1874	28 April 1880	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative	Disraeli II
		John Spencer 5th Earl Spencer	28 April 1880	19 March 1883	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	Liberal	Gladstone II
		Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue 1st Baron Carlingford	19 March 1883	24 June 1885	Lord Privy Seal	Liberal
		Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy 1st Viscount Cranbrook	24 June 1885	6 February 1886	Secretary of State for War	Conservative	Salisbury I
		John Spencer 5th Earl Spencer	6 February 1886	3 August 1886		Liberal	Gladstone III
		Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy 1st Viscount Cranbrook	3 August 1886	18 August 1892		Conservative	Salisbury II
		John Wodehouse 1st Earl of Kimberley	18 August 1892	10 March 1894	Secretary of State for India	Liberal	Gladstone IV
		Archibald Primrose 5th Earl of Rosebery	10 March 1894	29 June 1895	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Lords	Liberal	Rosebery
		Spencer Cavendish 8th Duke of Devonshire	29 June 1895	19 October 1903	President of the Board of Education Leader of the House of Lords	Liberal Unionist	Salisbury (III & IV) (Con.–Lib.U.)
								Edward VII
							Balfour (Con.–Lib.U.)
		Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart 6th Marquess of Londonderry	19 October 1903	11 December 1905	President of the Board of Education	Conservative
		Robert Crewe-Milnes 1st Earl of Crewe	11 December 1905	16 April 1908		Liberal	Campbell-Bannerman
		Edward Marjoribanks 2nd Baron Tweedmouth	16 April 1908	19 October 1908		Liberal	Asquith (I–III)
		Henry Fowler 1st Viscount Wolverhampton	19 October 1908	21 June 1910		Liberal
								George V
		William Lygon 7th Earl Beauchamp	21 June 1910	7 November 1910		Liberal
		John Morley 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn	7 November 1910	5 August 1914	Secretary of State for India	Liberal
		William Lygon 7th Earl Beauchamp	5 August 1914	25 May 1915		Liberal
		Robert Crewe-Milnes 1st Marquess of Crewe	25 May 1915	10 December 1916	Leader of the House of Lords President of the Board of Trade	Liberal	Asquith Coalition (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		George Curzon 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston	10 December 1916	23 October 1919	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative	Lloyd George (I & II) (Lib.–Con.–Lab.)
		Arthur Balfour 1st Earl of Balfour	23 October 1919	19 October 1922		Conservative
		James Gascoyne-Cecil 4th Marquess of Salisbury	24 October 1922	22 January 1924	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Conservative	Law
							Baldwin I
		Charles Cripps 1st Baron Parmoor	22 January 1924	3 November 1924		Labour	MacDonald I
		George Curzon 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston	6 November 1924	27 April 1925	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative	Baldwin II
		Arthur Balfour 1st Earl of Balfour	27 April 1925	4 June 1929		Conservative
		Charles Cripps 1st Baron Parmoor	7 June 1929	24 August 1931	Leader of the House of Lords	Labour	MacDonald II
		Stanley Baldwin MP for Bewdley	25 August 1931	7 June 1935	Lord Privy Seal	Conservative	National I (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N. –Lib.
							National II (N.Lab.–Con.–Lib.N. –Lib. until 1932)
‍		Ramsay MacDonald MP for Combined Scottish Universities	7 June 1935	28 May 1937		National Labour	National III (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
								Edward VIII
								George VI
		Edward Wood 3rd Viscount Halifax	28 May 1937	9 March 1938	Leader of the House of Lords Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Conservative	National IV (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Douglas Hogg 1st Viscount Hailsham	9 March 1938	31 October 1938		Conservative
		Walter Runciman 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford	31 October 1938	3 September 1939		National Liberal
		James Stanhope 7th Earl Stanhope	3 September 1939	11 May 1940	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative	Chamberlain War (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.)
		Neville Chamberlain MP for Birmingham Edgbaston	11 May 1940	3 October 1940		Conservative	Churchill War (All parties)
		John Anderson MP for Combined Scottish Universities	3 October 1940	24 September 1943		National
		Clement Attlee MP for Limehouse	24 September 1943	23 May 1945	Deputy Prime Minister	Labour
		Frederick Marquis 1st Baron Woolton	25 May 1945	26 July 1945		National	Churchill Caretaker (Con.–Lib.N.)
		Herbert Morrison MP for Lewisham South	27 July 1945	9 March 1951	Deputy Prime Minister Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	Attlee (I & II)
		Christopher Addison 1st Viscount Addison	9 March 1951	26 October 1951	Leader of the House of Lords	Labour
		Frederick Marquis 1st Baron Woolton	28 October 1951	25 November 1952		Conservative	Churchill III
								Elizabeth II
		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 5th Marquess of Salisbury	25 November 1952	29 March 1957	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative
							Eden
							Macmillan (I & II)
		Alec Douglas-Home 14th Earl of Home	29 March 1957	17 September 1957	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative
		Quintin Hogg 2nd Viscount Hailsham	17 September 1957	14 October 1959		Conservative
		Alec Douglas-Home 14th Earl of Home	14 October 1959	27 July 1960	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative
		Quintin Hogg MP for St Marylebone	27 July 1960	16 October 1964	Leader of the House of Lords Minister for Science Secretary of State for Education and Science	Conservative
							Douglas-Home
		Herbert Bowden MP for Leicester South West	16 October 1964	11 August 1966	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	Wilson (I & II)
		Richard Crossman MP for Coventry East	11 August 1966	18 October 1968	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour
		Fred Peart MP for Workington	18 October 1968	19 June 1970	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour
		William Whitelaw MP for Penrith and The Border	20 June 1970	7 April 1972	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	Heath
		Robert Carr MP for Mitcham	7 April 1972	5 November 1972	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
		Jim Prior MP for Lowestoft	5 November 1972	4 March 1974	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
		Edward Short MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central	5 March 1974	8 April 1976	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	Wilson (III & IV)
		Michael Foot MP for Ebbw Vale	8 April 1976	4 May 1979	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	Callaghan
		Christopher Soames Baron Soames	5 May 1979	14 September 1981	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative	Thatcher I
		Francis Pym MP for Cambridgeshire	14 September 1981	7 April 1982	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
		John Biffen MP for Oswestry	7 April 1982	11 June 1983	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
		William Whitelaw 1st Viscount Whitelaw	11 June 1983	10 January 1988	Leader of the House of Lords	Conservative	Thatcher II
							Thatcher III
		John Wakeham MP for South Colchester and Maldon	10 January 1988	24 July 1989	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
		Geoffrey Howe MP for East Surrey	24 July 1989	1 November 1990	Deputy Prime Minister Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
		John MacGregor MP for South Norfolk	2 November 1990	10 April 1992	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
							Major I
		Tony Newton MP for Braintree	10 April 1992	2 May 1997	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	Major II
		Ann Taylor MP for Dewsbury	2 May 1997	27 July 1998	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	Blair I
		Margaret Beckett MP for Derby South	27 July 1998	8 June 2001	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour
		Robin Cook MP for Livingston	8 June 2001	18 March 2003	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	Blair II
		John Reid MP for Hamilton North and Bellshill	4 April 2003	13 June 2003	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour
		Gareth Williams Baron Williams of Mostyn	13 June 2003	20 September 2003	Leader of the House of Lords	Labour
		Valerie Amos Baroness Amos (born 1954)	6 October 2003	27 June 2007	Leader of the House of Lords	Labour
							Blair III
		Catherine Ashton Baroness Ashton of Upholland (born 1956)	28 June 2007	3 October 2008	Leader of the House of Lords	Labour	Brown
		Janet Royall Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (born 1955)	3 October 2008	5 June 2009	Leader of the House of Lords	Labour
		Peter Mandelson Baron Mandelson (born 1953)	5 June 2009	11 May 2010	First Secretary of State Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills	Labour
		Nick Clegg MP for Sheffield Hallam	11 May 2010	8 May 2015	Deputy Prime Minister	Liberal Democrat	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–Lib.Dem.)
		Chris Grayling MP for Epsom and Ewell	9 May 2015	14 July 2016	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	Cameron II
		David Lidington MP for Aylesbury	14 July 2016	11 June 2017	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	May I
		Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire	11 June 2017	22 May 2019	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	May II
		Mel Stride MP for Central Devon	23 May 2019	24 July 2019	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
		Jacob Rees-Mogg MP for North East Somerset	24 July 2019	8 February 2022	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	Johnson I
							Johnson II
		Mark Spencer MP for Sherwood	8 February 2022	6 September 2022	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative
‍		Penny Mordaunt MP for Portsmouth North	6 September 2022	5 July 2024	Leader of the House of Commons	Conservative	Truss
								Charles III
							Sunak
‍		Lucy Powell MP for Manchester Central	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	Starmer

Timeline

See also

• Privy Council Office
• Vice-President of the Executive Council
• President of the King's Privy Council for Canada
• Sinecure